Ballarat Miners head coach Brendan Joyce says he hopes most teams will bring back imports for the 2021 NBL1 season.
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Joyce was one of a number of league representatives who filled out a survey to help the competition tackle a number of issues heading into next year.
League delegates will meet to discuss the findings on September 1.
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Among likely talking points will be the direction clubs takes around imports and restricted players.
With border restrictions and financial pressure caused by COVID-19 certain to linger into next season, some teams might choose to trot out an all local line up.
Joyce said in order to maintain the product, it was important teams try and bring imports back.
"Teams need a couple of good imports to promote the game," he said.
"They are popular in their communities but also you need them to increase the talent level to make their team competitive and raise the standard of play."
Joyce, who coached the Miners to the top of the ladder in 2019, said teams without good local depth might struggle to stay competitive without imported talent.
He said he'd be surprised if some teams opted against bringing them back.
"I'm hopeful we have two imports to maintain the product, not only on our team but everybody else's team," he said.
While he acknowledged cost would be a factor heading into next season, Joyce was hopeful most associations would back playing by November.
"Hopefully there won'y be too many clubs that will be in financial trouble because you don't need a lot to be in the competition," he said.