Pelicans announce signing of Italian forward Nicolo Melli

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has signed free agent forward Nicolò Melli. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Melli, 6-9, 235, joins the Pelicans after a successful 12-year professional career in Europe with stops in Italy (Reggiana, Olimpia Milano, VL Pesaro), Germany (Brose Bamberg) and most recently Turkey (Fenerbahçe), where he made consecutive EuroLeague Final Four appearances in 2018 and 2019.

Dating to the start of the 2015-16 season, Melli totaled more rebounds than any other EuroLeague player while shooting 42.1% (131/311) from behind the three-point line. In 207 career EuroLeague games overall, Melli averaged 7.4 points on 38.7% shooting from three-point range, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists.

The Italian native has racked up numerous accolades in Europe, including a three-time Italian League All-Star (2011-13), Italian League Champion (2014), two-time German League Champion (2016, 2017) and First-Team selection (2016, 2017), German Cup Winner (2017), All-EuroLeague Second-Team honors (2017), Turkish League Champion (2018) and EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer (2018), including a EuroLeague record 28 points in the final game, and Turkish Cup Winner (2019).

Melli has also represented Italy in international competition, earning a silver medal at the European U-20 Championships in 2011, and has played for the Italian Senior National Team, competing in EuroBasket in 2013, 2015 and 2017.