Whether it’s sport, music, drinking (especially drinking) or literally anything else, Aussies always seem to come up trumps. Despite having a population so small, we’ve certainly held our own against bigger nations. Whether it be by pure fluke, like Steven Bradbury and his 2002 Winter Olympics gold medal, or by straight skill alone.

Maybe it’s due to our tough convict heritage, or the fact that from a young age we’re all encouraged to start the day with Weet-Bix and end it with a few cold ones residing in the fact that you “tried ya best and gave it a good dig”. Regardless, on this side of the pond we’re born champs.

There is NO better way to show this than to cite what is happening in the NBA at present. Sure the season is over, and sure the draft-pick is finished, but some of our boys over in land of the ‘if I don’t like your opinion I might shoot you’ have landed some serious positions and contracts. All of which are detailed below:

Matthew Dellavedova

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlAzmLjkFCQ

Delly as we know him, sadly missed out on a championship ring, however after proving his worth in the finals has been offered a new contract by the Cavs. The alleged 1.5m is beer money to the giants of the league, but for someone like Delly, no doubt a huge step up. Hopefully with his new paycheque he can get a beard trim, we for one are tired of him rocking the drunk uncle look on and off the court.

Patty Mills

The leagues first Aboriginal player had a relatively quiet season. However, now the curtain is down on 2015, he and the spurs are looking to secure a ’16 finals championship. Mills was credited with being a deciding factor that led four time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, to sign a four-year 80 million dollar contract. Mills played alongside Aldridge for the Portland Trailblazers, and will join him alongside Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and another powerful new signee Kawhi Leonard, forming what could be one of the most powerful lineups we’ve seen in recent years.

Dante Exum & Joe Ingles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iygN_hSTEl4

Over in Utah, both Dante Exum and Joe Ingles have decided to re-sign with The Jazz, Ingles is set to get 4.5m over 2 years. Dante had a rough rookie season, being manhandled by some of the more solid veterans on the court, however he has looked to change this, and has since stacked on about 5kgs. Exum was dropping buckets in the summer league until a minor sprain has seen him set off the court for a few weeks.

Aron Baynes

Finally after reaching a verbal agreement with the Detroit Pistons, Aron Baynes is set to earn 20m over 3 years. The Cairns local is back home for now, running a few winter training camps in Brisbane and Sydney. And according to Fox News, Baynes is hanging around for the State of Origin decider so he can hit the goon and talk smack with his mates – onya Baynesey.

With a large majority of trades having been finalised, and many free agents finding new or old homes, we are beginning to see a glimpse of what many teams new and improved lineups will look like for the ’16 season. All these trades have us feeling one type of way, excited.