Wednesday evening was long for Bojan Bogdanovic. He anticipated being traded, but that does not ease the wonder or clear the mind.
When he saw Washington was a rumored option for the second destination of his NBA career, he perked up.
“I was cheering for being traded here because I know how they play right now, they need someone to score off the bench,” Bogdanovic said Thursday.
He can put the pom-poms away. Bogdanovic was sitting in the corner of the Verizon Center practice court Thursday morning in a gray sweatsuit. The Wizards acquired him late Wednesday night for Marcus Thornton, Andrew Nicholson and a protected 2017 first-round pick. Bogdanovic flew down to Washington on Thursday morning, took a physical and watched practiced before fellow European Marcin Gortat caught his ear.
The question is where the move puts Washington in the Eastern Conference hierarchy. The third-place Wizards are a part of a conference-wide pack trying to catch the reigning champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland did not make any trades. The second-place Boston Celtics made no moves, let alone the rumored dramatic deals for Chicago’s Jimmy Butler or Indiana’s Paul George. Toronto made a second move, adding small forward P.J. Tucker a week after acquiring Serge Ibaka from Orlando. Nothing significant happened at the back-end of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
“We feel like our starting five can compete against anybody,” John Wall said. “We feel like we just needed a little help in the bench area and those guys that we had in the season have done a great job to even help us get to third place. But like coach said, we have an opportunity to improve your team, you make those decisions. … I think we did a great job of improving a little bit and I think we’re fine where we’re at.”
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Bogdanovic is a versatile scorer who has come off the bench in Europe and the NBA. He was a starter this season that averaged 14.2 points per game for an unproductive Brooklyn Nets team. In Washington, he will give the bench rotation a boost and, according to coach Scott Brooks, will receive time with the starters.
“As this happened [Wednesday], you’re thinking and trying to figure out how we can best utilize him with our group,” Brooks said. “He does give you some flexibility in how we can play offensively.”
He offers a litany of choices. The Wizards could go with an across-the-board “small” lineup that would include Wall, Bradley Beal, Bogdanovic, Otto Porter and Markieff Morris. Bogdanovic can also play with Jason Smith and Ian Mahinmi on the second unit.
Bogdanovic’s presence in the rotation will likely curb minutes for Kelly Oubre, whose play in his second NBA season has lurched up and down. It also gives Brooks the option of playing offense-defense with the duo at the end of games. Bogdanovic is known as a weak defender.
What it does not do is help resolve the Wizards’ backup point guard issues. Both Trey Burke and Tomas Satoransky have struggled at times during the season. Washington will still have the option of cutting a player and signing a veteran free agent such as Mario Chalmers or Jarrett Jack. Though, both are wild cards who have health and capability questions.
Washington starts the post-all-star break portion of its season Friday night in Philadelphia. It came into the schedule pause as one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Bogdanovic is here to help the final push. Though, it’s unlikely he is enough to enable Washington to topple Cleveland in the postseason.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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