Rising NBL Next Star Luke Paul is reportedly closing in on making a decision on which club he will join during the Hungry Jack’s 2026-27 season.

According to CODE Sports’ Matt Logue, the Cairns Taipans have emerged as the front-runners for the Western Australian talent.

CODE Sports reports the Taipans’ proven development focus is key to the push, led by coach Adam Forde.

General Manager Next Stars Recruitment Liam Santamaria explained that Cairns is ‘definitely’ in the mix for the rising talent, but noted that no contract had been signed yet.

“It's been a fun process we've been going through with Luke since he signed on to the program and we announced him as a Next Star at HoopsFest,” Santamaria said on the recent episode of The Marketplace, presented by Paywise.

“We said right from the start that we're going to take our time with this process, and we're going to let a little bit play out at the end of the season, to see who exactly is going to be coaching all these teams.

“We want to determine what could potentially be a great fit for him and where he could potentially be a great fit for that team and that program as well.”

Santamaria explained that Paul and his camp have explored interest from multiple NBL teams over the past few weeks, hinting that a final decision on which team he’ll join was not far away.

“He's had a number of meetings with a number of teams and has had some really good conversations in that regard, with Cairns definitely being one of those,” Santamaria added.

“If it ends up being Cairns, I think that would be a great spot for him. I’m excited for what type of roster that ends up looking like and I’m excited to see whether Adam Forde locks back in as their head coach.

“We know [Forde] is a great developer of young talent and is a Western Australian guy who has a good read on Luke’s game, having seen him come through that system.

“Those conversations have been trending well, but there's no contract locked away at this point. If it ends up being the Taipans, though, I think that would be a great spot for him.”

This reported news comes after Paul dominated at the recent Under 18s National Championships in Brisbane, where the 17-year-old starred for Western Australia Metro.

His 38-point performance against Victoria Country and 30-point effort against NSW Country were his highest-scoring outings, while he flirted with triple-doubles on multiple occasions, including posting 16 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists (along with 7 combined steals and blocks) in one game and 16 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists in another.

Paul, who is the youngest ever athlete to sign a Next Stars contract, is also set to lead the country’s campaign at the 2026 FIBA Under 17 World Cup in June in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Next Stars program has seen six players drafted in the first round across the last six NBA drafts, including LaMelo Ball (2020), Josh Giddey (2021), Ousmane Dieng (2022) and Alex Sarr (2024), all being selected inside the lottery.

Read the full story here >> Australian basketball prodigy Luke Paul on the cusp of deciding his NBL future