Jesse Wagstaff is set to become the Perth Wildcats’ all-time games leader after locking in a deal to return to the NBL club for a 16th season.

The future of the six-time champion appeared uncertain in the initial stages of last season, with the veteran used sparingly and in some cases failing to get on the court amid Perth’s early struggles.

But Wagstaff bounced back strongly to play a key role in the Cats’ resurgence, averaging 7.4 points per game from December onwards and leading from the front to help Perth earn a top-two finish.

While the captain’s main motivation in returning remains another title, he said making 10 more appearances to surpass Ricky Grace’s club record of 482 games would “mean a huge amount”.

“There’s a lot to go before that, but it certainly would be a huge honour if I did,” Wagstaff said.

Having waited until June last year to to finalise his most recent contract, Wagstaff said he was pleased to have his one-year deal secured so early in the off-season.

“It happened pretty quick this year compared to previous years, but I’m super excited and I felt good throughout last year so hopefully we can do a few better this year,” he said.

“In previous seasons I’ve wanted some time off, just to see how things unfolded.

“This year my body felt good and I still felt good with what I was contributing on court, so I was probably mentally ready earlier to make that decision to go again.”

Wildcats basketball operations manager Danny Mills said the club was thrilled to get another season out of Wagstaff, who turns 38 later this month.

“As the captain of the club, his leadership and championship experience are invaluable for the team, especially for our core of young players, which he demonstrates daily with his work ethic and team-first mentality,” Mills said.

The Cats are expected to finalise more roster decisions across the coming days as movement around the NBL heats up.

Perth is likely to be in the mix to recruit star guard Will McDowell-White, who became a free agent after declining his player option to return to New Zealand.

The 25-year-old has risen to become one of the NBL’s best backcourt players and was on Thursday named in the Australian Boomers’ 22-man extended squad for this year’s Olympics.

Key trio Bryce Cotton, Kristian Doolittle and Keanu Pinder - the latter also named in the Boomers squad - are contracted at Perth, with point guard Tai Webster also expected to be retained after a strong campaign last season.

Hyrum Harris, Ben Henshall, David Okwera and Michael Harris are also finalised to be on next season’s main roster.