NBA star Andrew Bogut is closer to coming home to play in Australia this NBL season as the major hurdle to him competing looks set to be lowered.

Five NBL clubs are believed to be actively talking with the Milwaukee Bucks centre - led by the Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers.



And their hopes have received a boost with the prospect of a reduced insurance premium to insure one of basketball's most valuable commodities.



Initial talk of a seven-figure sum to insure a player who earns $13 million a season has reduced to a more modest figure, based on the block of time he would play rather than an open-ended duration.



Bogut has expressed his wish to play in Australia should the NBA lockout - which has stalled the upcoming US season - continue beyond the competition's slated November 1 start date.



Basketball Australia chief executive Larry Sengstock admitted Bogut would be a massive coup for the league.



"What we're hearing is because there's a lot of (NBA) players wanting to go to Europe, and they could be on short-term contracts, is that the insurance companies are looking at doing it in pieces," Sengstock said.



Bogut, who admitted via Twitter he was in talks with several NBL clubs, is understood to be prepared to play for a modest wage, well within the means of a club's salary cap.

Originally published as Bogut nears Australian deal