By SAM WORTHINGTON - The Dominion Post

It is turning into a classic good news-bad news week for Wellington Saints chief executive Nick Mills.

The good is that the Saints have signed their second import, American Erron Maxey.

The bad, neither Maxey, 31, or new player-coach Pero Cameron will be in Palmerston North for the NBL season opener against the Jets on Saturday night.

Both are required to fulfil their contractual agreements with the Gold Coast Blaze, who have Australian NBL season-ending prize-giving and sponsorship obligations at the weekend.

Cameron lands in Wellington today to finalise his squad before flying back to Gold Coast on Saturday.

The messy start to the season ends with Cameron back in Wellington for good on Monday.

Assistant coach Kenny McFadden will hold the fort in Cameron's absence, a situation Mills admitted was not ideal.

"Kenny will run things for this weekend," Mills said. "Lindsay Tait will be our on-court leader and he'll get us through it."

Maxey is a 1.98m forward, who has averaged 13.8 points and 6.4 rebounds for Gold Coast this season.

Maxey's signing takes the Saints' roster to seven, alongside Cameron, fellow import Darryl Hudson, Nick Horvath, Lindsay Tait, Leon Henry and Troy McLean.

This week Cameron will add to that with Wellington talent and Mills said Cameron was enthusiastic about the addition of Maxey.

"He's told us that he's a really hard worker. His pedigree is great, he's played at the highest levels in Europe and he's always done well.

"He'll be more of a role player, he'll just do a job. He's a skilled multi-forward so he can play two, three or four. He's a hustler, he works hard, strong, can shoot the outside shot, can rebound."

The Saints initially sought a taller player to fill the second import spot, but Craig Bradshaw and Anthony Petrie fell through.

It leaves former Tall Black Nick Horvath by far the tallest in the squad at 2.08m. "We are small, probably the smallest Saints lineup for a long time," Mills said.

"But I think that we've put a lot of our eggs in Leon Henry's basket.

"We really believe that this will be his year. We think he is a star of the future and he's done that secondary role for long enough so this is the year that he has to step up. For us to do well, he has to have a big year."

Mills said American guard Hudson had arrived in Wellington in great shape. "He's enjoying being here, he wants to be here, he wants to prove a point. He's definitely not going to take the game over by himself but he'll definitely be a clutch player or a role player that we'll need when it comes down to it."