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Bogdan Bogdanovic

Free Agent Rumors: Lakers, Gasol, KCP, Hawks, More

November 20th, 2020 at 8:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Having lost Dwight Howard in free agency, the Lakers may be eyeing another former Defensive Player of the Year. Marc Stein of The New York Times reports (via Twitter) that Marc Gasol has emerged as a free agent target for the Lakers. Gasol was drafted by L.A. way back in 2007 but was traded to Memphis in a package for his brother Pau Gasol and never appeared in a game for the Lakers.

As we wait to see if the two sides attempt to work toward a deal, let’s round up a few more free agency rumors…

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Hawks Confident About Chances In Free Agency

November 20th, 2020 at 4:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Hawks forward Vince Carter said on ESPN’s The Jump that he has heard Atlanta is confident it will be able to land two free agents from a group that includes Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo, Joe Harris, and Bogdan Bogdanovic, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Chris Kirschner of The Athletic echoes that sentiment (via Twitter).

While Harris and Bogdanovic may still be in play for the Hawks, it sounds as if Gallinari and Rondo are the more likely candidates to end up in Atlanta.

Reports earlier in the week suggested that the Hawks are viewed as the frontrunners for both veteran free agents, with Gallinari perhaps in line for a three-year deal and Rondo expected to receive a two-year offer.

Atlanta is the only team set to enter free agency with more than $40MM in cap room available, so even if the team lands Gallinari and Rondo, it still should have money left over to spend.

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Free Agent Rumors: Bogdanovic, VanVleet, Augustin, Thompson

November 20th, 2020 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Now that Bogdan Bogdanovic has re-emerged as a free agent option for teams outside of Milwaukee, the RFA swingman and his representatives are expected to take meetings when free agency opens, according to Sam Amick and Eric Nehm of The Athletic, who say that the Hawks and Lakers are known to have interest.

Amick and Nehm suggest it’s “widely known” that Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had been recruiting Bogdanovic to Milwaukee. Since it seems that union won’t happen, teams hoping to eventually lure Giannis away from the Bucks will probably become a little more interested in Bogdanovic, according to The Athletic’s duo, who mention the Mavericks and Heat as a couple of those clubs.

Here’s more on free agency:

  • Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News tweets that he has consistently heard the Raptors‘ goal is to re-sign Fred VanVleet on a Malcolm Brogdon-type contract. Brogdon’s four-year, $85MM deal was cited way back in August as a probable market-setter for VanVleet’s new contract.
  • The Suns have reached out to D.J. Augustin, who is also drawing real interest from the Bucks, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Gambadoro adds that the veteran point guard is likely to accept the best offer he receives.
  • Even after winning a championship, the Lakers aren’t content to be passive in free agency, says general manager Rob Pelinka. As Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays, Pelinka vows his club will be “aggressive” as it looks to continue making upgrades. “We’re not going to just sit back and not expect others who are in position to try to better their roster or better their teams,” Pelinka said. “So we have to stay aggressive. I think the danger of winning is complacency, and I won’t — we won’t allow that to creep in here. We’re going to try to improve our team and put Coach (Frank) Vogel and his staff in the best possible position to defend.”
  • The Lakers would love to land Tristan Thompson in free agency, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com. Mannix says the Raptors are also expected to express interest in Thompson, though Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) hears Toronto hasn’t reached out to the Canadian center yet.
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Bucks Moving On From Bogdanovic Pursuit

November 20th, 2020 at 12:38pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks are moving on from their pursuit of Kings RFA Bogdan Bogdanovic, sources tell Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Bogdanovic saga is the early frontrunner for the oddest story of free agency. Late on Monday night, reports indicated that a sign-and-trade agreement had been reached that would have sent Bogdanovic to Milwaukee along with Justin James for Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova, and D.J. Wilson. However, two days later, word broke that the deal was falling apart, having apparently never received approval from Bogdanovic himself.

