Bullets the perfect place to start for Rio

Rio Bruton is currently tearing it up ahead of the NBL1 Central Grand Final with the South Adelaide Panthers, but there was nowhere he wanted to take the next step in his career with than becoming the third generation of his family to play at the Brisbane Bullets.

The Bruton name is already etched into history not only in the NBL and Australian basketball as a whole, but especially with the Bullets where Rio's grandad Cal was the inaugural coach and 1985 championship player, and his dad CJ was a star player and part of the 2007 title winning team.

Rio also spent plenty of time in and around the club when he was growing up after the Bullets returned to the NBL and his dad was a long-time assistant coach Andrej Lemanis before the family made the move to Adelaide when CJ was named head coach at the 36ers.

Now in his first year out of high school and having just turned 19 years of age, Bruton is a key member of the South Adelaide Panthers team that now has the week off this weekend having already qualified for the NBL1 Central Grand Final.

He is already locked in to begin his NBL career with the Bullets as well signing on as a development player for NBL27. There was nowhere else he wouldn’t have wanted to start this next journey with.

"It means a lot to me and it's a huge honour and blessing in itself and just being able to have those two who have played at the highest level nationally and internationally, I'm just extremely grateful that I have them by my side and I'm able to just learn from them and pick their brain," Bruton said.

"It's very special because it's not only the club that my grandfather and father has played for, it's also in the city that I was born and spent most of my time playing junior basketball with the Southern Districts Spartans as well as being around such an amazing group of players when my dad was coach of the Bullets for about six years.

"Getting to play with some of the guys that he had taken under his wing like a key piece like Tyrell Harrison and being able to learn from him is going to be such an amazing experience as well as the guys like Mitch Norton, Lat Mayen and everyone else on that team who have played at the collegiate level, in the NBA and internationally as well as here in the NBL."

Choosing NBL before college

Bruton did have a decision to make about where his immediate future would be and while college will still likely end up being his destination, he felt like a season first in the NBL would be best to get him ready for that.

He still needed an NBL team to be interested obviously and there was that dream a couple of years back of playing under his dad when he was coaching at the 36ers.

But that plan hasn’t worked out and then next best bet for Rio was to begin his NBL journey with the Bullets where his family name is held in such high esteem.

"It's definitely something that I had to weigh up in the air especially when I got older and finished high school," Bruton said.

"Obviously when my dad was with the Sixers at the time I always had a vision of being a development player first before I did anything else, and obviously I did have a few colleges reach out to me after my time in Canberra and at the CoE.

"It's definitely something that I talked about with my family for a long period of time but I think it was just best for me to take this gap year and develop and learn from professionals that I'm aspiring to be like.

"Especially in the long term that will help me with my development so when I go over to the States and am playing against guys my own age, I already have that professional exposure and experience that I've been getting here in Australia. I'm very happy and grateful with the decision that I made."

Being given a key role on contending team

For someone who was still 18 at the start of this NBL1 season and you could understand if Bruton was in a development role and not necessarily getting big moments on a contending team like the Panthers.

Instead, South Adelaide coach Paul Bell has backed Bruton all the way by starting him and playing him big minutes and with the backing of two-time MVP Jeremy Smith as the experienced leader showing the way on a young team, it's paying dividends.

Bruton is playing over 30 minutes a game and had some breakout performances including six games where he's scored 20-plus points as he tries to do what his dad did before his NBL career by winning an SBL championship back in Perth at the Perry Lakes Hawks aged 18 in 1994.

"The coaching staff and honestly my teammates have the utmost trust in me to just go out there and play freely, and do what I do best which is just playing the right way and doing whatever it takes to win a basketball game," Bruton said.

"I'll go out there and do it whether that's scoring 20 points a night and grabbing 10 offensive rebounds or just playing a role off the bench, starting or whatever.

"Anything it takes to win a basketball game I'm there to contribute and I'm very grateful and thankful that the South Adelaide organisation have so much belief in me.

"Especially as a guy who just came straight out of high school and is able to contribute to winning and to a club with so much rich history, and continuing that line."

Having an MVP take you under his wing

When Jeremy Smith was weighing up where he wanted to play in 2026, he was at a point on his career where he wanted to be having a greater impact than just putting up numbers that he can still do in spades.

That's highlighted by him winning the Woollacott Medal and obviously he wants to win another championship, but the bigger picture was that he wanted to help develop younger players to get them on the right path to chase their dreams.

That has included Bruton who couldn’t be more thankful to have him take him under his wing as he has.

"He means a lot not only for myself but for the entire group and we have such a young group where the second oldest guy is probably only 23 years old, and one of our key guy is 22 in Lloyd McVeigh," Bruton said.

"Having him there as the big veteran piece who has been around the league, won a championship and MVP and done so much in terms of his career, having him as an outlet for not only basketball but life as well, it has been really crucial and I've been spending a whole lot of time with him.

"I've just been trying to pick his brain as much as possible and it's just been an absolute pleasure going to war with him and then battling out during practice, and with him helping me ultimately in where I want to get to."