Indiana Pacers: 5 takeaways from the 2018-19 NBA season
3. Bojan Bogdanovic quietly had the season of his career
A big reason this Pacers team kept making noise and didn’t plummet out of the playoff race this season was because of Bojan Bogdanovic. Although one of the older players on the roster — he recently turned 30 — Bogey stepped up and made a huge difference on the scoring front once the new year came around.
On March 15, 2016, as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, he set a career-high in scoring, matching the number on his jersey with 44 points. Until 2019, Bogey would only eclipse the 30-point mark once more.
Bojan Bogdanovic's opening 'press conference' was in a dark hallway.
— Charlie Clifford (@char_cliff) April 8, 2019
The word was he couldn't play defense. Might be a starter. Might.
Now, he leads the #Pacers into Round 1. Confident & funny as ever. @WISH_TV pic.twitter.com/PlnmaE01iH
This year, he hit 30 or more points three times. Across the board, he averaged career highs in scoring (18.0 points per game), rebounding (4.1 per game), field goal percentage (49.7 percent), 3-point percentage (42.5 percent) and even in assists (2.0 per game).
Regardless of the final outcome of this season, Indiana should consider keeping Bogdanovic around this summer. He’s a weapon that has made his name known, especially since Oladipo’s injury.