The 2016 off-season saw the Wildcats part ways with Tom Jervis, Jermaine Beal (both to Brisbane) and Nathan Jawai (Cairns)—three cogs in the team's seventh championship. The trio was replaced with Angus Brandt (Sydney), Jaron Johnson (NBA D-League) and Jameel McKay (college). With the NBL altering its import restriction in 2016 from two to three foreign-born players, the Wildcats were also able to retain Casey Prather for the 2016–17 season. In addition, the Wildcats signed 2015–16 training player Dexter Kernich-Drew to a full-time contract, and retained the core group behind captain and Olympian Damian Martin. In an all too recurring theme for the Wildcats however, big man Matthew Knight injured his right shoulder at training in early September and was ruled out for two months. To replace him, the team recruited former Adelaide 36ers forward Lucas Walker.

After a lacklustre season opener in Brisbane against the reintroduced Brisbane Bullets on 6 October, in which they were defeated 72–65, the Wildcats turned it on two days later in Perth to defeat the Cairns Taipans 84–74 in overtime. The hero of the game was Jaron Johnson, who, after struggling over the first three quarters of the game, stepped up his play in the fourth quarter to nail four triples, including a game-typing three-pointer that sent the game into overtime. Just three games into the season, the Wildcats felt Johnson was not the right fit for the team and replaced him with three-point specialist Andre Ingram. However, Ingram managed just two games for the Wildcats before leaving Perth due to mental health concerns. Injuries to Martin (jaw & knee) and Kenny (groin) left the Wildcats no choice but to reactivate Johnson's contract, elevate development player Corban Wroe, and sign Jackson Hussey. Martin's absence throughout November and December showed, as the Wildcats dropped from a 4–1 record to 7–9 (last place) following a Round 12 loss to Adelaide. As a result of their poor run of form—losing six of their previous seven games and recording a 1–6 road record on the season—the team made the tough decision to release Johnson for a second time just two days before Christmas. Johnson's replacement, Bryce Cotton, made an immediate impact with a 26-point outing in his debut on 7 January against Sydney—the most by a Wildcat on debut, surpassing James Ennis' 25-point effort from 2013.

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