11:26pm: The Hawks have issued a press release officially announcing the addition of Bogdanovic.
“Bogdan has a great feel for the game, and we expect him to be a great fit for us with his high-level offensive skill set, experience and toughness,” team president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk said in a statement. “It’s no secret that one of our biggest areas of focus in free agency was adding shooting and quality depth. With Bogdan as part of our incoming group, we feel those are now areas of strength.”
8:03pm: The Kings have elected not to match Atlanta’s four-year, $72MM offer sheet for restricted free agent swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic, clearing the way for him to join the Hawks, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Bogdanovic enjoyed arguably the best season of his three-year NBA career in 2019/20, averaging 15.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 3.4 APG on .440/.372/.741 shooting in 61 contests (29.0 MPG). He earned a promotion to the starting lineup in January, displacing Buddy Hield, and helped lead the Kings to a 16-12 record during his 28 games as a starter.
While the Kings’ roster moves at last season’s trade deadline – which included dumping some 2020/21 salary – indicated they were prepared to retain Bogdanovic in restricted free agency, the team underwent a front office overhaul after the season, with Monte McNair replacing Vlade Divac as Sacramento’s general manager.
According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the new front office, led by McNair, “labored” over whether or not to match Bogdanovic’s four-year offer from the Hawks, which includes a fourth-year option and a 15% trade kicker. Ultimately, Woj says, the Kings prioritized retaining roster flexibility and felt that bringing back Bogdanovic would hinder their ability to continue building around cornerstones De’Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley, and Hield.
Wojnarowski says (via Twitter) that the Tyrese Haliburton pick in last week’s draft was a factor in Sacramento’s decision too, since the No. 12 pick gives the franchise another long-term building block in the backcourt.
The Kings also had the Hield/Bogdanovic dynamic to consider. Hield, who is just starting a lucrative four-year extension himself, didn’t appear thrilled to be moved to the bench last season, and Bogdanovic was believed to be seeking a change of scenery, having reportedly felt that he had been “de-prioritized” in recent months by the Kings. Bringing back both players may not have been great for team chemistry.
Still, it’s somewhat surprising that the Kings are letting a talented young player walk for nothing. They had hoped to salvage some value in a sign-and-trade, having initially reached an agreement with the Bucks last week that would have sent Bogdanovic and Justin James to Milwaukee for Donte DiVincenzo, D.J. Wilson, and Ersan Ilyasova. However, a couple days after it was first reported, that deal fell apart amid rumors that Bogdanovic himself hadn’t agree to sign with Milwaukee.
Since word of the agreement broke several days before free agency opened, there was speculation that the NBA may have intervened due to perceived tampering and/or circumvention. That hasn’t been confirmed at all, though the league did open an investigation into the situation. In any case, the Kings moved onto other sign-and-trade possibilities when free agency opened on Friday, but the Hawks had the cap room necessary to sign Bogdanovic without requiring Sacramento’s cooperation.
The Kings’ loss will be the Hawks’ gain, as an eventful week in Atlanta continues with the addition of the 28-year-old Serbian. We heard last month that the Hawks – who entered the offseason with the most cap space in the NBA – intended to be aggressive this fall, since they badly want to make it back to the playoffs next season. They’ve delivered on that promise.
After drafting USC center Onyeka Okongwu with the No. 6 pick in last Wednesday’s draft, the Hawks reached free agent agreements with Danilo Gallinari, Kris Dunn, Rajon Rondo, and Solomon Hill. Now they’ll add Bogdanovic to that group.
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Atlanta’s new additions will join a core headed by Trae Young and John Collins, along with promising youngsters Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, and Kevin Huerter. Clint Capela will also be joining the mix — the former Rockets center was acquired at last season’s deadline but has yet to appear in a game for the Hawks due to a foot injury.
With Bogdanovic now officially off the board, there are only four restricted free agents who have yet to secure new deals, and all four are two-way players. There are also only three players on our list of top 50 free agents who have yet to strike deals — and one of those three, Anthony Davis, is a lock to return to his current team. The other two are Hassan Whiteside (No. 17), who has reportedly received interest from the Kings, and Reggie Jackson (No. 50).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wtf are the hawks doing ? Don’t they have reddish ,heurter & hunter to develop?? This team scares nobody in the league lol
It is weird. Bogdan wouldn’t have been quite so odd if they hadn’t already signed Rondo and Dunn.
They’ll figure out them inutes later!
Hawks had zero depth last season. Now there will be competition for minutes (of which there will still be plenty) and that’s a healthy thing for a young player.
