Bojan Bogdanovic, who has had a hot start to the season in his first stint for the Detroit Pistons, has agreed to a two-year extension for $39.1 million, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Bogdanovic was traded from Utah to Detroit in the final year of a four-year deal that will see him make $19.5 million this season. The sharpshooter from Croatia seamlessly fit into Detroit’s offense, averaging 23 points on 51/51/92 shooting splits. The deal is not without its risks, however, as Bojan’s new deal will take him through his age-35 season, and he is already creaky enough on defense to cause some concern.
He was added extremely late in the offseason, but he’s integral to the team’s offense as its only legitimately threatening deep threat. He’s second on the team in shots per game and attempts nearly 8 threes so far early in the season.
But he’s not strictly a spot-up shooter. He’s a smart player who knows how to get inside and drive to the basket if defenders overcommit trying to take away the perimeter shot. In that way, he’s more than filled in, offensively at least, the role Detroit asked of Jerami Grant the past two seasons.
The Pistons were set to have among the most cap space in the offseason, and even with the Bogdanovic extension, they look to have plenty of financial wiggle room to add significant free agents or make trades. With rookie extensions handed to RJ Barrett, Tyler Herro, Jordan Poole and DeAndre Hunter, the free agent pool was looking pretty shallow. The Bogdanovic move is a bit of pre-emptive shopping and gives them a sharpshooting wing they can rely on to help stretch defenses.