Brisbane Bullets Release Orlando Johnson and Sign Lamar Patterson

The Brisbane Bullets can today confirm the release of American import Orlando Johnson and the signing of Lamar Patterson for the remainder of the NBL season.

Johnson joined the organisation in December and after 15 games, a decision has been made to go in another direction.

Head Coach Andrej Lemanis thanked Johnson for his contribution.

“This is a decision that was not made lightly and is made especially difficult given the quality person Orlando is,” Lemanis said. “I have really enjoyed working with him and appreciate his professional and team first attitude.

“In order to give our team the best chance of winning a Championship, we feel that a change needed to be made in order to bring in someone who better compliments the other skill sets we have on the team.

“It is never easy to make a change. You grow relationships and form bonds with players, which is especially true with a person of Orlando’s character, so I’m disappointed that as Coach, I wasn’t able to find a way to help him succeed in our environment.

“I wish him every success moving forward and hope that he continues to add to his already long and successful career. It was a pleasure getting to work with him.”

With the departure of Johnson, an opportunity presented itself for Patterson to return to Brisbane and the club is pleased to welcome him back.

The 29-year-old departed the Bullets at the end of last season to take up an opportunity with the New Zealand Breakers and after playing six games to start the year, a release from the Breakers was discussed and confirmed.

GM of Basketball, Sam Mackinnon, is pleased to have Patterson return to Brisbane.

“As a club we know what Lamar can do and the value he can add to our current roster,” he said.

“He understands what we are looking to achieve as a club and we know he enjoys playing under the guidance of Andrej (Lemanis), CJ (Bruton) and Greg (Vanderjagt).

“We look forward to getting him back around our group and working towards a return to the court in the near future.”

Lemanis is looking forward to working with the American import again. 

“We all know what Lamar, at his best, brings to this group and whilst there will still be an integration process because we are a different team to the one he has played with last season, I’m excited about having him here,” he said. 

“One advantage of bringing in Lamar is that he understands us and we understand who he is. He’s familiar with our offence, he’s familiar with our defence, who we are as a coaching staff and how we operate as an organisation, so I’m confident that will make his transition into the group a quick and smooth one.

“He’s certainly proven that he helps us succeed as a team. We know he is coming-in injured but we’ve done all our due-diligence and, as with every decision or non-decision we make, there is an element of risk involved. We’re confident that the risk versus potential reward equation here is in our favour. I’m eager to watch it evolve over the next month and excited about where this can take us as a team.”

With Patterson not available to play for another three games, the Bullets have added Sunshine Coast product Jamaal Robateau to the playing roster. The 26-year-old will join the squad immediately.