There was some speculation that the NBA had stepped in due to the perception of tampering or circumvention, and that the Bucks and Kings had to act as if there was no deal in place until free agency opened.

However, now it appears all parties are indeed moving on, clearing the path for Bogdanovic to explore the market for an offer sheet, while the league has opened an investigation into the reported sign-and-trade deal that is no longer happening.

Bogdanovic is one of the fall’s top free agents. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested on an episode of his Hoop Collective podcast this week that “word on the street” is that the Kings swingman is hoping secure a deal of up to four years in the range of $18MM annually (hat tip to RealGM).

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Bogdanovic Receives Qualifying Offer From Kings

November 19th, 2020 at 6:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

6:15pm: The league has opened an investigation of the reported sign-and-trade agreement between the Kings and Bucks, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

5:34pm: The Kings have extended a $10.66MM qualifying offer to Bogdan Bogdanovic, making the shooting guard a restricted free agent, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.

The move was expected, as it gives Sacramento the right to match any offer for one of the more intriguing free agents on the market. He averaged 15.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 3.4 APG in 29.0 MPG last season and is a 37.4% career 3-point shooter.

Bogdanovic has been embroiled in controversy this week. Word leaked that the Bucks had reached a sign-and-trade agreement for Bogdanovic days before the start of free agency.

The teams hoped to bring Bogdanovic the framework of their proposed deal and negotiate his contract with Milwaukee on Friday. Instead, he decided to enter restricted free agency in search of an offer sheet or other sign-and-trade scenarios.

In that proposed deal, the Bucks would have received Bogdanovic and Justin James to Milwaukee in exchange for Ersan Ilyasova, D.J. Wilson, and Donte DiVincenzo. Milwaukee has decided to release Ilyasova, so a renewed effort to acquire Bogdanovic would require a restructured package.

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Bogdan Bogdanovic Plans To Enter Restricted Free Agency

November 18th, 2020 at 6:33pm CST by Luke Adams

A sign-and-trade deal that would send Kings swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic to the Bucks appears to be dead, at least for now, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

According to Wojnarowski, the Kings and Bucks had hoped to bring Bogdanovic the framework of their sign-and-trade agreement and negotiate his contract with Milwaukee on Friday. Instead, he’ll enter restricted free agency in search of an offer sheet or other sign-and-trade scenarios, per Woj (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski initially reported late on Monday night that the Kings and Bucks had agreed to a deal sending Bogdanovic and Justin James to Milwaukee in exchange for Ersan Ilyasova, D.J. Wilson, and Donte DiVincenzo. However, Sam Amick of The Athetic reported earlier today that the deal was in peril, since Bogdanovic apparently never agreed to it.

As I wrote in our earlier story, it’s hard to believe that the Kings and Bucks wouldn’t have confirmed that Bogdanovic was on board with the move before it was reported. But it was also unusual that a deal involving a free agent contract was being reported four days before free agency actually began. At this point, it’s unclear whether the deal fell apart as a result of a major communication breakdown or if the NBA got involved due to perceived tampering.

Either way, it’s a major setback for the Bucks. They’re still hoping that a Bogdanovic deal can be saved, but it sounds like he’s ready to move onto other options, according to Amick (Twitter link). Milwaukee is still on track to land Jrue Holiday from the Pelicans, but will have to look elsewhere if they want to try to turn a DiVincenzo package into an impact player.

As for the Kings, if they’re not intent on re-signing Bogdanovic themselves or matching an offer sheet, they’ll likely look to negotiate a sign-and-trade with another club.

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Bucks’ Sign-And-Trade For Bogdanovic In Peril

November 18th, 2020 at 4:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The agreement between the Bucks and Kings that would send Bogdan Bogdanovic to Milwaukee in a sign-and-trade is in peril, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, who reports that there was never an agreement from Bogdanovic to join the Bucks.

