[ad_1]
The opening salvo from Travis Schlenk, president of free agency basketball operations for the Atlanta Hawks, was a lucrative three-year pact with veteran forward Danilo Gallinari. This was followed, in a short time, by a reported investment in Kris Dunn, bolstering the team’s perimeter defense on a positive value deal. From there, the Hawks pivoted to Rajon Rondo, adding another ball handler and a veteran presence to the backup point guard. With Dunn projected to fit into the chamber exception and Rondo making just a seven-figure annual salary, the Hawks have always maintained enough salary cap flexibility to make another big splash and, in the end, this splash appears to be with an offer sheet for restricted wing of free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic.
A few moments later, Athletic’s Chris Kirschner said the terms would be four years for $ 72 million, with Marc Stein of the New York Times noting later that the deal will include a fourth-year player option and a 15% trade kicker.
Rumors of Bogdanovic swirled ahead of the official start of free agency, especially after a failed signing exchange between his outgoing team, the Sacramento Kings, and the Milwaukee Bucks. It’s (very) important to note, however, that the Kings have the right to match Atlanta’s offer sheet, as Bogdanovic is a restricted free agent, even at the age of 28. While the details of what happened to put Bogdanovic “back” to the market might be quite interesting, the reality is that the Hawks were in first place to pounce when the time came, even with Gallinari, Rondo and Dunn already. on board.
On the pitch, Bogdanovic, who weighs 6’6 and 220 pounds, is a gifted offensive player. He averaged 15.1 points, 3.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game last season in Sacramento, with Bogdanovic converting 37.4% of his three-point attempts over a three-year career. Notably, Bogdanovic attempted a career-high 7.2 three-point-per-game in 2019-20, and he’s bringing in extra shots, an area Atlanta is keen to address.
Importantly, Bogdanovic can also function as a ball creator (including an 18.5% career assist rate), both in a secondary way when playing alongside Trae Young (or Rondo) and primary way on the second unit. With Atlanta investing in Dunn as a guard who isn’t a fantasy creator, a pair of Dunn and Bogdanovic makes a lot of sense when Young leaves the floor, with the players essentially switching roles on either side of the floor.
Defensively, Bogdanovic is far from the elite, but he possesses a solid position size and reasonable athleticism for the shooting guard post. There will be natural questions about how the pieces fit on the defensive side, particularly as the Hawks try to fit Gallinari into their plans. Still, Bogdanovic brings the kind of offensive profile that the Atlanta front office values as a dribble-pass-shoot player, and Dunn’s acquisition really bolsters perimeter resistance.
All eyes are now on Sacramento, where the Kings will have an interesting decision to make in the near future. The Hawks must now wait for the Kings to make a decision, leaving Atlanta in a period of relative limbo. however, Amick notes an original view that “the Hawks wouldn’t do this if they didn’t feel very, very good about how this ends.”
For clarity, the Kings will have 48 hours to decide whether or not to match the offer sheet, although this clock does not start until when it is signed. From there, Atlanta’s salary cap space would be stuck as the team waits for a resolution, and in the Sacramento games the Hawks will be left with other decisions to make and a free agent market that is thin at this point.
Stay tuned.
[ad_2]
Source link