Johnathan Motley has joined Red Star Belgrade after Hapoel Tel Aviv formally ended his two-season spell on Friday. The Serbian club presented the American centre as a new signing, describing the agreement as multi-year. A reported negotiation is now a completed move between two EuroLeague clubs.
The two confirmations answer different parts of the transfer. Hapoel's farewell closed out Motley's Tel Aviv contract and removed him from the current first-team list, while Red Star's presentation established his destination. No public buyout, release payment or salary figure accompanied either announcement, so the financial mechanism behind the move remains private.
Motley leaves with a permanent place in Hapoel's modern history. He was central to the 2024/25 EuroCup title run and won the Finals MVP award as the club secured its first European trophy. Hapoel's own career record lists his spell as 2024–2026, and the farewell statement places him among the players who turned the club's European ambition into a championship.
His value went well beyond headline scoring. Motley gave Hapoel a low-post target who could seal off smaller defenders, finish through contact and pull help defenders toward the paint, and his screens, offensive rebounding and foul pressure shaped the space available to the guards around him. Losing that profile changes how half-court possessions are built, even if the replacement frontcourt produces similar overall totals.
Hapoel have already rebuilt much of that area. Their current squad lists Zach LeDay, Dan Oturu and Tai Odiase among the interior options, part of a wider roster reshaped for another demanding domestic and European campaign. Those players offer different combinations of shooting, mobility, rim protection and size, leaving the coaching staff to decide whether to split Motley's old responsibilities among them or establish one clear inside reference point.
Red Star, for their part, acquire a proven European centre rather than a development project. Motley's official EuroLeague record already covers spells with Fenerbahçe and Hapoel, and his touch around the rim gives Belgrade a direct scoring route when perimeter actions stall. The next tactical question is how his paint touches will coexist with Red Star's existing creators and frontcourt rotation.
The confirmed move also removes the uncertainty created by Motley's earlier Hapoel extension. With no release terms published, circulating figures should not be treated as fact; the dependable public record is narrower than that. Hapoel announced the separation, Red Star presented the player, and current transaction records place him with the Belgrade club.
For Hapoel, clarity arrives before preparation deepens, though replacing a Finals MVP is not simply a matter of filling one roster slot. For Motley, the move offers another EuroLeague stage immediately after the Tel Aviv chapter closes. His Hapoel legacy is settled; the sporting test now shifts to whether the same interior pressure can move Red Star closer to the competition's leading group.
