Nicolo Melli
Nicolo Melli was announced on June 30th to be signing a 2-year deal that’ll bring the 28-year-old forward to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Italian native was the top scorer in the EuroLeague Finals for his club Fenerbahce.
| Season | Team | League | G | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | Armani Jeans Milano | EuroLeague | eu | 10 | 3.2 | .375 | 1.0 | .300 | 0.9 | .667 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 3.3 |
| 2010-11 | Armani Jeans Milano | Lega Serie A | it | 17 | 2.2 | .289 | 0.8 | .231 | 0.4 | .571 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.7 |
| 2010-11 | Scavolini Sivilglia Pesaro | Lega Serie A | it | 12 | 4.4 | .340 | 1.7 | .200 | 0.5 | 1.000 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 3.8 |
| 2011-12 | EA7-Emporio Armani Milano | EuroLeague | eu | 11 | 2.9 | .563 | 0.8 | .333 | 0.5 | .500 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.8 |
| 2011-12 | EA7-Emporio Armani Milano | Lega Serie A | it | 25 | 3.4 | .372 | 1.3 | .303 | 0.7 | .667 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.4 |
| 2012-13 | EA7-Emporio Armani Milano | EuroLeague | eu | 10 | 4.4 | .364 | 2.4 | .250 | 1.2 | .667 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 4.6 |
| 2012-13 | EA7-Emporio Armani Milano | Lega Serie A | it | 30 | 4.7 | .458 | 1.9 | .351 | 1.4 | .786 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 6.1 |
| 2013-14 | EA7-Emporio Armani Milano | Lega Serie A | it | 30 | 6.0 | .492 | 2.4 | .408 | 1.1 | .794 | 1.4 | 4.2 | 5.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 7.8 |
| 2013-14 | EA7-Emporio Armani Milano | EuroLeague | eu | 27 | 4.3 | .478 | 1.8 | .333 | 0.8 | .773 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 5.3 |
| 2014-15 | EA7-Emporio Armani Milano | EuroLeague | eu | 24 | 4.8 | .400 | 2.5 | .333 | 0.8 | .700 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 5.3 |
| 2014-15 | EA7-Emporio Armani Milano | Lega Serie A | it | 29 | 4.7 | .438 | 2.3 | .382 | 0.9 | .760 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 5.7 |
| 2015-16 | Brose Baskets Bamberg | EuroLeague | eu | 23 | 6.7 | .468 | 2.3 | .453 | 2.3 | .815 | 1.2 | 5.3 | 6.5 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 9.2 |
| 2016-17 | Brose Bamberg | EuroLeague | eu | 30 | 8.5 | .502 | 2.8 | .434 | 2.4 | .740 | 1.3 | 6.1 | 7.4 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 11.5 |
| 2017-18 | Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul | EuroLeague | eu | 36 | 6.1 | .502 | 2.2 | .430 | 2.3 | .805 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 5.0 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 8.9 |
| 2018-19 | Fenerbahce | EuroLeague | eu | 36 | 5.9 | .435 | 2.7 | .385 | 1.4 | .816 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 7.3 |
| 9 Seasons | 5.2 | .454 | 2.1 | .374 | 1.3 | .769 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 6.5 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/10/2019.
While only holding a career 45.4% field goal percentage, being a power forward with a 37.4% three-point percentage should give him value in today’s stretch NBA game. Another international unknown to anyone who doesn’t follow EuroLeague play, it will be interesting to see how Melli fits with this Pelicans team that’ll feature Zion Williamson as the starting 4, a backup like Christian Wood, Derrick Favors as the prohibitive starter at center with Jahlil Okafor and Jaxson Hayes fighting for minutes off the bench there.
His defense will possibly add to his value like Zylan Cheatham’s will with a career .8 steals that should help the team establish a defense outside of Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday. It will take some time to see how Melli fits into David Griffin and Alvin Gentry’s overall master plan for this coming NBA season, but whatever his role we should all hope he brings his experience of playing professionally since he was 16-years-old and trying to stick with an NBA team after going undrafted in the 2013 NBA draft though having two workouts back then.