Tall Blacks guard Jeremy Kench will be in a green and white singlet, not a blue and gold one, this season.
The talented point guard was left without a team to play for when the Christchurch Cougars decided to pull out of the National Basketball League due to the earthquake which struck the city last month.
The Otago Nuggets were desperate to sign the 26-year-old but Kench has decided to ink a deal with the Manawatu Jets.
It is a bit like "strike two" for the Nuggets.
The franchise tried to secure the services of experienced point guard Luke Martin but lost out to Auckland.
Basketball Otago general manager Markham Brown said the franchise put a good offer together but would now have to look overseas to fill that role.
"[Kench] just felt that that was the best fit for him," Brown said.
"We put what we thought was a competitive offer in front of him. It is disappointing but we have to move on. It is a very competitive market. There are teams with bigger budgets out there which makes it hard to compete."
The Nuggets still hope Kevin Smith, also from the Cougars, will agree to join the squad.
They have made Smith an offer and are waiting to hear back from the 1.93m swingman.
"Hopefully, he won't take too long to decide. But I guess we have more certainty in that we know we need to find a point guard and a big man [to fill the import slots]," Brown said.
