Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. is in advanced talks on a deal with the Perth Wildcats, sources told ESPN.
The South Sudanese-Australian big-man is expected to sign with the Wildcats within the next few days, sources said, giving the team a highly-coveted, marquee-level local player for the 2025-26 NBL season.
Acuil Jr. is coming off a season with Manisa in the Turkish Basketball League, where he averaged 17.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game over the team's domestic competition. He then went on to play a handful of games with Al Ittihad Alexandria in the Basketball Africa League.
The 31-year-old is best known in the NBL for his time with Melbourne United, who he spent four seasons with from 2019 to 2024. Acuil Jr. was a key member of United's 2021 championship-winning team, winning the NBL's Sixth Man of the Year award that season. He's been named to one All-NBL First Team (2022) and one All-NBL Second Team (2024).
Acuil Jr., along with fellow big-man Yanni Wetzell, were the Wildcats' primary targets when NBL Free Agency began in April, sources said, with the team requiring a high-level local centre to fill the vacancy left by Keanu Pinder. Wetzell recently signed in Japan with the Akita Northern Happinets, leading the Wildcats to intensify their pursuit of Acuil Jr., sources said, with the seven-footer widely regarded as one of the best marquee-level players still on the market.
The Wildcats are coming off a season where they finished in third place, with an 18-11 record, bowing out of title contention to United in their semi-finals series.
The impending addition of Acuil Jr. will see him join Kristian Doolittle, Dylan Windler, Jesse Wagstaff, Elijah Pepper, Sunday Dech, David Okwera, Lat Mayen, Dontae Russo-Nance, and Noa Kouakou-Heugue on the Wildcats' main roster going into the 2025-26 NBL season.
Head coach John Rillie and GM of Basketball Danny Mills are both currently in Las Vegas for NBA Summer League, with the intention of recruiting an import point guard. The Wildcats have two roster spots left to fill; one import and one local.
Zavier Simpson - a 6'0 American point guard - is one of the import options the Wildcats have expressed strong interest in, sources said.
The team has interest in re-signing rising Australian guard Ben Henshall, sources said, who is intent on signing with a college team but is still awaiting clarity on his eligibility status.