With all due respect, I don’t know how you think there is going to be plenty of minutes for Young, Bogdonovich, Rondo, Dunn, Huerter, Reddish and Hunter. Do the math.
The team is now 10-12 deep. Dunn seems most likely to see less minutes at guard, but I think he’ll get time due to potential injuries and covid. Below is a rough idea of the depth. Things could be different at PF and C depending how Atlanta wants to mix and match players.
PG: Young Rondo Dunn
SG: Bogdanovic Huerter
SF: Hunter Reddish Hill
PF: Gallo Collins
C: Capela Okongwu
That’s a good-looking roster Scott. They’re serious about contending now. Hill & Dunn can ride the pine except for spot defensive Duty in a blowout or in case of injury. Besides, Rondo is not going to play 25 minutes as a backup.., he’s playoff ammo. Also, there will be plenty of 5 man minutes for Collins and Gallinari because the two centers are not big minute guys. I say Atlanta looks good and well balanced. They’ll sort it out and see who’s playing well and deserves minutes.
Contending for a playoff spot is what you meant, right?
Yes the Hawks. They should be contending for a playoff spot…
Clearly need to get rid of one of the SF and get a center.
Okongwu will probably be better as a PF
I disagree man they can go deep in the playoffs if they remain healthy they have a bench now Rondo spear heading the 2nd unit along with mentoring Young is Huge. Dunn is underrated and can play both guard positions Reddish Hunter Heurter good shooters.Collins Capela & Okongwu cleaning the boards I can See the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals
maybe they will pull another blockbuster deal? maybe for Beal? they have alot of trade chips
“lol” isn’t a word. You should find a more adult way to express yourself.
Lol
lol
Lmao
Humor does not always connect on the internet, sarcasm even less. Might as well type lol and post, just in case.
Think of it as a punctuation mark. There’s not enough of those!
HAWKS go through their annual non-playoff season, people complain.
HAWKS stack up their line-up to compete better, people still complain.
For these perennial loser teams like these HAWKS, KINGS, HORNETS, SUNS, etc ……… you get all the talent you can get in the draft and/or free-agency. Don’t overthink things so much.
Those top-tier superstar FA’s won’t be knocking on their doors. You get a chance for these aging, low-tier, fringe stars, you get them, even if positions overlapped and some overpay may be needed.
Management of these loser teams basically have a 7-year window to show their young stars, Trae, Devin, etc that they can build a competing team.
The HAWKS, HORNETS, SUNS, BUCKS. etc seems to have gotten this memo this offseason.
Gotta to always have that fear that Los Angeles, Miami, Golden State, etc are always there to pounce on that next disgruntled superstar.
ATL is a perennial wining team dude!
Maybe not championships but they are one of the most regular playoff teams in the league, 26 out of the last 40 years, it tells me ATL is one of the better teams in the EC, i.e. BOS only has made it 5 more times & MIA 21 out of their 32 years which is exactly the same percentage of playoff participation, yes ATL doesn’t seem to be able to win, but boy they are a very good franchise like PHO & MIL unlike SAC or NYK or CHA!
Stop putting them all together dude!
As a Bucks fan I would love to think of them as a perennial winner but that is not true. If you are not at least one of the top three teams in your conference then there is no reason to think you have a real shot to get to the NBA Finals and that is at least the goal.
Getting into the playoffs is nothing unless you were out of them for the last two+ years and even then it is not that big a deal for any true fan. The Bucks have been good for two years and the Hawks are getting better.
Being better than the current Knicks, Kings, or Hornets is not saying much.
BrewPack@, I would disagree with you on a couple points. Look at this year, yes the Lakers were probably among the favorites in the west but if you look at the East I think people would have said Milwaukee Toronto Boston where the favorites to make it to the finals and look at Miami.. they got it done. There’s always hope for an outside team to make it.
And another item I would mention is I think it’s the goal to make the playoffs EVERY SINGLE YEAR. I hear what you’re saying but even barely making the playoffs is much better than barely missing. It means success.
People talk about tanking but tanking NEVER works. People talk about tanking for the lottery but I say if you do your job right you can pick a better player at 16 then some teams pick at 9. You can go through the draft every year and teams like San Antonio, who are always in the playoffs, make outstanding picks and teams like the Sacramento Kings or Charlotte Hornets who are never in the playoffs, make horrible terrible horrendous draft picks.
