Hapoel Tel Aviv's pursuit of point guard Tamir Blatt is moving again. Sport5 reported on Monday that negotiations between the club and the 29-year-old guard, frozen for more than ten days, have resumed, with both sides now expecting the saga to reach a conclusion soon.
The two parties had already found broad agreement earlier this month on the shape of a long-term contract worth roughly $1.6 million a season, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity stakes. But the deal stalled amid internal disagreement inside Hapoel's basketball department over how Blatt fits into head coach Dimitris Itoudis's system, delaying any official announcement.
Blatt became a free agent after three seasons at Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Hapoel's interest is tangled up with the noisiest domestic story of the Israeli off-season: Yam Madar's departure from Hapoel across town to Maccabi, which opened the point guard spot the Reds want Blatt to fill.
According to Sport5, one option still on the table is for Hapoel to sign Blatt to a long-term contract while loaning him out elsewhere for the coming season, rather than keeping him in the first-team squad straight away.
Even if he does stay in Tel Aviv, the club's staff have made clear internally that Blatt would not be part of the initial EuroLeague rotation — a notable caveat given the money on offer. Last season in that competition he averaged 7.1 points and 5.2 assists in 19.5 minutes per game.
Blatt began his senior career at Hapoel Tel Aviv between 2014 and 2017, including a loan spell at Ramat Hasharon, before moves to Hapoel Holon, Hapoel Jerusalem, Alba Berlin and finally Maccabi Tel Aviv. A return to Hapoel would bring him back to where he started, nine years after he first left as a young player.
Blatt is also a regular in the Israel national team setup, having featured in EuroBasket and World Cup qualifying windows.
Itoudis, the Greek coach and two-time EuroLeague champion with CSKA Moscow, is entering his third season in charge of Hapoel Tel Aviv, and his read on Blatt's fit appears to have been the sticking point in the drawn-out talks.
As things stand, no contract has been signed and Hapoel has issued no official statement, but Sport5's report suggests renewed momentum after the stand-off — with both camps now sounding confident of getting the deal over the line.
