MITCH Creek has exercised his European-out clause, and will not return to the Adelaide 36ers for the 2018-19 NBL season, sources told foxsports.com.au.

The decision will leave Joey Wright’s team without its most effective player of last season, heading into their new campaign. The 36ers are expected to make an announcement on the development on Wednesday morning.

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Creek was coming off the best season of his NBL career, averaging 14.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, for a 36ers side that took Melbourne United to a deciding fifth game in the league’s championship series.

After his impressive season, where he shot 61.1 percent from the field, Creek signed with BG Göttingen in the German Basketball Bundesliga.

This move gives Creek the opportunity to show his worth in a more esteemed league, with the 6’5 wing playing his entire professional career in the NBL, until early 2018.

Mitch Creek dunks for the Adelaide 36ers against Melbourne United. Source: Getty Images

Creek began his professional career with the 36ers in 2010, playing every season with the club until the end of the 2017-18 season, where he was named to the All-NBL Second Team.

Creek has been a regular for the Australian Boomers team, during their qualifying games for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, starring for Andrej Lemanis’ squad in their gold medal campaign at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.

In the 2017 off-season, Creek played for the Utah Jazz’s Summer League team, at both the Utah and Las Vegas events, averaging 4.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, over five games.

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Olgun Uluc covers basketball for Fox Sports Australia. Twitter: @OlgunUluc