WEDNESDAY, 7:46am: The signing is official, the team announced (on Twitter). “I’m excited to meet the best fans in Europe, win titles,” Mekel said, according to Pick (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 4:35pm: Former NBA guard Gal Mekel has signed a deal with the Serbian team Crvena Zvezda, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link). The pact is for two seasons and includes an NBA out clause, according to Pick.
Mekel appeared in four contests for the Pelicans last season, averaging 1.5 points, 0.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 10.8 minutes per contest before being waived by the team in December. The point guard then signed with Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod, and finished out the 2014/15 campaign playing overseas.
The 27-year-old had reportedly had contract talks with three NBA teams this offseason, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com noted back in July, but no NBA deal apparently materialized from those discussions.
Mekel clearly wants to play in the NBA, it seems, but it just doesn’t seem to be happening for him. I keep thinking back to the bad luck he had with his work visa that scuttled a deal with the Pacers last year. We’ll see if he can find anything through that NBA escape clause.