But it’s great to see Milwaukee going for it this coming season. I like swinging for the fences and I think the Bucs have done a nice job. They’ve given up a ton but so what. You have to go for it now. So many teams are continually saving cap space or building for the future perpetually. That just doesn’t fly for me. Some people like it but I think it sucks. I tip the cap to the Bucks this year and also the Hawks and the Suns and the Pelicans. They’re going for it.
I think Miami was an exception in a pandemic year that also had really good player added that had immediate motivation after several years of discontent. ( I don’t think you can discount the political climate in this election situation as not a factor either.) Miami does have a winning tradition as well going back all the way back to Mourning, Shaq and Wad, and then of course the trio.
I really don’t think making the Eastern conference playoffs has been that much of an accomplish in many (maybe not all) of the last ten years+. This year may be different. I feel the East is stronger. I count Bucks, Celts, Nets, Raps, 76ers (should be), and Heat as all stronger than the rest. That leaves only two spots for the Pacers (could be in the first group), Hawks, Magic, and Wizards (depending on Wall). Maybe the Hornets, Pistons, or another weak team sneak in.
I am excited for the Bucks. I think the KL trade that sent him to Toronto has changed how great players are valued. Look at what Toronto gave up for KL and then won a championship. If that happens for the Bucks it is a great trade but what if it doesn’t happen? What if Giannis leaves? The Bucks will be for maybe 20 years what the Knicks were for the last 15+ years. I am not sure if Milwaukee will survive with that bad of a team. No stars sign with them. Even Amare Stoudamire wouldn’t sign to play in MKE for the MAX via a sign and trade. The Holiday trade could be a crippler for the Bucks. WORRIED I AM.
The Bucks had to swing for the fences. I’m all for it. But here’s the thing, unless they are sitting at the trade deadline at 40- 10 you have got to approach Giannis and say, “Hey brother, what are you thinking? Will you resign with us at the end of the year?”
If he says, “I don’t know,” and you’re sitting at 20- 16 you’ve got to trade him. Unless you are clicking on all cylinders and have a chance at a championship you have to trade his butt. For the sake of the future of the franchise you cannot go forward on a “maybe.”
Think of it this way, you ask girl to marry her and we’re talking about your future and your plan for life and she says “maybe” or she doesn’t know, you drop her like a bad habit, faster than you can say, goodbye. Am I right? You don’t hold out for a maybe or an I don’t know in a situation of this magnitude.
But like I said, if you’re sitting at 40- 10 there’s a chance for a championship and the squad is clicking you go for it. But 20- 16 and Giannas says maybe then you have to ship him out or else, as you say, the franchise could be set back 10 years. They gave up a truckload to get to this roster. Thoughts?
I disagree man they can go deep in the playoffs if they remain healthy they have a bench now Rondo spear heading the 2nd unit along with mentoring Young is Huge. Dunn is underrated and can play both guard positions Reddish Hunter Heurter good shooters.Collins Capela & Okongwu cleaning the boards I can See the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals
Reddish, Huerter and Hunter calling their agents currently.
Keep Reddish
Trade two others
Trade no 1 the Hawks have Depth I can See the 2nd unit Dunn Reddish Heurter Hunter Okongwu. Playoff Rondo shows up in the Playoffs. He is an asst Coach Teaching Trae & Dunn how to play under control. The Hawks made some Fantastic moves
Between the three of them, they have a lot of potential and ZERO good seasons. Besides, how good will it look for any to demand a trade because their team got too much better for them to play this offseason?
That’s a big contract for not a big need
Unless you think Young is going to play the off-guard/SG position, Bogdanovic fills a need as the starting SG. Gallo is less of a need than Bogdanovic. I really like what Atlanta is doing mixing experienced players in with their younger players. They have to make a big jump from where they were at, but Atlanta should be a playoff team.
Now sign Whiteside for a reasonable contract and not the one he could never live up to in Miami?
Word
Nice phrase cho, but ATL needed that cooler head in the backcourt with Trae. Rondo and Gallo are the mysteries; maybe there’s more but the roster ballooned and IDK who all is on it, apparently there’s no rhyme or reason.
If ATL does not make the playoffs, again, and they go with their youth, Rondo & Gallinari will look pretty silly sitting there on the bench.
Wtf are the Kings doing? How do you let a valuable asset walk for nothing. Buddy Hield isn’t happy in SAC, they should of matched the offer for Bodanovich and traded him.
Sac already gave heild 90ms and hes 28. Why would they give another 28 year old 72ms when they’re not even in contention for a playoff spot. Sac should just build through the draft at this moment and not give any big contracts out unless the player is home grown.
