Sometimes, just sometimes, it doesn't pay to play too well in a season if you're a professional basketballer in the Australian National Basketball League.
Just ask Everard Bartlett who three weeks ago took a dreaded phone call in Napier from the Perth Wildcats informing him they no longer require his services for the 2013-14 ANBL season.
"They told me I was released even before the new head coach [Trevor Gleeson] was appointed," said the HBS Bank Hawks shooting guard.
Previous coach Rob Beveridge left for a stint abroad following the Wildcats' exit in the ANBL grand final in May to the three-peat, title-winning New Zealand Breakers.
"It was definitely very tough news to take because I'd worked pretty hard to get into the league," said the 30-year-old who arrived here in the fifth round of the Bartercard National Basketball League (NBL) to help a floundering Tab Baldwin-coached Hawks find some traction.
"I was very down. I would be lying if I said it didn't affect my performance here [for the Hawks]."
At the crux of his demise is the 70-point team quota system where franchises have to select 10 players within that ceiling, with the maximun of two US imports rated at 10.
Having started at the 4-point mark last season Bartlett discovered he had jumped to the 6-point rung.
"I've obviously played too well so I got higher points and that has pushed me out of a job. It's a tough system and I'm a victim of that."
Bartlett hoped to appeal his ranking to fall back to the 4-point mark to become viable in the ANBL but time is fast running out as franchises are already near filling their roster quotas.
While Perth hadn't given him any reasons for his axing, he suspected the new regime probably wanted to employ another import, considering point guard Kevin Lisch was their only import last season.
He thanked assistant Wildcats coach and ex-Hawk coach Shawn Dennis as his mentor and inspiration and congratulated him for becoming the Townsville Crocodiles head coach next season.
Bartlett, who has two children with his partner, didn't expect any favours from Dennis.
"I'm not banking on his friendship for a job because I'll have to work hard to prove myself. He'll only select me if I deserve a spot," he said, thrilled too that Dennis had returned from his honeymoon with wife Lani.
So did the Hawks forgettable NBL season have an impact, too?
Bartlett was philosophical last night in weighing up the factors, considering the Wildcats hadn't given him any reasons why they had made him redundant.
"Does it hurt [my chances]?
"Not necessarily because I've played in the league before and they know what I'm capable of.
"Does it help [my cause that Hawks failed to make the playoffs]?"
He said without doubt it was a better look in any player's resume to have made the playoffs when looking for a job abroad.
On the bright side, the word is Bartlett, point guard Jarrod Kenny and guard Dion Prewster have been invited to Tall Blacks trials on Tuesday, July 16, soon after the NBL Final Four playoffs at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, Taradale.
Bartlett wasn't aware of his selection and his teammates didn't return calls but he said if it was true then it was always a proud moment to slip on his country's shirt.
Baldwin said last night Bartlett was a pivotal cog in the Hawks' machine who had delivered despite the setbacks.
"JK's a veteran in that Tall Black squad ... and he's been a back up for Lindsay [Tait] in the previous teams," Baldwin said of the floor general who has battled with his influenza and injury demons but bounced back strongly for the Hawks late this season. He felt Prewster was still young at 23 and would be a better fit in the matrix a little further down his career.
"He's a good guy and it's a big step but what's more important for him is the momentum going forward because he doesn't now want to be taking a step backwards.
The trial's great for him and a validation of what he's achieved this year on his way up."
The selectors definitely had an eye on young Alonzo Burton, son of NBL stalwart Willie, for the future because of the depth that already exists among guards.