Former National Basketball Association (NBA) center Boban Marjanovic will beef up Strong Group Athletics (SGA) in its quest to win a historic third straight William Jones Cup crown.

The 7-foot-4 Serbian, who played in seven NBA teams from 2015 until 2024, is expected to provide a dominant interior presence with SGA president Jacob Lao bracing for what could be the toughest edition of the annual tournament in recent years.

The tournament will run from 8 to 23 August at the New Taipei City Xinzhuang Gymnasium.

SGA has been drawn into Group A, where it will face Chinese Taipei Blue, Korea and Japan in the preliminary round.

“We’re building the best team possible because we know this will be the toughest William Jones Cup yet. Every participating country is expected to bring quality lineups, so we want to make sure we’re prepared for that challenge,” Lao said.

“Bringing in a player like Boban gives us a tremendous presence on both ends of the floor, and we’re excited to have him represent Strong Group-Pilipinas.”

Marjanovic suited up for the San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets.

He also played in Europe, where he won three Serbian League Most Valuable Player awards and captured a silver medal at the 2017 FIBA EuroBasket.

SGA coach Charles Tiu said the team had been working behind the scenes to land Marjanović and was pleased to see the veteran fully committed to the campaign.

“Excited to get Boban to agree to play for us. We’ve been having some good talks. He’s in shape and serious about this tournament,” Tiu said.

“He’s preparing back home even before he flies out here. We’ve already talked a bit about basketball and our plans. He’s a great and funny guy, too.”