Brooklyn Nets sign Australian veteran Mitch Creek to 10-day contract

The Brooklyn Nets added a bit of depth to the roster Friday, signing Australian veteran Mitch Creek from their NBA G League affiliate to a 10-day contract.

The Brooklyn Nets filled their open roster spot on Friday when they signed 26-year-old Mitch Creek from their Long Island Nets affiliate in the NBA G League to a 10-day contract.

Creek was in his first year in North American basketball after seven professional seasons with the Adelaide 36ers in his native Australia and appearing in seven games late last season with BG Goettingen in Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga.

The Nets announced the signing on NBA.com.

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Creek was undrafted in 2014 and signed a training camp deal with Brooklyn in August. Waived on Oct. 12, Creek was allocated to Long Island.

The left-handed small forward had played in 25 of Long Island’s 27 games this season, starting 20, and was averaging 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 30.6 minutes per game, shooting 54.8 percent overall and 18.9 percent from 3-point range.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder plays more like a power forward than a wing and developed a reputation in Australia’s National Basketball League for his physical, tough play.

Creek made a foray into the NBA periphery in 2017 when he played five games with the Utah Jazz in the NBA Summer Leagues in both Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, but returned to lead Adelaide to the NBL Grand Final last season after averaging 4.40 points and 2.2 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game for the Jazz.

He returned to the Summer League last July with the Dallas Mavericks and turned heads with his tough play while averaging 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds (3.4 on the offensive glass) while shooting 43.3 percent overall and going 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

Creek was limited by an ankle injury in the preseason, but did make one appearance for the Nets, playing two minutes against the Toronto Raptors in Montreal on Oct. 10.

He was named to the All-NBL second team last season while with Adelaide after averaging 14.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals in 28.7 minutes per game while shooting 61.1 percent, finishing second in the league behind former New Jersey Net Josh Boone.

In December, Creek signed a future contract with the South East Melbourne Phoenix, an NBL expansion franchise scheduled to begin play next season. The deal reportedly includes an opt-out clause if Creek is signed by an NBA club.

The Nets have had an open roster spot since waiving Kenneth Faried on Saturday and had six players listed on the injury report for Friday’s game against the New York Knicks.

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Creek is the fourth player to be called up by Brooklyn from Long Island since the Nets launched their G League affiliate in 2016, but is the first this season.