The Otago Nuggets won't be in the National Basketball League next year but a return in the near future seems likely.
Basketball Otago opted not to apply for a position in the 2017 competition - Tauranga City was the only new franchise that submitted a bid by Monday's deadline - but will instead focus on the structures at a lower level to help build for a future bid.
''We're obviously looking at our pathways for our athletes going forward and the Nuggets are obviously part of that; when and where is the magical question,'' general manager of Baskeball Otago Justin Ludlow told Otago Daily Times.
''With any professional, or semi-professional, team you're going out there to win. So you need to build a team that's going to do that job for you.
''We've got some very good players locally here. Whether they're at the level of the NBL league at the moment is another question.''