Emir Preldžić (born 6 September 1987) is a Bosnian-Turkish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for KK Orlovik Žepče of the

Basketball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Basketball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the top–tier men's professional basketball league in Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in ...

. He also represented the Turkish national basketball team. He is 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) tall and he mainly plays the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

position, but he also has the ability to play as a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

and

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

Professional career

Early years

Preldžić began his career playing with Čelik Zenica youth teams in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He made his pro debut with Čelik Zenica in the Bosnia and Herzegovina League during the 2003–04 season. In the 2004–05 season he played with Triglav Kranj. He then moved to the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, ...

club Geoplin Slovan for the 2005–06 season.

Fenerbahçe Ülker

In 2007, he signed a four-year contract with the Turkish

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

team Fenerbahçe Ülker. On 27 January 2011, in the

match against Power Electronics Valencia, he double blocked Rafa Martínez in only one second. He played with 10 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks performance in a victory against Power Electronics Valencia. On 13 February 2011, in

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

final match against

Beşiktaş Cola Turka Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

, he played with 35 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists as

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performance. On 28 February 2011, the official page of the team declared that he had signed a three-year contract with the team. On 20 March 2011, he played with 10 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assist performance against Olin Edirne which he did his first triple double in the team. This triple double is second in Turkish Basketball League history after Mark Dickel played with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists performance against Galatasaray in the 2002–03 season. On 11 October 2012, his stat line was 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in a performance against BC Khimki in 2012–13 Euroleague first week match which made him Euroleague Weekly MVP by 31 ratings.

Darüşşafaka

On 25 August 2015 Preldžić signed with Darüşşafaka.

Galatasaray

On 9 September 2016 Preldžić signed a two-year deal with Galatasaray.

NBA rights

In the 2009 NBA draft, Preldžić was selected by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

in the second round, with the 57th draft pick. His draft rights were then traded to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, and later to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

in a February 2010 trade that sent Antawn Jamison from Washington to Cleveland. On 17 July 2014 the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

acquired Preldžić's rights from the Wizards in a sign-and-trade deal for DeJuan Blair. On 8 July 2016 the rights to Preldžić, along with Jeremy Evans, were traded to the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in exchange for the rights to Stanko Barać. On 14 July 2017 the rights to Preldžić were traded to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

in exchange for Cory Joseph. On 6 February 2019 his rights were again traded, this time to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

. On 25 March 2021 his rights were traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

Career statistics

Euroleague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=8, Fenerbahçe , 20 , , 10 , , 18.1 , , .376 , , .255 , , .500 , , 2.3 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .1 , , 4.8 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , 16 , , 7 , , 22.6 , , .358 , , .245 , , .806 , , 3.8 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 7.3 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , 10 , , 1 , , 25.2 , , .362 , , .188 , , .667 , , 4.1 , , 2.3 , , .9 , , .1 , , 6.8 , , 7.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , 16 , , 1 , , 16.3 , , .494 , , .438 , , .679 , , 2.4 , , 2.3 , , .3 , , .3 , , 7.3 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , 16 , , 4 , , 21.5 , , .310 , , .250 , , .750 , , 3.3 , , 3.1 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.7 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , 22 , , 4 , , 22.5 , , .504 , , .333 , , .704 , , 2.1 , , 3.5 , , .6 , , .1 , , 8.1 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , 23 , , 18 , , 29.0 , , .452 , , .317 , , .696 , , 4.7 , , 4.7 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 10.2 , , 15.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , 29 , , 7 , , 22.0 , , .447 , , .345 , , .742 , , 2.7 , , 3.1 , , .9 , , .1 , , 5.8 , , 8.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Darüşşafaka , 20 , , 5 , , 18.1 , , .345 , , .273 , , .579 , , 3.4 , , 2.9 , , .5 , , .2 , , 4.6 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Galatasaray , 18 , , 3 , , 16.5 , , .395 , , .385 , , .684 , , 2.4 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 5.1 , , 7.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 152 , , 57 , , 21.7 , , .413 , , .294 , , .690 , , 3.1 , , 2.9 , , .7 , , .2 , , 6.8 , , 8.6

National team career

Slovenian national team

Preldžić was a member of the

Slovenian national basketball team The Slovenia men's national basketball team () represents Slovenia in international basketball competitions, and is managed by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia. Since the independence of Slovenia in 1991, the national team has competed at e ...

and he competed for Slovenia at the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, since he acquired Slovenian citizenship as a member of the Bosniak community in

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Turkish national team

Through 2011, the Bosnian media speculated that Preldžić may play for the Bosnian national basketball team because of his birthplace

Zenica Zenica ( ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The ...

, city in modern

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. However, on 6 July 2011 the Turkish Basketball Federation announced Preldžić's name in its official nominated squad for the EuroBasket 2011 held in Lithuania. Preldžić decided to change national team using the FIBA regulation on Eligibility and National Status of Players (Chapter I.22). He was later selected to the Turkish national team's EuroBasket 2011 roster by head coach Orhun Ene. On 5 September 2011 in EuroBasket 2011 group match against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, he played with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 1 steal performance in a victory. Over the tournament, he averaged 10.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He was once again called to play for the national team at the

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

in Slovenia. He averaged 8.8 points, and 3.8 rebounds and assists over 5 tournament games.

References

External links

*
Emir Preldžić
at draftexpress.com (archived) *
Emir Preldžić
at euroleague.net
Emir Preldžić
at

nba.com The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(archived)
Emir Preldžić
at tblstat.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Preldzic, Emir 1987 births Living people 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Bahçeşehir Koleji S.K. players Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Turkey Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Slovenia Bosnia and Herzegovina men's basketball players Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Darüşşafaka Basketbol players Fenerbahçe men's basketball players KD Slovan players Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Naturalized citizens of Turkey Phoenix Suns draft picks Power forwards Slovenian men's basketball players Slovenian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Slovenian people of Bosniak descent Small forwards Sportspeople from Zenica Turkish men's basketball players Turkish people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent 21st-century Turkish sportsmen 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen