Report in Serbia Says Hapoel Tel Aviv Has Reached Terms with Jared Harper

A Serbian report says Hapoel Tel Aviv has quickly lined up a replacement for Chris Jones, and that replacement is Jared Harper. According to Mozart Sport, Harper has agreed on personal terms with the club and will sign a three-year contract worth about 2 million euros per season.

The report says Hapoel tried to keep Jones but failed. Serbian media added that Jones' family played a major role in his decision to leave Israel because of the security situation and the repeated interruptions in the domestic league. Jones is expected to continue his career at Red Star Belgrade.

The same reports say Hapoel did not wait long before approaching Harper, who has played the past two seasons for Hapoel Jerusalem. Harper is considered one of the leading guards in Israeli and European basketball in recent years, after winning the EuroCup MVP award in back-to-back seasons. He previously played alongside Jones at Valencia.

Harper produced the best basketball of his career in Israel. Last season he was the EuroCup scoring champion, was named MVP of the Israeli Premier League, and made the season five in both competitions. With Hapoel Jerusalem, he won the Winner Cup and the Israeli Super Cup, and was also named the competition's most valuable player. He averaged 18.2 points, 3 rebounds and 6.7 assists in the Premier League, and 19.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists in the EuroCup. If completed officially, the deal would be one of Hapoel Tel Aviv's biggest signings and among the biggest in Israeli basketball, but Harper is still under contract with Jerusalem for next season, which may resist selling him to a direct league rival. No responses had been published at the time of the report.