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Bogdan Bogdanovic’s messy saga has taken a different turn. According to The New York TimesMarc Stein, the NBA has opened an investigation into the proposed signing and swap deal that allegedly sent Bogdanovic from the Sacramento Kings to the Milwaukee Bucks. Presumably, they are investigating the possibility that the Bucks committed a forgery violation by speaking to Bogdanovic before they were legally allowed to do so. Bogdanovic, a restricted free agent, cannot negotiate with the other teams until 6 p.m. ET on Friday. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced Monday night that Bogdanovic will join the Bucks through a signing and trade.
At the moment, Bogdanovic’s business appears to be closed. The Bucks gave up on Ersan Ilyasova on Friday, and his $ 7 million salary was a key part of the proposed deal. Bogdanovic is expected to enter restricted free agency on Friday, and while the Bucks may still try to find a way to save the deal, that seems unlikely given their salary structure and this investigation.
Neither the Bucks nor the Kings have officially said anything about Bogdanovic’s trade. It is not yet clear whether an opposing team reported a possible forgery violation prior to the trade or whether the league is basing the investigation on Wojnarowski’s premature report. Somewhat similar measures have been taken in the past without any tampering violation. In 2018, for example, Chris Paul was slated to be a free agent, but instead opted for the final year of his contract and was distributed to the Houston Rockets. Reports later indicated that Paul was drafted into the Rockets by James Harden, but common sense at the time should have dictated the tampering. How could Paul have known that the Rockets were interested in trading for him when he had opted otherwise?
Tampering is a fairly common occurrence in the NBA, but it is nearly impossible to fully investigate. Even then, proving that the Bucks contacted Bogdanovic would be extremely difficult. The Bucks and Kings could easily argue that they are not responsible for Wojnarowski’s reports, and that this may have been wrong, or that they simply accepted part of a trade that would have been contingent on negotiations that did not had yet to take place between the Bucks and Kings. There is probably no smoking gun here. It seems highly unlikely that the Bucks communicated with Bogdanovic in writing, so finding definitive wrongdoing appears to be nearly impossible.
But on paper, the mere fact that this was reported a few days before the onset of free will certainly gives the appearance of tampering, and a league that is very much aware of the optics involved in tampering has to cover its bases. . These surveys tend not to earn much more than an occasional fine. But as the Bucks seek to collect the coins and recoup their offseason after apparently losing to Bogdanovic, that cloud hanging over their heads is far from ideal as they try to convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign an overtime. of contract.
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