The New Zealand Breakers have signed Kouat Noi on a two-year deal as they try to build a roster capable of contending in the 2026-27 season. The move is pending approval from the NBL, and the second year of the contract is a mutual option.
Noi arrives in Auckland with a reputation that fits the Breakers’ needs. The 28-year-old won two NBL championships and one Sixth Man of the Year award with the Sydney Kings, where he played 127 games across four seasons after beginning his professional career with the Cairns Taipans in 2019. He averaged 14.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in the 2024-25 season, while shooting 38.4% from beyond the arc.
The signing comes as the Breakers look to address an offense that finished sixth in rating at 113.4 last season and ranked second-last in three-point percentage at 30.8%. They did attempt the fifth-most threes per game at 27.6, which made the lack of accuracy more glaring. Noi’s arrival gives the club another shooter who can stretch the floor, and it also reunites him with Dejan Vasiljevic, his backcourt partner during Sydney’s 2022-23 championship run. That pair combined to shoot 37.3% from deep in that title-winning campaign.
Noi said he is arriving with one goal. “I’m coming to Auckland to win,” he said, adding that the roster being built should make the Breakers one of the most entertaining teams to watch and that his mindset is locked in on an MVP-calibre season. He also said he is ready to embrace Aotearoa, the culture, the fans and the whānau, ending with a message to supporters: “Strap yourselves in, Breakers fans.”
The move also signals how aggressively New Zealand is trying to reshape its future. The club had already retained Sam Mennenga and Parker Jackson-Cartwright, but it still had not appointed a head coach at the time of the report. Even so, chief executive Dillon Boucher said Noi is “a proven winner who brings an incredible level of intensity and flair to the court” and added that he can score in multiple ways and provide an elite offensive spark. Marc Mitchell said Noi’s championship mindset and team-first approach made him exactly the type of player the club wanted, and that fans in New Zealand would make him feel at home.
Noi is currently spending his off-season in Lebanon after recently signing with Riyadhi Beirut Club, which sits atop the standings heading into the playoffs. For the Breakers, though, the longer view is clear: they are not just adding a scorer, but a player who has already been through title pressure and is now being asked to help change the shape of a roster built for a different kind of finish.
