Bogdan Bogdanovic is on his way to Atlanta and a roster ready to make a leap up the standings and into the East’s playoffs.
Sacramento has chosen not to match Atlanta’s four-year, $72 million offer to Bogdanovic, making the wing a member of the Hawks. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke the news.
The Sacramento Kings have declined to match the Atlanta Hawks’ four-year, $72 million offer sheet for restricted free agent guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 25, 2020
Kings front office labored over the decision, but kept coming back to new GM Monte McNair’s plan to maintain roster flexibility. Keeping Bogdanovic would’ve severely limited the organization’s ability to continue reshaping the team around its young core of Fox, Bagley and Hield. https://t.co/d4tuT8IRkD
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 25, 2020
For Hawks GM Travis Schlenk, it was a wise gamble to overpay market value on Bogdanovic. That’s how you land players in restricted free agency. Now, Bogdan joins Danilo Gallinari as centerpieces of an ATL free agency class that's reshaped roster around All-Star guard Trae Young.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 25, 2020
This was expected. After a sign-and-trade that was going to send Bogdan Bogdanovic to Milwaukee fell apart (a situation the league is looking into), it was unlikely the Kings were going to match any large offer for the Serbian wing. The Kings already gave Buddy Hield an $88 million extension to play the same position, and then they drafted Tyrese Halliburton in the same role. They didn’t need Bogdanovic. The Kings couldn’t match the offer then trade Bogdanovic, once they matched the offer they couldn’t trade him until next offseason.
Bogdanovic is a fantastic fit at the two for Atlanta. He averaged 15.1 points a game last season, shooting 37.2% from three. He is a good secondary shot creator who has a strong midrange game.
Atlanta’s starting five could be Trae Young, Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, John Collins, Clint Capela. Or, it could be Young, Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter, Gallinari, Capela, with Collins traded to another team — there is a lot of buzz around the league about his availability. Off the bench the Hawks have Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn, Onyeka Okongwu, Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, and Tony Snell.
That’s a playoff team in the East, and Bogdanovic is a big part of it.