Bogdan Bogdanovic officially joins the Atlanta Hawks

Bogdan Bogdanovic (Google Images)

In one of the more complicated transactions over the last 10 days, Bogdan Bogdanovic of Belgrade, Serbia has officially joined the Atlanta Hawks. According to Madeline Coleman of Sports Illustrated on Wednesday, the deal is for four years and $72 million.

The reason why this signing was more complicated than all of the other free agent signings since Friday is because Bogdanovic was a restricted free agent, instead of an unrestricted free agent. So, when the Hawks offered the 220-pound shooting guard the 18 million per year contract, Bogdanovic’s previous team, the Sacramento Kings, had an opportunity to match the deal. When the Kings did not match the Hawks offer, Bogdanovic officially became an Atlanta Hawk.

However, there is more to this story. Earlier last week, the Kings and Milwaukee Bucks had agreed to a deal with Bogdanovic involved. Milwaukee was to send Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova, and D.J. Wilson to Sacramento for Bogdanovic and Justin James. But the Bucks could not come to terms on a contract with Bogdanovic, and now the National Basketball Association is investigating tampering between the Bucks and Kings before free agency officially began.

This past season, Bogdanovic averaged career highs in points per game (15.1). He also had 3.4 assists per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, a .440 field goal percentage, a .372 three-point percentage, and a .741 free throw percentage.

Bogdanovic also had his first two 30-point games of his career. He had 31 points in a 120-116 win over the Phoenix Suns on November 19, 2019, and then 35 points in a 140-125 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on August 6.

The Hawks meanwhile were very active in free agency. In addition to Bogdanovic, the Hawks also signed Danilo Gallinari to a three-year deal worth $61.5 million from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The hope for the Hawks is that now they can provide enough talent around their star point guard Trae Young, and have what it takes to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

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