Veteran guard Bogdan Bogdanovic was having the worst year of his NBA career in Atlanta this season, averaging 10.0 points per game on 37.1% shooting (30.1% on three-pointers). He has looked more like his usual self since being traded to Los Angeles, bumping his scoring average to 12.6 PPG while making 48.5% of his shots from the floor (and 40.0% of his threes).
Bogdanovic has emerged as an X-factor for the Clippers, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register, due to his ability to read the floor, his decision-making, and the way he complements star guard James Harden.
“Bogey, him coming to our team really gave us a shot in the arm and helped us out in all of those areas,” assistant coach Brian Shaw said. “(His) spacing, being able to handle the ball takes some of the pressure off of James … and then when we want to seek out mismatches, they have to account for him out on the three-point line and that leaves the paint and everything open.”
Bogdanovic has a guaranteed $16MM salary for next season and a $16MM team option for 2026/27, so he won’t simply be a rental for his new team.
We have more from around the Western Conference:
- Within a mailbag for SI.com, veteran NBA reporter Chris Mannix says he thinks Suns forward Kevin Durant would like to end up with with the Rockets this summer. While Mannix makes it clear that’s just his opinion, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) notes that he shares that opinion. Houston controls a handful of Phoenix’s draft picks, making the two teams an obvious match, but the question is how much interest the Rockets would have in giving up significant assets for a player who will be 37 next season — past reports have suggested they’ve sought to complement their young core with a more “age-appropriate” star.
- The Mavericks held Kessler Edwards out of their game against Detroit on Friday, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. Edwards, who is on a two-way contract, can only be active once more and Dallas didn’t want to burn his last game quite yet, so he’ll join the team on its upcoming road trip. Another two-way player, Brandon Williams, is active for the Mavs on Friday and will have just four active games of his own left after tonight (Twitter link).
- Bennett Durando addresses a series of Nuggets-related topics in a mailbag for The Denver Post, exploring what the team’s playoff rotation might look like, discussing the latest on Aaron Gordon‘s nagging calf injury, and evaluating who’s to blame for Denver’s subpar defensive play.
If trade Smith Eason Reed and filler for Durant
No pick involves
Rockets payroll prediction 2027
Durant 55m
Green 45m
Thompson $40m
VanVleet $35m
Brooks $25m
Total $200m for 5 players
2025 Suns unprotected pick
2027 Suns unprotected pick
55 win team
Keep Eason and give the 2025 pick back. Also – guess you are factoring out Sengun?
Don’t want Durant on Rockets. They aren’t a Durant away from a title but they would be a Durant trade away from not being a title contender for a while.
Mavs fans especially . Watch the Illinois game.
#32 . Kasparas Jacucionis he is who you want. Very young. Great size vision. PG skills
Kasparas Jakucionis 16 pts, 10 ast, 9 reb
Next up Kentucky on Sunday. Nico you watching. I got you …….
Gonna guess Nico doesn’t watch much basketball
That was good lol ……
Durant better watch out, Ime might sleep with his wife.
“Might”?
Durant is not married. And from the looks of it, KD type wouldn’t give Ime the time of day.
“Talent only gets you so far,” Booker told FOX Sports. “I’ve been on teams with less talent that found ways to get more wins. It’s just the little things. What people always say, the details of the game. Although it sounds like we should know that at this part of our careers, it’s just something you need to form and develop and learn through trial and error. – via FoxSports.com“
I know this is probably a lot of frustration. But it sounds defeated to me. Like no confidence in his team. This team shouldn’t be this bad. And this is “what he is saying” should have been amplified at beginning of year. Imo this is all about coaching and lack of leadership.
Suns are classic example. Of all those who think you can just build a winner on the fly. All you need is 2-3 stars.
I have seen this posted here for years. The NBA is all about stars. You win by having stars. Spoken like a true fan ………. A FankenStein .