Bojan Bogdanovic was in Croatia last Thursday when he received word that he had been traded. Rumors suggested that the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns were potential landing spots for the 33-year-old sharpshooter.
Instead, he was sent to the rebuilding Detroit Pistons.
The Utah Jazz are in the beginning stages of a rebuild and blew up their roster this offseason, sending Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Donavan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bogdanovic knew he was headed out of Salt Lake City, too.
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He’s excited to be with the Pistons, he said at the team’s practice facility on Tuesday. The trade, which sent Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee to Utah, was officially cleared by the league Monday night. Bogdanovic flew to Detroit over the weekend and joined the team for dinner on Sunday night. Tuesday was an acclimation day to familiarize himself with his new teammates and coaching staff. That process will continue through the rest of training camp and into the regular season, but he’s encouraged by what he’s seen so far.
“Cade is the franchise player,” Bogdanovic said. “He’s a great guy, and a great player. Putting me next to him, he’s going to have more space to operate. I’ve (been) here just a couple days, so we will learn about each other.”
Bogdanovic has yet to have an in-depth discussion about his role with the Pistons, but he’ll plug a lot of holes. A career 39.2% 3-point shooter, he’ll fill a massive need for a team that shot 32.6% last season — 29th overall in the NBA. But he’s a complete offensive player who averaged 18.1 points and 4.3 rebounds last season while shooting 45.5% overall and 38.7% from 3. Standing 6 feet 7, he can play both forward spots and will give Detroit depth at a position they previously lacked it in. He’ll also be another veteran voice for a team that has 10 players younger than 24 years old.
“A little bit of everything,” Dwane Casey said of what Bogdanovic will bring. “He spaces the floor, he talks. We didn’t want to lose Kelly, but what (Bogdanovic’s) skillset brought, it opened up one of the five spots for us. Just too many bigs, and he’s more of a three or four, smart, shoots the ball, knows the game, knows how to play without the ball. If you stay with him, it opens up space for Cade and (Jaden) Ivey and Saddiq (Bey). Just watching them play, and I was watching today, he was out there talking to guys, telling them what to do, how to do things. You cannot put an amount on that, and that’s why he’s valuable to us right now.”
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Bogdanovic fills a need at power forward, but it doesn’t mean the Pistons have abandoned giving Stewart minutes at the position. The coaching staff has given Stewart the green light to shoot 3-pointers next season, and he’ll spend time at both big man positions. Marvin Bagley III is also being encouraged to take more 3s. Neither players have been plus shooters in their careers thus far, but both made shooting a priority in workouts this offseason.
If one or both of Stewart and Bagley can consistently knock down 3s, it could open up more minutes for Nerlens Noel and Jalen Duren.
“What’s going to have to manifest itself, it’s not natural right now, is for Isaiah to slide to the four just to open up some spots for everybody because right now there’s four and it’s tough to play that many in today’s game, to be that big,” Casey said. “I really feel like Isaiah and also Marvin can slide out to the four and space the floor. That’s our charge right now, is trying to get them to do that.”
While the trade was a no-brainer from a team-building standpoint, it was difficult for the players. Casey described Lee, who was drafted in 2022 along with Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart and Bey, as a “glue guy.” He was close with nearly everyone on the roster. Olynyk was also beloved in Detroit’s locker room.
But the Pistons are shifting gears. Bogdanovic is one of the most skilled and accomplished players on the roster and will raise Detroit’s floor next season. His shooting should make life easier for Cunningham and the other young ball-handlers. And he’s bought into what the team is trying to build.
“That’s the toughest part about this business,” Casey said. “Everybody shed a tear and you get emotional. But at the same time, for the good of the team it’s a business. To get a guy like Bojan that everybody in the league wanted, and we were fortunate enough — front office, George David and Troy (Weaver) — did a good job of getting him.”
“One thing about Bojan, we got him on Friday and he’s in Croatia. He flies cross country and he’s here for our first team meeting Sunday night for a team dinner. That says a lot about how he feels about Detroit. I told him we’re a young team, an up-and-coming team. Let’s get on the bandwagon quick.”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa.