APRIL 23rd, 9:48pm: Bogut said he will play two seasons with the Sydney Kings and that he’s retired from the NBA, Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia tweets. There are no outs in his contract to return to the NBA or play in Europe, Uluc adds.
APRIL 22nd, 9:02am: Andrew Bogut‘s comeback will continue next season in Australia, relays Jake Michaels of ESPN.
The Sydney Kings announced on social media overnight that they are signing the 33-year-old center, who played 13 NBA seasons. A press conference has been scheduled for Monday.
Bogut was never able to re-establish himself in the NBA after fracturing his left tibia in his lone game with the Cavaliers last season. He signed with the Lakers just before the opening of camp in September, but he got into just 23 games before being waived in January.
Bogut told Michaels last week that he turned down offers to join four playoff-bound teams late in the season. He opted to return to Australia at the time to deal with personal issues, including his wife’s high-risk pregnancy and his grandfather’s death.
“I had an offer from one in the east and I got an offer for a 10-day [contract] from a team in the west,” Bogut said. “The one out east was for the rest of the season but I just decided they weren’t great fits for me and the way I play so I just decided to wait it out.
“The other thing I had in my back pocket was there were two other teams that expressed a lot of interest but had some cap space issues and they wanted me to wait until late March, early April to sign so it wouldn’t affect their salary cap as much as it would by signing in January. Those teams called immediately after I was released from the Lakers.”
He added that he was “blindsided” by his release in L.A. and speculated that Lakers management didn’t want to deal with a potential buyout situation.
Bogut spent seven seasons in Milwaukee after being taken with the first pick in the 2005 draft. He was traded to the Warriors in 2012 and became a defensive anchor of their 2015 championship team. He was shipped to the Mavericks in 2016 as Golden State cleared cap room to sign Kevin Durant.
Comin home
He didn’t turn out to be the “world changing” center that he was projected to be, but he had a pretty good career.
We Are Forever grateful how we changed the defensive mindset in Warrior land. I remember him screaming at David Lee for a missed coverage or a missed rotation.
That trade that sent Monta Ellis to Milwaukee for Bogut wasn’t popular in the beginning but it sure worked out fantastic.
Jerry West recommended moving one of the two small guards and fortunately it was Ellis who got shipped out.
Bogut came in injured but what a surprise it was opening day to see him line up at Center. I remember getting Goosebumps because he wasn’t expected to be ready yet. He didn’t play a lot that year because of the microfracture surgery but he was very influential the time he was in Oakland. Excellent big man that didn’t need to score.
He had a career like most 7 ft white stiffs. They all somehow leech on and have medicocre 10 year careers. Sure they may post a double double season here or there. I will give him credit for actually blocking shots unlike most of his forefathers… Matt Geiger, Eric Montross, Luc Longley, Shawn Bradley, Greg Ostertag. Even some non 7fters somehow bilked the system like Brian Cardinal. Dont worry though, Omer Asik is carrying the legacy on for future generations.
Look up “mediocre”. It does not mean “leech”.