The story between Milan and Nicolò Melli is over. For the second time in 9 years, the big man from Reggio leaves the Lombard club to move abroad. The divorce between Olimpia and its captain is official, who had won three Scudetti in three seasons since his return to the Meninred in the summer of 2021.
«Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano and its owners thank Nicolò Melli for everything he has done for the club in recent years, the individual records set, the three seasons closed with the conquest of the scudetto, the memories that we will always share, and wish him and his family the best possible for the future”: thus the greeting from the company which marked the conclusion of the relationship, 10 days earlier than the natural deadline of 30 June.
No agreement on renewal
The club and the player have not reached an agreement to renew the three-year contract stipulated upon the Italbasket captain’s return from the NBA adventure. The topic had been on the table for months, and Ettore Messina had repeatedly underlined – most recently on the day following the conquest of the 2023/24 Scudetto – his and the ownership’s desire to retain the 33-year-old player from Reggio Emilia. But the parties did not reach an agreement: Milan had formulated a proposal during the playoffs, with a net salary reduced by 30-35% without the tax benefit of the Growth Decree of the expiring contract.
To aspire to the Euroleague playoffs, the Ea7 will focus on an area man like the explosive pivot Josh Nebo arriving from Maccabi Tel Aviv; in the tactical chessboard of the new Milan, Melli would probably have had a role as a substitute at the back the new Nikola Mirotic center. Whose arrival, in the summer of 2023, forced the Italbasket captain to move from the natural role of power forward to that of pivot, which he likes less; although in the playoffs the technical understanding between the Montenegrin ace and the Italian big man worked wonders.
And the relationship with Messina, which the player had defined as «Very constructive, sometimes even destructive» in the media day after the Scudetto? Nik himself had remembered that what united him with the coach was the good that they both wanted for Olimpia. But a series of variables contributed to the desired result in the renewal equation, the sum of which is that Milan and Melli said goodbye again, repeating the script of 2015, when the player from Reggio Emilia refused the renewal with the ‘EA7 to sign at Bamberg.
Nik’s future is abroad, most likely at Fenerbahce Istanbulthe Turkish club in whose ranks they won the 2018 Euroleague and took flight towards the NBA in 2019. Milan loses its Italian pillar, replacing him for now with the return of Zach Leday, the American power forward who left his position three years ago to Melli, and is now about to return after his experience at Partizan Belgrade.
