Cashing in On Detroit’s Tank
Unlike John Collins, it seems almost sure that Detroit will move off Bojan Bogdanovic at the trade deadline. Traded to Detroit for Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee in a 2022 cap dump, Bojan has continued to post very efficient offensive numbers at a volume rate.
Throughout his career, Bogdanovic has frequently flirted with the 50-40-90 club. Since 2019, he has averaged almost 19 points per contest on 47% shooting from the field and 40% from three-point range.
He has thrived in a wide range of situations. He has played alongside All-Stars like Victor Oladipo, Donovan Mitchell, and Mike Conley, posting near exact numbers as he does on a tanking team like Detroit. Though undersized, he has played the power forward position for the past two seasons and could certainly slide into the Phoenix starting lineup.
The price tag for Bogdanovic likely won’t be low, as he is sure to be one of the hotter commodities on the market when the February 9th trade deadline. However, Phoenix can afford to be aggressive with draft picks, as James Jones has been historically conservative in using them.
His contract extension is set to kick in next season, paying him just shy of $40 million over that period. Bogdanovic has shown that he is very much still worth that money, but investing two firsts and $40 million into a soon-to-be 35-year-old is very risky. However, this might be a move worth making to add a consistent scoring option and keep the championship window from closing.