The Bucks waived and stretched Mirza Teletovic – who’d had blockages in his lungs and blood clots in his lungs – last March, accepting a $3.5 million cap hit each of the next three seasons.
But now, one year after his last game (Nov. 7, 2017), Milwaukee is trying to remove those payments from its salary-cap, luxury-tax calculations.
An NBA Fitness to Play panel will rule on Teletovic’s health. In February, he fought the notion he would never be cleared to play again. But he also announced his retirement in September and became president of Bosnia’s basketball program. So, we’ll see what the panel determines, though it seems likely Milwaukee will prevail.
Either way, Teletovic will still get paid. The only question is whether those payments count toward the salary cap and luxury tax.
Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe can become unrestricted free agents next summer. Re-signing those two could push the Bucks over the luxury-tax line. If Teletovic is off the books, though, that’d give Milwaukee more breathing room.