This likely solves a lot of his frustration….
Agreed Kings should have matched.
They can still deal Hield at the deadline once they’re for sure out of the playoff race and start really developing Haliburton.
Yes: room for Halliburton is the priority, preferrably without drama. Of course they could have drafted for the frontcourt.
Vivek didn’t learn anything from Lacob.
I have to give props to the Kings on this one. Over and over teams give ridiculous extensions or match terrible contracts just to not lose a player “for nothing.” In this case not strapping huge money to Bagdonovic will prove smart in the long run. Just my opinion.
But what happens if you can’t trade Hield? Then you would be stuck with 2 SGs making a combined $160 million and neither of them are THAT good. They are both good players, but neither of them is getting anywhere near an All NBA team anytime soon.
Couldn’t they of still signed bogiband then traded him to the Hawks for a hunter or reddish and a 2nd rounder? Anything almost. Agree they should move on from both girls/bogi together but I feel like they could of traded him for a pick and salary dump at worse.
They would have had to get Bogdanovic and the Hawks to agree to that *before* Bogdanovic signed the offer sheet. Once the offer sheet is signed, they don’t have the option of working a sign and trade angle. In essence, Sacramento’s hand was forced because of Atlanta’s offer. They had plenty of time to work that angle and failed to do so. Unfortunately, it happens. I think this is a win-win for both franchises in the long run.
Probable trade in the near future.
Most of those signed play great defense
No they don’t out of the bunch the only good defender is dunn and to a lesser degree hill. Rondo and galo are horrible defenders.
The two centers are good Defenders shot blockers.
Unlike Montrezl Harrell, which the Lakers will discover.
LeGM will trade harrell after this season. When AD has to play the 5 in the playoffs because of how much of a liability harrell is.
AD “has to play the 5”. I believe it’s called “best center in the nba minutes” when ad plays the 5 spot. It got them one ring. Howards 20mpg didn’t win then the ring.
Harrell isn’t starting at center and will likely play 20mpg. I’m pretty sure the LA teamsz and Lakers know what they get in offensive paint beast Harrell who got less than 10 mil a year. Had he been a shot blocking defensive presence putting up 16 and 9 he’d be 20 mil a year… He’s getting paid average player money.
You guys crack me up.
What guys, J? You’re basically agreeing… nobody is liking Harrell right now. Popular opinion is a bit out of balance. He will be used as an energy boost and is good at that. There are other shotblockers.
Harrell was right to feel the 2019 Clips got cut off by Kawhi & George. He did not just leave, but got even. Lakers said okay sure., we can win with Harrell, and they can lose without him.
Still better than HOU!
Hawks got a stud.
They had the pieces to go after James Harden while keeping most of the team attach. Smart Move!! Brooklyn Nets or no other team can offer what they have on their roster.
You are right
Hawks bench
Bogdan
Rondo
Snell
Reddish
Huerter
Hunter
Deeper than Lakers and Clippers？
Don’t forget about Onyeka Okongwa!!
Collins Okongwu Snell Hunter for Harden
Add salary to make it work
As scary as an WNBA team. GTFOH.
Nobody has the necessary ammunition to make a trade for Harden.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Harden is worth a young prospect or two (not young all star) and upto three mid-level first round picks. That’s a really good get, but the Rockets screwed up their own future picks so it’s sort of pointless, they are much better off grinding out with Harden hoping for a miracle and having a winning BB team for the next couple years as their draft pick cupboard is empty and they can’t get enough back to fix it.
Yeah if you have a crap team and want to draw some fans once they’re allowed back into arenas, trading draft assets and a young player or two for a volume guy like Harden is probably a good play.
If you’re trying to build a championship team, look elsewhere.
Mark my words: Harden will NEVER win a title as The Man on any team while in his prime. On the other hand, I have no doubt that when he’s on the downside of his career and has accepted that his skills have eroded to the point where he’s Mitch Richmond on the 2002 Lakers, he’ll gravy-train a ring as a complimentary piece.
k
Shades of early Vlade. Open up cap room in case hell freezes over and someone wants to come and play for sac. Here we go again.
Then when no one comes, overpay mediocre players in a desperate attempt to be relevant.
Kings GM is getting worse
He doesn’t know what he trades him to Bucks
Scary
Hawks saw what the Wolves were doing and said Hold My Beer… Rubio, Beasley, Culver, Edwards, DLo, Okogie vs Young, Rondo, Reddish, Bogdan, Dunn, Heuter.