That element of the deal has become a major issue, according to Amick, who hears from a high-ranking team official that it’s not clear whether the move will be completed when free agency opens. The deal, which was reported late on Monday night, would send Bogdanovic and Justin James to the Bucks in exchange for Ersan Ilyasova, D.J. Wilson, and Donte DiVincenzo.

It’s hard to know what to make of this update. As I pointed out on Monday night when the story broke, it’s very unusual for a deal that involves a free agent changing teams to be reported several days before free agency actually begins. The NBA’s tampering rules would technically prohibit the Bucks from having any contact with Bogdanovic before Friday, so on one hand, a miscommunication wouldn’t be a major surprise.

On the other hand, it’s very unlikely that the Bucks and Kings would have agreed to a deal involving five players and overlooked the fact that Bogdanovic wasn’t fully on board with it. If Bogdanovic never agreed, it’s also odd that there wasn’t any real pushback on Monday’s reporting until now.

As Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report observes (via Twitter), it sounds like either someone “badly” messed up or the Kings and Bucks took heat from the NBA for leaking a deal involving a free agent well before the start of free agency and are now trying to walk it back.

Needless to say, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this situation this week to see if the Bucks, Kings, and Bogdanovic eventually work something out or if it falls apart entirely.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Bucks Notes: Connaughton, Bogdanovic, Holiday, Assistants

November 18th, 2020 at 7:34am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on The Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said he’s had a couple teams with cap room ask him about Bucks free-agent-to-be Pat Connaughton. While Lowe doesn’t necessarily expect a bidding war for Connaughton, he suggests the shooting guard should draw interest for more than the veteran’s minimum, which could make it tricky for the hard-capped Bucks to re-sign him.

Here’s more on Milwaukee:

  • In that same Hoop Collective podcast, Windhorst said it’s his understanding that Bogdan Bogdanovic really wanted to play with Giannis Antetokounmpo and might have been able to get a slightly more lucrative offer elsewhere in free agency. We still don’t know exactly what Bogdanovic’s new deal with Milwaukee will look like, but Windhorst estimated it’ll start in the $14-15MM range.
  • According to Windhorst, when the Pelicans were discussing trades for Jrue Holiday, gauging Holiday’s interest in a longer-team stay with potential trade partners was part of that process. While nothing has been agreed to yet, Windhorst gets the sense that Holiday is open to an extension (or eventually re-signing in free agency) with the Bucks.
  • The Bucks announced on Tuesday in a press release that they’ve officially hired Mike Dunlap and Josh Oppenheimer, naming them assistant coaches on Mike Budenholzer‘s staff. A report last month indicated that Oppenheimer – who worked in Milwaukee from 2013-16 would be returning to the franchise. Dunlap, who has spent the last six years as the head coach at Loyola Marymount University, previously had a brief stint as the Bobcats’ coach.
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Trade Notes: Bucks, Bogdanovic, Holiday, Kings, Pelicans

November 17th, 2020 at 7:47am CST by Luke Adams

The deals to acquire both Jrue Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovic took practically every asset the Bucks had left, but the team now projects to have one of the NBA’s best starting lineups, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic, who notes that Milwaukee’s new additions will join Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez in the starting five.

As Nehm writes, the Bucks’ aggressive roster overhaul should eliminate any doubt that the franchise is serious about getting Antetokounmpo the help he needs to win a title. However, the acquisitions will leave the club hard-capped and with little flexibility to fill out the rest of the roster.

Because Holiday has a series of likely and unlikely bonuses that count toward the hard cap, the Bucks will probably be limited to minimum-salary contracts as they look to fill out their roster and keep team salary below $138,928,000, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

By my rough calculations, Milwaukee would have about $27.3MM in room below the hard cap to fit in Bogdanovic’s starting salary and minimum-salary contracts for seven players. That would get the Bucks to 14 players, not counting two-ways, though they could carry just 13 for parts of the season in order to create a little more cap flexibility.

