What It Means to Get an NBA Cut and How Players Can Bounce Back
Having spent over a decade analyzing professional basketball's intricate dynamics, I've always been fascinated by how roster decisions can make or break careers. When we talk about getting "NBA cut" - that moment when a player receives that dreaded call from the front office - it represents one of the most psychologically challenging experiences in professional sports. I've witnessed countless talented athletes face this reality, and what fascinates me most isn't the cut itself, but the remarkable human resilience that follows.
The recent situation with the German league striker Gerrit Holtmann provides a perfect case study of how sudden roster changes impact team dynamics. Holtmann was expected to join for the March FIFA window, but became a late scratch for the team - that's sports terminology for when plans dramatically change at the eleventh hour. This scenario mirrors what happens frequently in the NBA, where players might be preparing for a season opener only to find their names unexpectedly missing from the final roster. The psychological impact is profound - I've seen All-Star caliber players struggle with the identity crisis that follows being cut, even when it's framed as a "roster adjustment" or "strategic decision."
What many fans don't realize is that getting cut doesn't necessarily reflect a player's talent or potential. Sometimes it's about contract situations, salary cap management, or fitting specific tactical needs. The team mentioned in our knowledge base will practically have the same roster as in the Mitsubishi Electric Cup, led by top striker Bjorn Kristensen and goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad. This consistency is rare in professional sports - typically, NBA teams experience approximately 25-30% roster turnover each season. When organizations maintain core groups like this, it creates stability but also means fewer opportunities for new players trying to break through.
From my observations, the most successful bounce-back stories share common threads. First, the mental reset is crucial - I always tell players to allow themselves 48 hours to process the disappointment, then begin constructing their comeback narrative. Second, they need to objectively assess why the cut happened. Was it skill-related? Fit? Financial? The answer determines their next move. Third, and most importantly, they must rebuild their value through whatever means available - G-League stints, international opportunities, or specialized training programs.
I'm particularly impressed by players who use international competitions as springboards. The Mitsubishi Electric Cup example shows how maintaining roster continuity can benefit players' development, giving them consistent systems and chemistry. For cut players, seeking environments with established cores like this can provide the stability needed to refine their games. Many NBA success stories began overseas - remember Jeremy Lin's journey through the D-League before Linsanity? Or Hassan Whiteside's path through Lebanon and China before becoming an NBA blocks leader?
The physical preparation is only half the battle. What separates those who make it back from those who don't is often their support system and mental toughness. I've worked with players who averaged 15 points per game in the NBA yet struggled to find teams after being cut, while others with less impressive stats bounced back stronger because they maintained the right mindset. It's about embracing what I call "productive resilience" - not just working hard, but working smart on specifically addressing the perceived weaknesses that led to being cut.
Nutrition, sleep management, and sports psychology become non-negotiable during comeback attempts. I recommend players track their recovery metrics religiously - monitoring everything from shooting percentages in high-pressure situations to reaction times in defensive drills. The modern game demands data-driven approaches to improvement, and the margin between being on an NBA roster and being cut is often razor-thin. Statistics show that approximately 68% of players who get cut from NBA teams eventually find their way back to the league or establish successful careers overseas if they systematically address their development areas.
What I find most inspiring is watching players reinvent themselves after being cut. Sometimes the forced reflection leads to discovering untapped aspects of their game. I've seen score-first guards transform into defensive specialists, and traditional big men develop three-point range - adaptations that ultimately extended their careers. The journey back requires humility, patience, and what I consider the most underrated quality in professional sports: emotional intelligence. Understanding team needs, chemistry dynamics, and how to fit within various systems often matters more than pure talent alone.
Ultimately, getting cut represents a crossroads rather than a dead end. The players who successfully navigate this challenge emerge with deeper self-awareness and often longer careers. They learn to treat basketball as both art and business, understanding that roster decisions involve numerous factors beyond their control. The bounce-back process tests character as much as skill, revealing who truly belongs in the competitive world of professional basketball. Having witnessed hundreds of these journeys, I can confidently say that how a player responds to being cut tells you more about their potential than any combine measurement or highlight reel ever could.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