There have been rumors of a Collins trade. With draft they have a lot of depth at the four and five. Dunn could be a sleeper, great Defense. Never have too many good players, injuries, disappointments etc. Bogan, Gallo open middle up for Trae to do his magic
Dunn will be lucky to get 12 minutes a night on this team unless there are injuries.
Dunn is lucky to still be in the NBA. A high-risk defender who gives the ball away as much as he steals it – granted exciting for the casual fan, but not winning basketball. However, he makes up for that by not being able to shoot worth a lick from farther than 10 feet. Oh, and he seems to like to shoot airball 3s.
Embiid is not healthy enough
Hawks are able to clinch into 7th seed
76ers have no bench and could fall to 8th seed
I disagree. They added much needed shooting in Curry and Green, and they got a better coach. They are better this coming year than last year.
IMO
According to my eyes test Both Green and Curry are declining.
Green is 33.5 years old.
76ers have the worst bench in the East?
Well, I would put the Knicks, the Bulls, the Hornets, the Wizards, the Cavs, the Magic, the Pistons, the Pacers, and probably the Nets all below them. At least on paper in terms of bench.
On paper… but does it all fit… there will likely be cliques.
76ers look great right now, your cray cray.
“cray cray”- these are not real words. Type real words and try to avoid baby talk if you’r going to post a comment.
Who shoved a stick up your butt?
Hubcap I would appreciate it you talked nicer to my grammy.
That actually got me to spit y coffee laughing!!!
Whose cray cray? Embiid’s on a Hulu ad?
If the Hawks get off to a good start, I think they could be in contention for a top 4 seed in the East. The Bucks should still be up there. The Celtics and Heat as well. Toronto may have stepped back a little bit. Brooklyn has proven nothing thus far and KD is coming off an injury, so the jury is still out there. Philly is an enigma. Indiana is dull as dishwater, high floor but low ceiling. As I said, they would need a really good start to build confidence for their young players, but I think they could make some serious noise this season.
Yeh I agree they could surprise. They’ll make the playoffs but the 4 to 8 slots are usually very competitive in the East.
This GM obviously does NOT know what the Hell he is doing. Well, I’m done w/ this Team. Been here since 1983 and tired of being a perennial Lottery Pick and No Playoff Team. Hope they Move out of this Town !! they will Never be a Winning Team and we deserve Much Better !!
Lol teams better than the mess they put out there last year. Think about it had no backup pg and the center position was atrocious besides when Collins got back from suspension and a slightly above avg Len who couldn’t catch passes to save his life.
Be honest if the Kings move out of town, Sacramento is NEVER getting another franchise. And I don’t just mean in basketball. I doubt they would ever get anything better than a AAA baseball franchise.
And honestly, if you have been with the Kings since 1983, this can’t possibly be the worst thing you have seen them do. It wouldn’t even crack the top 25 in my opinion. Does the Nik Stauskas trade ring a bell?
Don’t worry about mins now because the new players that was bought in to show the younger guys how to win, rondo 2 years,Dunn 2years, Gallo 3 years, by that time cam hunter and Kevin will be vets and maybe going into new contracts themselves or traded, oh by the way parsons was 28 or 30m but only played in a few games, if you can ball you will be on the floor
Buddy Hield is having a celebration somewhere.
I hope Haliburton is, in the starting 5. Hield is a good sixth man.
No he’s not.
As the sixth man, he will put up 20 points and he stop limited rotation guards. That’s enough for me
Why? All this means is he is likely to stay in Sacramento instead of being traded to a potential winning team.
I would have liked to trade Isaac for Hield. The Magic would have exchanged an injured player for a necessary throw. And we would have a strong defense near the ring in 2021/22
I take it you don’t follow KINGS-related news.
About three five articles a day. Why?
I don’t follow any team specifically. Please elaborate.
I have had to decline any Kings-related news sources during this busy covid era. Also any other era.
72 Mio for a one way player with terrible defense. Sorry but Monte is a very good analytic GM. One, two years more in the lottery is okey, mabye the best idea.
Mios of a more modern vintage can be rented in some parts of California for $5 per hour, $35 a day. Internet said so.
Sac Queens will always be trash.. they let him leave for nothing? Wow..always be the Sacramento Queens
Playoffs maybe 2022/23. It’s okay. I’m loyal and trust Monte. You don’t provide me. There are enough fans of success
I knew they would not match..
I have respect for every fan. As long as he respects us too
I feel the Wolves and Hawks need make something happen…
to*