2017 NBA free agency grades: Sacramento Kings to sign Bogdan Bogdanovic
Even before the start of free agency, the Sacramento Kings have reportedly agreed to a deal with Serbian international Bogdan Bogdanovic.
One of the bigger questions hanging over the Sacramento Kings appears to finally have an answer.
First reported by Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee, the Kings have reportedly agreed to terms on a three-year, $36 million deal with Fenerbahce star Bogdan Bogdanovic. However, the Sacramento Bee‘s Jason Jones later clarified the deal would actually be a three-year, $27 million contract
This ends a year-long quest to bring over the Serbian international for the 2017-18 season after the Kings acquired Bogdanovic’s draft rights from the Phoenix Suns as part of a 2016 draft-night trade. That deal also included the picks that later turned out to be Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissiere.
The expectation is the signing will be made official once the free agency moratorium ends on July 6.
As Albert Nahmad of Heat Hoops notes, since Bogdanovic was selected as a first round pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Kings are able to pay above the rookie scale with the sizable cap room they have available.
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With Bogdanovic now expected to join the fold, the foundation for the Kings has gotten immensely stronger after the events of the last week.
In Bogdanovic, the Kings add another adept shooter who’s capable of playing both guard positions, as he can create well off the dribble for himself and has the vision to set up opportunities for others in pick-and-roll situations. Standing at 6’6″ and armed with a seven-foot wingspan, Bogdanovic competes well on the defensive end as well.
Across all competitions last season, Bogdanovic averaged 14.8 points per game on shooting splits of .495/.376/.874, along with 3.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Additionally, Bogdanovic’s career overseas ends on a high note as he played a vital part in Fenerbahce’s run in becoming Euroleague champions, for which he earned Finals MVP honors as well.
Bogdanovic is just the latest addition to a Kings backcourt that has undergone significant changes in the last week alone.
Those changes have come at the expense of veteran Arron Afflalo, who was waived last week ahead of his 2017-18 salary becoming fully guaranteed and now Ben McLemore, who the Kings will decline extending a qualifying offer to, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
Now with the 24-year-old Serbian officially coming over, the Kings have plenty of promising options to turn to at the 2-spot between Bogdanovic, Buddy Hield, Garrett Temple and Malachi Richardson.
Overall, this is a good start for a Kings team that stands as an intriguing team to watch this free agency period.
Even with Bogdanovic’s deal coming on the books, the Kings still have needs to address within their roster, but with limited spots available, a level of discretion will be required on their part — despite the rich amount of cap room they have to operate with this summer.
Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far
Where they go from here once free agency actually begins remains to be seen, but adding Bogdanovic is nevertheless a big win for a franchise that has made major strides in their rebuild so far this summer.
Grade: A-