Here’s more on the two deals the Bucks agreed to on Monday night:

  • While former Kings general manager Vlade Divac likely would’ve been willing to match offers in the $15-18MM range for Bogdanovic, it was never clear how enthusiastic new GM Monte McNair was about retaining the swingman, whose camp signaled a “willingness to play hardball” with Kings management, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.
  • The Pelicans‘ decision to move Holiday in a package that includes three first-round picks and a pair of pick swaps is the latest indication that the organization is prioritizing its long-term goals over shortcuts to contention, says Scott Kushner of NOLA.com. Even with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram on the brink of stardom, New Orleans is preaching patience and wants to build its roster through the draft, as Kushner explains.
  • The Pelicans could theoretically flip Eric Bledsoe or George Hill to another team immediately after acquiring them, but they won’t be able to aggregate either player for salary-matching purposes until December 8, tweets Marks. Typically, there’s a two-month gap before a player can be aggregated, but that has been adjusted to account for the shortened offseason. For instance, the Thunder will be able to aggregate the players they acquired for Chris Paul as early as December 5, Marks notes (via Twitter).
  • Speaking of Paul, the Bucks never engaged in any trade talks for the veteran point guard, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
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Bucks To Acquire Bogdan Bogdanovic From Kings In Sign-And-Trade

November 17th, 2020 at 12:12am CST by Luke Adams

UPDATE: This deal has fallen apart. Read the details here.

The Bucks will acquire restricted free agent swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic from the Kings in a sign-and-trade deal once free agency opens, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Sources tell Wojnarowski that Milwaukee will send Donte DiVincenzo, D.J. Wilson, and Ersan Ilyasova to Sacramento in the deal, while the Bucks will also receive forward Justin James from the Kings (Twitter links).

Multiple reports in recent weeks indicated that the Bucks had interest in Bogdanovic and would pursue him in a sign-and-trade scenario. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reiterated that interest tonight in the wake of Milwaukee’s agreement to acquire Jrue Holiday, tweeting that Bogdanovic was also being eyed by the Hawks.

Still, even in the wake of O’Connor’s report, we didn’t expect to learn so early in the week that the Kings and Bucks have already reached an agreement. Since Bogdanovic will technically be a free agent, he and Milwaukee aren’t supposed to have any contact until Friday, so the NBA likely won’t be thrilled that news of this deal has already leaked.

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.

Re-signing Bogdanovic was believed to be a priority for the Kings, so it’s a little surprising that the team is prepared to move him in a sign-and-trade deal. However, former general manager Vlade Divac seemed more committed to the 28-year-old Serbian than new GM Monte McNair.

The Kings’ willingness to move on from Bogdanovic is good news for the Bucks, who have reshaped their lineup with this move and the acquisition of Holiday, putting themselves in a great position to sell Giannis Antetokounmpo on signing a five-year, super-max contract extension this fall.

As for the Kings, they’re likely not viewing Ilyasova’s expiring $7MM contract as a major asset, and Wilson is coming off a disappointing third season. DiVincenzo is the headliner of their package, having averaged 9.2 PPG and 4.8 RPG on .455/.336/.733 in 66 games (23.0 MPG) last year for Milwaukee. He’s a strong perimeter defender who – at age 23 – still has plenty of room to improve and is under contract for two more years before reaching restricted free agency.

It’s not yet clear what Bogdanovic’s new contract with the Bucks will look like, but the deal must span at least three seasons, with a guaranteed first year. Based on Milwaukee’s outgoing salary, he could receive a starting salary of up to approximately $18MM, assuming Ilyasova’s salary becomes guaranteed. However, the Bucks will have to be conscious of the hard cap — as a result of acquiring a player via sign-and-trade, they’ll be unable to surpass a team salary of $138,928,000 in 2020/21.

The base year compensation rule will also apply to Bogdanovic’s new deal and will complicate salary-matching to some extent, though the inclusion of James should prevent it from becoming an issue for Sacramento.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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