The Utah Jazz have completed another trade centered around one of their veteran NBA players on Bojan Bogdanovic. However, the destination is not what anyone would have predicted.
After being linked to contending teams, such as the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks, and teams looking to make a push this offseason back to the postseason, such as the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, Bogdanovic isn’t heading to any of those teams. Instead, he has been traded to the rebuilding Detroit Pistons.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Bogdanovic is heading to the Motor City in exchange for Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee.
Bogdanovic’s name was heating up on the trade market in recent days as the Jazz were seeking out a trade ahead of training camp beginning next week. The Pistons are certainly a shocking landing spot for him, given the teams that were linked to him. But, his skill set is something that they desperately need more of.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Bojan Bogdanovic, Utah Jazz & Detroit Pistons Updates
Detroit was the second worst 3-point shooting team in the NBA last season, making only 32.6 percent. Bogdanovic is a 39 percent career shooter from 3-point range, providing the floor spacing necessary to help young players such as Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey develop.
For the Pistons, this trade is a home run. They didn’t have much space in the rotation for Olynyk or Lee and flip them for a player in Bogdanovic that can help the team. