Milos Teodosic looking for $25-30 million over three, says David Pick

As part of an interview with the president of CSKA Moscow, David Pick reports that those close to Milos Teodosic say the Serbian point guard is looking for a three-year, $25-30 million deal. The European hoops writer, suggests Utah and Brooklyn are in the lead positions but the CSKA president, Andrei Vatutin, tells Pick other teams are in the mix.

Pick writes...

CSKA will soon engage in one the greatest decisions the franchise had in a long time. Milos Teodosic - NBA or Europe? Several NBA GMs and scouts are eye-balling the Serbian wizard floor general. With ex-CSKA assistant Quin Snyder leading Utah into the second round of the playoffs with loads of international flavor, sources tell me the Jazz are bound to shoot Teodosic an offer-sheet. The Brooklyn Nets are also in active pursuit. People close to Teodosic estimate that he'll push for a deal in 3-years $25-30 million range.

If that’s the number, Teodosic would cost the Nets around one-third of their projected cap space. The cap space number, of course, is by no means set in stone. Various moves could affect it before free agency opens in July.

Vatutin says one thing is certain. If Telodosic gets an NBA offer, he’s gone. Neither CSKA nor any other European team will be able to match an NBA offer.

“Milos is unique. He is as unique as Nando De Colo, Victor Khryapa and all of my players,” said Vatutin referring to CSKA’s other big stars. “But if an NBA team makes him an offer - it will be impossible to compete with." In fact, CSKA’s player payroll is only about $25 million.

Although Vatutin is personally close to both Mikhail Prokhorov and Sergey Kushchenko —who gave him his first jobs in Russian basketball, he says he is impartial and not sharing information on the veteran point guard.

"I don't discuss such kind of scouting with them. I definitely know Milos better than any GM in the world, but my knowledge is used for CSKA alone," he said, adding, “I'm proud to have elite NBA GMs from Brooklyn, San Antonio, Denver, Oklahoma, Houston and others as friends.

“Teams that want to scout Milos are able to do so with or without CSKA's assistance. I think the teams that have concrete interest in Teodosic weren't mentioned in the media."

He apparently did not elaborate.

CSKA and Teodosic are preparing for the Euroleague Final Four in Istanbul, Turkey, this weekend. Teodosic has said he will decide on his future only after the Euroleague championships. CSKA is hoping for back-to-back championships.

The Nets have scouted Teodosic multiple times this season, with Sean Marks personally taking in CSKA games twice in the last two months, once with Nets international scout Danko Cvjeticanin and once with Kenny Atkinson, Nets chair Dmitry Razumov, Prokhorov and Kushchenko. Trajan Langdon, the Nets assistant GM, is expected at the Final Four as well.

• CSKA Pres Andrey Vatutin talks Teodosic, Spanoulis, Euroleague format - David Pick - Eurobasket