Bogdan Bogdanovic Signs With Hawks After Kings Decline to Match Four-Year, $72M Offer Sheet
Restricted free-agent guard Bogdan Bogdanovic signed with the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday evening, and will reportedly wear No. 13, the team announced.
"Bogdan has a great feel for the game, and we expect him to be a great fit for us with his high-level offensive skill set, experience and toughness," Hawks President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Travis Schlenk said in a statement. "It’s no secret that one of our biggest areas of focus in free agency was adding shooting and quality depth. With Bogdan as part of our incoming group, we feel those are now areas of strength."
Earlier Tuesday evening, the Sacramento Kings decided not to match the Hawks' four-year, $72 million offer sheet for Bogdanovic, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported.Â
The Kings' front office reportedly spent a lot of time debating the decision; however, the sticking point was how new general manager Monte McNair wants to maintain roster flexibility. Wojnarowski said that signing Bogdanovic would have "limited the organization’s ability to continue reshaping the team around its young core of Fox, Bagley and Hield."Â
Drafting Tyrese Haliburton at No. 12 also reportedly played into the Kings' decision.Â
On Nov. 22, Bogdanovic reportedly signed the offer sheet, and he'll join Danilo Gallinari as pivotal players in the Hawks' free agency class. The Hawks have focused on snagging veterans in order to build the roster to complement a young core featuring All-Star guard Trae Young.
According to The Times, this Hawks' deal includes a player-option in its fourth year and a 15% trade kicker.Â
The Milwaukee Bucks and Kings had previously reached a consensus on a sign-and-trade deal that would have sent Bogdanovic and Justin James to the Bucks and Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova and D.J. Wilson to Sacramento.
However, the 28-year-old chose to go to the marketplace, and an NBA probe was launched. The league is investigating whether tampering might have occurred in talks between Sacramento and Milwaukee before free agency began.
The No. 27 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft spent the first three seasons of his career with the Kings, averaging double-digit points in each of three seasons and a career-high 15.1 points per game this past season. Bogdanovic was tied for 24th in the NBA in three-pointers made (164).