KEY POINTS:
Andrej Lemanis has his fingers crossed that home really is where the heart is.
The Breakers coach is trying to plug the gaps in the New Zealand ANBL club's roster with a trio of highly rated Tall Blacks.
Lemanis has made plays for former NBA player Kirk Penney,
the possibly NBA-bound Craig Bradshaw and veteran pro Phill Jones.
The way those approaches pan out will probably determine the club's approach to the United States import market.
Of the three, Jones appears the most likely to be wooed. Bradshaw, who is training with Orlando before the June 28 NBA draft, looks an outside bet at best.
After an outstanding final college year with Winthrop Eagles, Bradshaw is likely to have a string of suitors even if he doesn't make the NBA cut.
A contract offer from a top European club would probably dwarf anything the Breakers could table, and the defending-champion Brisbane Bullets are also believed to be chasing his services.
The call of home might be more compelling for Penney, who has spent most of the past five seasons plying his trade in Europe after a successful US college career and brief NBA stints with the Miami Heat and LA Clippers.
Lemanis has been chasing Penney for more than a year, and believes the Breakers have a "realistic chance" of tempting the shooting guard home.
"I've always said to him, 'If you're ever interested in coming back, we'll do everything we can to make it happen"'.
But Penney would probably have to sign more for love than money.
"We've already indicated to him the sort of money we can get to," Lemanis said.
"We absolutely can't compete financially, I don't think there's any secret in that. I guess he's at a stage where he's thinking of coming home, and representing a New Zealand franchise in the NBL is appealing to him.
"I guess it's up to him if he wantsto do that right now or if he wantsto explore his other revenue-making and basketball opportunities.
"I'm sure he's enjoying his time in Europe as well. It's not like he's hating it and wants to come home."
Lemanis said his gut feeling was that Penney's preferred option would be a new offer from his current German club.
With seven players already signed, the Breakers have a minimum of three and a maximum of five roster spots to fill. One or two of those spots would go to US imports, depending on how the club's pursuit of the Tall Blacks trio panned out, Lemanis said.
"If we got all three, that really changes what you do with the imports. But if we don't get any of them, then you probably feel you need to spend a bit more and fill some different positions.
"It's always been a case of signing your locals and filling your gaps with the imports. Right now, we are in the position where we haven't signed our locals."
Lemanis is aiming to have completed his recruiting drive by the time the Breakers begin pre-season training on July 30.
