Melbourne United have gone and done it again: they have turned a roster gap into a statement signing. Cole Anthony is heading to Australia on a one-year contract for the 2026/27 season, and that is not the kind of move a club makes if it wants to quietly sit back and hope for the best. It is the move of a team that has spent the last few years coming painfully close, and has finally decided that close is no longer good enough.
That matters because Melbourne United are not approaching this like a rebuild. They reached the NBL Finals in 2024 and 2025, finished fifth in the most recent season, and have now added another NBA veteran to a group that already includes Joe Ingles, Luke Travers and Josh Oduro. In other words, this is not random shopping. This is roster construction with a very clear idea behind it: add talent, add experience, and stop leaving the door open.
A guard who arrives with a point to prove
Anthony is still only 2020 draft pedigree in terms of how teams have viewed him, and his NBA path has been a strange one. He was the 15th overall pick, spent his first five NBA seasons as a regular part of the Orlando Magic rotation, and even earned a three-year, $39MM rookie scale extension before his fourth season. That is not a player who has drifted into obscurity by accident. It is a player whose career has simply taken an unexpected turn.
His numbers tell the story of a guard who has had real stretches of usefulness, even if the consistency has not always matched the talent. In Orlando, Anthony posted 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while playing 24.8 minutes a night, with shooting splits of.419/.345/.847. That is the profile Melbourne United are betting on: not a mystery man, not a project, but a real scorer and creator who has already proven he can live in a rotation at a high level.
The broader journey has been far less straightforward. Joe Ingles played with Anthony in Orlando in 2023/24, which gives Melbourne another familiar connection inside the group. Last summer, Anthony was traded from the Orlando Magic to Memphis in the deal that sent Desmond Bane to Orlando, then bought out by the Grizzlies. In 2025/26, he signed a minimum-salary deal with the Bucks, before being traded to the Suns in February 2026 and waived later that month. By the time he landed in Australia, the career reset had already happened. Melbourne United are simply the team willing to give it shape.
Why Melbourne United are so confident
Jacob Chance did not sound like a coach politely explaining a flyer. He sounded like someone who believes the fit is obvious. Melbourne United described Anthony as “one of the most athletic and dynamic guards the NBL will have ever seen,” while Chance said the club wanted an elite guard who could lead the offense, score, make teammates better and bring the right kind of professionalism off the floor. He also pointed to Anthony’s pace, strength around the rim, vision, off-ball shooting and defensive willingness, calling him the perfect guard for the team.
That is a strong claim, but it is not hard to see why they are making it. Melbourne have already spent the summer adding NBA-level experience, and Anthony looks like the piece who can make the whole thing feel less theoretical. The club has not won the championship despite those recent Finals runs, so the pressure is not subtle anymore. This is a team that has been knocking on the door for long enough. Signing a former first-round NBA guard on a one-year deal is not a guarantee of success, but it is exactly the sort of swing ambitious clubs take when they are tired of being almost there.
Joe Ingles put it simply enough: Anthony can have “a big impact,” and fans are likely to like his personality as much as his game. That may sound like standard summer optimism, but there is a serious football-and-basketball truth underneath it. Good teams do not just need names. They need players who tilt the offense, raise the pace and force everyone else to think faster. Anthony has been given that opportunity now, and Melbourne United have made their intentions perfectly clear.
For the NBL, it is another sign that the league is becoming a legitimate destination for players who still have something to prove. For Melbourne United, it is a declaration that fifth place and near-misses are not the standard. They have added another proven body to the mix, and if Anthony’s best basketball is still ahead of him, as the club believes, then this could be one of the most important signings of their recent run. The message is simple: United are done waiting for the perfect moment. They are trying to create it.
