NBA and NBL champion Ian Clark has agreed to a deal with the South East Melbourne Phoenix for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, sources told ESPN.
The deal will see Clark join the fourth NBL team of his career, bolstering a Phoenix team that currently sits in third place on the league's ladder with a 13-6 record.
Clark joins the Phoenix as a replacement for Hunter Maldonado, who the team parted ways with on Sunday.
The 34-year-old was a member of Melbourne United from 2023-2025, playing a key role in the franchise's back-to-back Championship Series appearances. Over his last season in the NBL, Clark averaged 14.4 points per game, shooting 36.9% from beyond the three-point line, on 5.2 attempts a contest.
Clark most recently played for Cangrejeros de Santurce in Puerto Rico, averaging 14.5 points per game, shooting 42.2% from downtown.
Clark long harboured a desire to play in the NBL for the 2025-26 season, sources said, with the expectation that he would make himself available around December. The Illawarra Hawks and Perth Wildcats are two teams who had meaningful negotiations with Clark during the first half of the season, sources said, but it's the Phoenix who ultimately earned his signature.
The signing will see Clark join Wes Iwundu and John Brown III as the Phoenix's imports, on a team that currently has a top-two offence and top-two defence in Josh King's second season as head coach.
Maldonado averaged 8.9 points and 4.3 assists per game during his time with the Phoenix, and posted 18 points and five rebounds in his final game: a 107-78 win over the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday evening. Given the Phoenix's place on the ladder -- widely regarded as one of the league's legitimate playoff contenders -- the team felt that upgrading their import guard could elevate their ceiling.
Prior to his time with United, Clark had stints with both the Sydney Kings and Adelaide 36ers. He won the 2022 NBL Championship as a member of the Kings.
The 6'3 combo guard is best known for his time in the NBA, where he played for four teams across six seasons. Clark's most prominent stint in the NBA came with the Golden State Warriors, where he played a key role off the bench for their title-winning campaign in his final season with the team, averaging 6.8 points per game in the playoffs.