It’s not just the South Dragons’ faithful who are excited about the club’s future – NBL commissioner Rick Burton knows the Dragons are one team destined for success.

With Shane Heal, Brent Hobba, Jacob Holmes and Joe Ingles all signed to the team for next season, Burton expects big things from the Dragons’ camp.

“I think (the Dragons) will be even better next season and I think if you were to make a list – and I’ve certainly done it as a fan – if you were to make a list of which teams you think will be in the top four next year I certainly think the Bullets and the Tigers will be there but I think the Dragons are one of those other teams that are going to make the investment in a number of ways to ensure they are a highly competitive team,” Burton told SEN.

“It’s Shane Heal’s reputation and his style and I think it also fits Mark Cowan and Ruffy Geminder, I don’t think they’ll be accepting of coming seventh and getting knocked out in the first game (of the playoffs) so I think they’ll be a side that is very, very competitive next year."

Burton is one of a legion of fans expecting continued success from the Dragons in 2007-'08 and, like many South supporters, will watch the return of Heal and Ingles with keen interest.

“The core of the (South Dragons) team is going to be, I think, Shane Heal and Joe Ingles and that’s a pretty awesome duo to build around.”

Burton this week paid tribute to the Dragons for their role in reviving the Philips Championship in 2006-‘07, a season that will long be remembered as one of the best on record.

“We had a couple of great teams in the comp this year, the Bullets set an all-time record with consecutive wins, the Tigers were really on a lot of fronts every bit as good a team, the Dragons came into Melbourne and put 9000 in on Boxing Day, we added a team in Singapore, we got back on free-to-air television and I think slowly but surely a lot pf people really started to see the NBL and the Philips Championship in a different light,” Burton said.

“It was a fantastic year for us on a number of fronts, our attendance was up 23 per cent and I think a lot of people started to see that maybe the NBL was really starting to come out of the doldrums.”

And fans of the game can look forward to a bright future, with Burton promising to raise the national league to new heights in 2007 and beyond.

“I think the Philips Championship this year is stronger than it’s probably ever been in terms of the calibre of players that are playing in the league… and as we keep raising the salary cap I think we’re going to keep offering Australians a better and better level of basketball,” Burton said.

“My goal is to make the NBL the third best basketball league in the world and I think we’re a chance to be every bit that behind the NBA and the Euro league.

“With us having teams in Singapore and New Zealand - and who’s to say we don’t add another Asian team - the NBL really could start to become an Asian Pacific league of some note,” he said.