The Nets have withdrawn their more than $4.21MM qualifying offer to Mirza Teletovic, the team announced (hat tip to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post). He’s now an unrestricted free agent, as Brooklyn has forfeited its right to match offers for him. The move is somewhat surprising, since GM Billy King said this morning that the sides had been in talks and that he was hopeful that the client of Jeff Schwartz and Mike Lindeman would sign, as Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com passed along (Twitter link).
They can still strike a deal, but the Nets can’t stop him from joining another NBA team. King had said this spring that he would let the market dictate the terms of the forward’s next contract. Teletovic, who’s expressed a desire to return, has received plenty of interest from overseas, but it doesn’t appear as though other NBA teams are biting just yet. Still, Grantland’s Zach Lowe, as he did in April, mentions the Spurs in connection to him (Twitter link), though it’s not clear in either case whether that’s simply an educated guess or if San Antonio indeed has interest.
The Nets are poised to once more exceed the tax threshold, set at $84.74MM for this season, though King said today that the team will probably make moves designed to bring the team under that line or at least lessen the amount by which it is over, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). Drawing a hard line on Teletovic, who could have simply accepted his qualifying offer, falls in line with that philosophy.
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