Basketball: NZ Breakers beat Melbourne United in race for young Chinese guard Terry Li

Highly touted NBA prospect and new Breakers guard RJ Hampton is already having an effect on the club.

Simply having Hampton on the books has been a factor in landing another highly touted young player, 19-year-old star NBA Global Academy guard Terry Li.

Initially planning to test himself at the American collegiate level, Li decided to take up the opportunity to play professionally in the Australian league, shrugging off an offer from Melbourne United to join the New Zealand franchise on a three-year deal that will see him begin life with the club as a development player.

He said the chance to be teammates with Hampton played a part in his decision.

"I am super excited to start competing every day against my American teammate RJ Hampton," Li said.

"During a three-day visit to Auckland to meet the Breakers, I immediately felt comfortable with the club's management."

Li, who stands at 198cm, has developed his game at Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence over the past year and is in line to become the first Chinese player to appear for the Breakers. The centre serves as the NBA's hub for some of the top prospects outside of the United States.

Breakers owner Matt Walsh said he was particularly impressed by Li's work ethic and his ability to use his size and speed to attack defences.

"Terry is a good outside shooter with basketball intelligence and athleticism," Walsh said. "He is an excellent athlete who is strong playing both positions of the backcourt, with no fear of contact and it is those qualities we are looking for in a player to attract to this club.

"One of the great things about Terry is he's all basketball all the time. He's a guy who I think we're going to have to tell to take a break, one of his big things is he wanted to live close to the gym because he's such a hard worker, I think he'll be in here twice a day, getting up extra shots, working on his game and I think with his work ethic he'll have a chance into develop into a really good player in the NBL."