Gaze said the Bandits’ fairytale SEABL championship run last year proved smaller budgets weren’t necessarily a hurdle to competing in the big league.

“There are opportunities for clubs that may not have the infrastructure or resources yet but I don’t think it would take enormous changes to get to a point where they’d be ­competitive,” Gaze said.

“What we need to do is grow the competition and, most importantly I believe, to one where teams like Albury at the very least have a pathway to meet the criteria to get there, rather than just putting financial restrictions on the competition,” Gaze said.

The five-time Olympian said the financial troubles engulfing the Townsville Crocodiles showed it was time a different structure and financial model for the NBL was seriously considered.

The Crocodiles’ ownership group earlier this week attempted to hand in its NBL licence, citing losses of $2.5 million over the past six years.

Gaze noted a tiered system that involved promotion and relegation would ensure association-based and regional teams would have greater opportunities to play at the highest level in Australia.

“I’ve always advocated there needs to be greater opportunities for all associations right across the country to have access to participate at the highest level,” he said.

“Given the difficulties that NBL teams — and the league — have faced with financial liabilities, I think we should be exploring other options to find a way to provide greater access, rather than just a private enterprise type team to come into the competition.

“I think at the very least, there’s some merit in looking at a situation where clubs could earn their way into the highest level.”

The dual NBL championship winner admitted there would be financial and resource details to be refined but said teams with on- or off-court difficulties could move back to a lower level, rather than vanish without a trace, as has happened to an alarming number of NBL teams over the past decade, notably the Brisbane Bullets, Gold Coast Blaze and South Dragons.

“I think that clubs have shown, not just here in Australia, but throughout the world, particularly some of the European models, that sometimes they go through challenges either through on- or off-court performances,” Gaze said.

He said there should be alternatives available for clubs like Townsville.

“They could go and play at a level where they could continue to grow and get their on- or off-court situation sorted out, so it gives them a chance to get back to the highest level,” he said.

“In the short term, to do that there would need to be significant restructuring to the competition to allow for different financial models.”