The Minnesota Timberwolves announced today that they have signed former Adelaide 36ers forward Mitch Creek to a 10-Day contract.
The Timberwolves are severely undermanned with injuries to one-third of their roster. Taj Gibson, Luol Deng, Derrick Rose, Jeff Teague and Robert Covington are all on the teams injured list.
Creek, 26, played in four games with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this season, after playing well for the Long Island Nets, the teams G-League affiliate.
Creek signed two back-to-back 10 day contracts in January/February and averaged 3.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 9.0 minutes per game.
Creek’s G-League play has gained the attention of multiple teams this season and along with this recent opportunity with the Timberwolves, he is in a great position to sign a full-year NBA deal for the 2019/20 season.
Creek played in 41 games (32 starts) with the Long Island Nets, averaging 15.3 points, on 55.4% shooting, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 30.5 minutes per game.
The timing of Creek’s third 10-day contract, while great news for Creek, is a little unfortunate for the Long Island Nets as they look to win a G-League championship over the next two weeks.
Long Island are coming off a 112-99 victory over Raptors 905 where Mitch Creek added 13 points and 12 rebounds as the team earned a spot in the G-League Eastern Conference Finals.
The Long Island Nets aren’t the only team likely to be impacted by the signing. Creek has also agreed to play with the newest NBL team, the South East Melbourne Phoenix this coming season but this is looking less and less likely with all the NBA attention Creek is getting right now. Creek signed a three-year deal to play with the Phoenix but this also includes an NBA out clause.
The Australia native played eight seasons for the NBL’s Adelaide 36ers, averaging 9 points, and 4 rebounds in 197 games. After a break-out season in 2017-18 when he averaged 15 points and 6 rebounds, Creek led the Adelaide 36ers to the NBL Grand Final and was named to the All-NBL Second Team in the process.
Creek then played briefly with German team BG Göttingen in 2018, averaging 11.9 points in seven games before signing with the Long Island Nets under Will Weaver, current assistant coach of the Australian Boomers.
Creek will wear uniform #55 for the Minnesota Timberwolves and is expected to play in the team’s remaining six games, starting with a match-up against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
Portland Trailblazers Remaining NBA Games:
Portland (home)
Dallas (away)
Miami (home)
Oklahoma City (home)
Toronto (home)
Denver (away)
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
