Duke-bound teenager Luke Paul will make his long-awaited NBL debut when the Cairns Taipans host the Brisbane Bullets at the Cairns Convention Centre on Thursday night. The 17-year-old Next Star missed the first five games of the NBL27 season with an ankle injury, and coach Adam Forde says he will be eased into the contest.
The all-Queensland Round 4 clash tips off at 7.30pm AEDT and is live on ESPN, the NBL confirmed. Paul’s debut has been one of the most anticipated of the season since he signed with the Next Stars program.
Forde eyes five to eight minutes
Forde said Paul had trained well with contact, and the focus was now on building trust in the ankle rather than handing him a big workload.
“He has been on court, and has been really, really good,” Forde said. “It’s just a matter of building confidence in the ankle. He’s had a bunch of good sessions with contact. If we can get five to eight minutes out of him just to build up his level of comfort, it’ll be very handy.”
Forde also said the club was proud to be part of the teenager’s rise. “It’s a privilege he chose us first, and we love that the Taipans will always be synonymous with his journey,” he said. “He’s going to learn a lot while he’s here with us this season, and he’ll be even more elite for Duke with that experience.”
Duke next after one NBL season
Paul announced his commitment to Duke on ESPN’s NBA Today last week and will join the Blue Devils for the 2027-28 college season after his NBL27 campaign with Cairns, the NBL announced. He led Australia to a bronze medal at the 2026 FIBA U17 World Cup in July and was named in the tournament’s All-Star Five.
“Training in this NBL environment is accelerating my development,” Paul said. He added that committing to Duke was “a dream come true”, and that he was “equally excited about giving absolutely everything I have to Cairns this season”.
According to the NBL, 13 Next Stars have been selected in the NBA Draft over the past seven years, seven of them in the first round.
Baynes: ‘The potential there is limitless’
Olympic medallist Aron Baynes is among those keen to see what Paul can do. “The potential there is limitless,” Baynes said on NBL Now, presented by CODE Sports, as reported by the NBL. “He’s already drawing comparisons to [John] Stockton, and that’s singing high praises for him. It’s going to be a whole lot of fun for us to be able to watch him; he’s an unbelievable talent.”
Baynes also warned the step up would test him. “It’s going to be a bit of a different game for him, as he’s stepping in there against men,” he said.
Bullets looking to stop the slide
Brisbane started the season 2-0 but arrive in Cairns on a two-game losing streak, including a 109-99 overtime loss to the Tasmania JackJumpers. Arnas Velička shot 26.9 per cent across those two defeats, down from 35.7 per cent for the season, the NBL noted.
Cairns will be without Jaylin Galloway (shoulder) and Sunday Dech (hamstring), while Shaun Bruce (groin) is listed as a test. Brisbane are missing Taine Murray (lower limb) and Sam McDaniel (lower leg).
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