Will Money Be Enough to Keep Yam Madar at Hapoel Tel Aviv?

Yam Madar is suddenly at the center of a big offseason decision at Hapoel Tel Aviv. After a poor outing in Ganei Nehar against Hapoel HaEmek, he has since become one of the team’s key players and is now leading the Reds into the Israeli league finals against Maccabi Tel Aviv, with a chance to end a 57-year title drought.

His recent form has been excellent. Over the last eight games, including the final three league games and five playoff games, Madar has averaged 21.6 points and 3.7 assists, while hitting 3.5 threes per game at nearly 60%. Before that stretch, he averaged 11 points and 3.9 assists, with 1.3 threes at 34%.

Madar’s camp says the improvement is partly about opportunity. With Elijah Bryant and Antonio Blakeney out, he has had the ball in his hands more often. That was far from the case in the EuroLeague, where he played only 16 of Hapoel’s 28 games after returning from injury, averaged 9:42 minutes when he did play, and scored just 3.1 points and 1.4 assists. He did have three of his best EuroLeague games in five appearances with more than 10 minutes, including 20 points in a home loss to Valencia.

Because of that limited role, Madar and his side had been leaning toward using his exit option and possibly leaving for college, though that has not been finalized. Hapoel owner Ofer Yannay has tried to change the picture with a massive new offer, a three-year deal worth $2.5 million per season, up from almost $2 million this year. But Madar’s camp says, “The money does not interest Yam,” adding that he wants the professional situation in Tel Aviv to change.

The key move, according to the report, may be Hapoel’s decision not to bring in a replacement for Chris Jones. Jones, Vasa Micić, Tyler Ennis and, in some minutes, Bryant have all played at point guard this season. If Madar can step into Jones’s role, and if Hapoel does not sign another foreign guard, he may stay.