Mirza Teletovic

Mirza Teletovic
PF, 6’9, 242lbs, 31 years old, 5 years of experience

A very one dimensional stretch big of a player who shot only 34.1% from three, grabbed only 8.3% of rebounds, and also had career lows in assist and block percentage. Literally just caught the ball, shot the ball, stood on the block defensively and hoped no one drove at him, which they then invariably did. Chucked up shots, didn’t even do the fake-and-slightly-bedazzling-drive thing around which he initially built his career, and seemed slower than ever laterally. His weaknesses will be fine if the shots go in, but they didn’t. On the plus side, he tends to alternate between good and bad shooting years, so he’ll probably break 40% next year and look tremendous.

Player Plan: Two years and $21 million remaining, with no options. Overpaid for a player who performs about the same as Luke Babbitt and his minimum salary contract. The salary picture is not urgent enough to merit using assets to move it; instead, see if it he can play better, and re-examine next summer.

[...] Teletovic in particular has been a bright spot for the season. The one time 20ppg Euroleague scorer has finally been given the opportunity to score at the NBA level, and he has averaged 8.4 points in only 18.9 minutes per game on the season. Teletovic's diverse offensive game is coming to the fore - noted for his range despite his size, he is shooting 42% from three point range on a high volume of attempts, and taking opposing defenders off the dribble. Without having many plays called for him, Teletovic is spotting up and moving without the ball in a way so few others on the team do, providing a significant boost to a team who, despite allegedly being so stacked, has had great trouble creating efficient offense. He is hitting clutch shots on the way, and even defending and rebounding better than ever before.

Ahead of them all are the starting bigs combination of Stanko Barac and Mirza Teletovic. Former Pacers draft pick Barac has been entrusted with a bigger role, and charged with the task of replacing Splitter, a task to which he has responded fairly well. Barac is no Splitter, but he's nonetheless a good player in his own right; he can shoot from mid-range, has added occasional three point range, runs the pick-and-roll (which is mandatory in a Caja Laboral big man), rebounds, and is a defensive presence, if only through size alone. He can also take his man off the dribble, although it helps greatly if his man is slower than him, which is not often the case. Alongside him, Mirza Teletovic plays the stretch four, the athletic big forward who can shoot up to 25 feet away and perform tidy chase-down blocks, like a past-his-prime-but-not-yet-dead Eddie Griffin. Despite the occasionally impressive defensive play, Teletovic is not much of a defensive presence; he probably could be, but he simply doesn't try as hard on that end as he does on offense, something also reflected in his poor rebounding numbers. Nevertheless, when he's engaged, he's a versatile offensive player, who can drive, post and shoot the ball from outside. (If he's not engaged, he'll just take jumpers.)

- Mirza Teletovic

Teletovic is with Caja Laboral, just as he has been since 2006. His role has increased year on year, and this year he's one of the team's best players, keeping Walter Herrmann firmly nailed to the bench. Teletovic was a big part of Caja Laboral's Euroleague quarter finals run, averaging 14.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in the competition, eighth highest of anyone. He also averages 14.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in the ACB. 60% of Teletovic's field goal attempts are three pointers, and he's shooting 40% from there in the ACB alongside 44% in the Euroleague.