News coming out is that the 10-time champions, the City Oilers have completed the signing of the 2025 regular season and playoffs MVP Joel Lukoji Banza.

On Thursday 8th January, the Namuwongo Blazers put out a post thanking Joel for his services and wishing him the best in his new chapter.

This was the indicator that everyone had been waiting for and it was like a confirmatory test about his move to the oil side.

What does this move mean?

First and foremost, this is a move that we did not see coming but it is not very surprising. For the Namuwongo Blazers, keeping the same group of players that they had in 2025 was going to be very hard and it is not surprising that a big name like this has left.

After his departure from the Blazers, Lukoji was always going to go to a top team which is competing for the title and one that can afford his services.

If you look around, such teams are not very many and it only made sense for him to join the Oilers.

How does he fit in?

The City Oilers had a very thin squad in the 2025 season and this affected them a lot.

To make matters worse, most of the ‘newer’ players they had were not ‘elite’ and had not won much.

As a result, they struggled throughout the regular season until they got some reinforcements, in Chad Bowie and Kurt Curry for the playoffs.

However, the 2 have since returned to their clubs in Rwanda and the Oilers were back to the same problems. The lack of a solid squad with depth.

Joel Lukoji will slot in as the primary ball handler to help alleviate some of the pressure off of Fayed Baale.

In 2025, Fayed carried the team a lot and he needed help. Most of the guys on the bench could not match his level of production and that was a bummer.

However, with the arrival of Lukoji, Fayed can get to ball off the ball and be a very big catch and shoot threat.

Also, with the 2 of them, it will be hard for teams to press them full court as they will be having not one but two elite guards who can keep the game under control.

Finally, when it comes to unlocking set defences, the Oilers will be having two very high IQ players that can make very good reads and passes.

It will be interesting to see how to two fit together but for the Oilers, when you have two of the most skilled guards in the league, you have a reason to be optimistic.

Does this mean they are title favorites? I think it’s too early to tell. Judgement shall be made when transfers are done and the final team rosters are known.

The 2026 NBL season is set to start on 6th February with team registration concluding on 20th January.