Super League Basketball 2: What Bradford Dragons had to say about realignment rumours

The Dragons endured a season of regression as they finished second-bottom of the second tier, and in any other year would have been fighting against relegation.

But amid uncertainty over the make-up of the English league next year that reflects similar confusion over the running and structure of SLB next season amid their licence dispute with the British Basketball Federation, Dragons were told with two weeks to go that they were safe from the drop, even if they finished bottom.

Despite a difficult season, Mellor - who has been head coach for more than two decades - believes Bradford have a structure in place to return to competitiveness.

And he would be open to exploring their involvement in an SLB2, should that happen.

“I would want to be part of an SLB2, but I wouldn’t want to be second-class citizens,” Mellor told The Yorkshire Post.

“It would have to benefit us. Right now the proposals are much better for Super League clubs.”

As for his own team’s performance, a difficult recruiting period last summer saw them fall from play-off contenders and Cup finalists, to a 10-game losing run to start the season.

The return of their American star Justin Williams after Christmas saw them finish the season with a 7-7 record, including a win over champions Hemel on the final day that saw them climb off the bottom of the table.

“Before the last two weeks we’d kind of heard there was no relegation but I said to the guys don’t believe any of this, we need to keep fighting,” said Mellor.

“Unfortunately we finished bottom two and it was our worst season. We’d only flirted with relegation once before in 15 years.

“We’ve got a new committee, a new board, our structures are in place. If we recruit right, we’ll be okay again.”

Mellor is running a basketball camp for 7-18 year olds from May 27-29 at Calderdale College.

Click here for details and to register.