United seek to unveil Luke Travers' full NBA talent

Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman sees the undoubted NBA talent within Luke Travers but is still working on bringing it to the fore.

After four years with the Perth Wildcats, Travers made the move to Melbourne in the hope it would be a stepping stone to the world’s premier competition.

The 22-year-old swingman has averaged 11.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists for ladder-leading United through the first half of the season.

The return has been good, Vickerman says, but not yet great.

“We want more from him … we still haven’t quite tapped into what he can become,” Vickerman said.

“That’s the challenge for us, to continue to push him.

“We saw it for a half against the Sydney Kings, where he scores 18 points and has six boards and a couple of assists.

“He can dominate a game like that and there’s moments where you’re asking him to continue to be more aggressive.

“It’s been a good first half of the year for him but we’re asking for more in the second half.”

Drafted by Cleveland in 2022, Travers got a taste of Summer League action before returning to the NBL with Perth.

With half an eye still on the NBA, Travers concedes he needs to improve his consistency as he looks to help Melbourne improve on a strong 10-3 start to the season.

Melbourne United’s Luke Travers dunks over Adelaide’s Mitch McCarron. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

“There’s been some ups and downs but I just wanted to come in here and play consistent basketball, which I feel like I’ve been doing,” Travers said.

“But it has been a consistent two or three good quarters a game, so if I can get that to four (quarters) as much as possible then it should be pretty handy.

“It’s about staying locked in for that 40 minutes and that’s going to be the main focus for the rest of the season.”

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian is a regular onlooker at United training sessions and Travers doesn’t pass up opportunities to speak with the man who could give him a Paris Olympics ticket next year.

“When you see those type of faces in the building you’ve got to show up as much possible,” Travers said.

“It’s definitely a goal of mine, for sure. Every kid wants to play for Australia but not only that, it’s the Olympics as well.

“To tick that off would be a dream come true, but at the moment I’m just focused on the NBL season.”

Travers posted 14 points and seven rebounds against the Cairns Taipans last week but couldn’t prevent Melbourne suffering a shock 115-103 home loss.

He said defence has been United’s main focus as they seek to get their title push back on track with the Brisbane Bullets’ visit to John Cain Arena on Sunday.

“It’s about not being too complacent, which we feel like may have done a little bit (last week),” Travers said.

“It’s just getting back in here and playing hard at training as well. It starts from that and hopefully transitions to the games.”