Two Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa sides have locked in big names for the upcoming season.

Paige Bradley has re-signed with the Southern Hoiho for 2026, while the Tokomanawa Queens have lured Charlisse Leger-Walker home after her WNBA season wraps up.

Bradley is returning for her fourth season in Dunedin, where she has been a standout and helped the Hoiho make the playoffs in 2023 and 2025.

The United States point guard, who has had stints in Germany and Australia, brings a calming presence to the floor.

Across her 13 games last year, Bradley averaged 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Bradley joins hometown favourite Zoe Richards as the first Hoiho signings for the 2026 season.

Leger-Walker is a massive addition to the Queens after becoming the first New Zealander to be drafted in the WNBA earlier this year.

The Connecticut Sun guard will join the Porirua-based side when her WNBA commitments end next month.

The 24-year-old Leger-Walker will join older sister Krystal at the Queens and bring home with her a vast base of experience in the US, having played six years of college basketball.

She helped steer UCLA to the NCAA championship earlier this year before being picked up 19th in the WNBA draft by Connecticut.

The Sun (10-29) are second-last in the 15-team WNBA and have no chance of reaching the reaching the playoffs with five games remaining.

Leger-Walker has nevertheless enjoyed a solid rookie campaign, starting more than two-thirds of their games and being handed healthy minutes.

She produced a season-high 17 points in last week’s loss to the Golden State Valkyries.

Charlisse and Krystal Leger-Walker are the daughters of Tall Ferns great Leanne Walker and could line up together as early as the Tokomanawa Queens’ opening Tauihi league game on September 27.

The Queens won the competition’s inaugural title in 2022. — Additional reporting RNZ