The center, playing in his second EuroLeague season, joins from Bayern.
Crvena Zvezda brings in Freddie Gillespie
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade has signed Freddie Gillespie for the the remainder of the season. In doing so, the center makes the switch from FC Bayern Munich. Gillespie (2.06 meters, 26 years old) is in his second season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, both of which were spent with Bayern. He averaged 2.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and a 2.3 PIR in 13 games for Bayern in the 2023-24 campaign in a reduced role. Per EuroLeague bylaws, Gillespie won't be eligible to rejoin the competition with Zvezda until Round 18.
An impressive first season
In his rookie EuroLeague season last year, Gillespie started 26 times in 34 appearances and posted 4.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 block per night. In particular, the American center earned himself a reputation as one of the better shot blockers in the EuroLeague, which is something that Zvezda will be looking to tap in to during his time in Belgrade.
Gillespie’s best performance in his 47-game EuroLeague career came last season against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens in Round 17 as he had his first and only double-double, pairing 10 points with 10 rebounds. He recorded a career-high 4 blocks on two occasions last season – in Rounds 24 and 25 – while he had 3 blocks three times: in Rounds 1, 12 and 18.
A reduced role this term
However, since the arrival of Serge Ibaka and Devin Booker, Gillespie has seen himself fall down the pecking order at Bayern under first-year head coach Pablo Laso. In addition to seeing his numbers drop across the board, his minutes have more than halved, going from an average of 18:56 on the court in 2022-23 to 9:11 in 2023-24. He has started just three of his 13 appearances this year, too.
The hope is that a change of scenery will allow Gillespie to get back to his best, as Ioannis Sfairopoulos looks to better protect Zvezda’s paint with the arrival of the former Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic big man.