After an embarrassing exit from this year’s playoffs, Milwaukee Bucks will look to make some addition to their roster in order to avoid this from happening next season. And chatter around the league is that they have their eyes set on Sacramento Kings’ shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Bogdanovic is set to become a restricted free agent in the offseason, and, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Bucks are the first in line to make a move.
Bucks are looking to add shooting around reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the 28-year-old player certainly fits the bill. Bogdanovic averaged career-high 15.1 points per game in 2019/20, shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 37.2 from the three-point arc.
The big obstacle for the deal is that Milwaukee can only offer Bogdanovic a mid-level exception, which comes around $9.2 million a year for the 2020/21 NBA season. Kings have the option to match any offer the Serbian receives, and under that number, they would likely do so. Also, it is believed that the player hopes to fetch a significantly higher number than that as he previously turned down Sacramento’s four-year, $52 million extension offer.
The most probable option would for Bucks would be to orchestrate a sign-and-trade deal. This would include sending at least two players alongside at least one first-round pick. Milwaukee owns all of their future draft picks as well as the No. 24 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Bogdan Bogdanovic was selected No. 27 in the 2014 NBA Draft but remained in Europe for three more years. He made his NBA debut during the 2017/18 season, earning an All-Rookie Second Team selection in his first year in the league.
In the past three seasons, Bogdanovic averaged 13.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.
