Mirza Teletovic To Retire

Veteran NBA forward Mirza Teletovic is retiring as a player, tweets Alberto De Roa of HoopsHype. According to De Roa, Teletovic has accepted an offer to become the new president of the Bosnian Basketball Federation. The 33-year-old confirmed his new career path in a statement (Bosnian link via BHBasket.ba).

Teletovic, who started last season with the Bucks, was limited to 10 games due to a medical condition diagnosed as pulmonary emboli in both lungs. He had a similar health scare a few years ago when he developed multiple blood clots in his lungs.

When reports surfaced in the winter suggesting that Teletovic’s playing career was likely over, the six-year NBA veteran denied it. However, he was waived by Milwaukee the following week and his retirement decision appears to be motivated by those health issues.

Once a full year has passed since the date of Teletovic’s last NBA game (November 7), the Bucks could apply to have his remaining cap hits – $3.5MM annually through 2020/21 – removed from their books. The Heat took a similar approach with Chris Bosh when he was ruled medically ineligible to return to action. An independent physician or a Fitness to Play panel would have to rule that it would be a medically unacceptable risk for Teletovic to return to action in order for the Bucks to receive any cap relief.

Over the course of his NBA career, Teletovic averaged 8.1 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 324 regular season contests with the Nets, Suns, and Bucks. The veteran stretch four played internationally for several years before making the leap to the NBA, including spending six seasons with Spanish club Baskonia. He earned All-ACB honors in 2012 before arriving stateside.