CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - Brad States won’t wear the orange and white jersey of the Island Storm again this season after the National Basketball League of Canada club traded the six-foot-seven forward to the St. John’s Edge on Monday.
Coming to P.E.I. is six-foot-six Canadian forward Guillaume Boucard and the Edge’s second round pick in the 2019 NBL entry draft.
Storm head coach Tim Kendrick said the 2-11 squad, losers of 10 straight games, swapped the frontcourters with hopes of fattening its depth and scoring.
“We needed someone that could help us right away. Boucard’s a really good player. The move allows us to upgrade the roster. We’re trying to upgrade our team and get back in the race a little bit,” said Kendrick, who sees Boucard in a shooting guard-small forward role.
Kendrick wouldn’t speculate as to why Boucard became available, but his numbers are down from last year’s campaign with the Niagara River Lions. There he averaged 14 points per game and almost eight rebounds a contest.
This season with St. John’s, the Montreal native is averaging 6.3 points and almost five rebounds per game but Kendrick still eyed Boucard as a desirable asset to the last place Storm.
“He’s a north-south guy, goes hard to the basket. His work ethic is beyond reproach, he’s a solid culture guy. He’ll help us all the way around,” Kendrick said. “I can’t speak for the Edge. It was just the way it worked out, kind of circumstantial. We felt we had to make the move.”
States, who’s from Bathurst, N.B., averaged 4.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in his third season with the Storm. States played for Kendrick at UPEI.
The Storm expect Boucard in the lineup for Friday’s game versus the Moncton Magic at the Eastlink Centre. Game time is 7 p.m., and while Kendrick said the Storm isn’t above making more deals, those deals are subject to performance if the team wants to turn things around.
“All of us have to do a better job at our jobs.”
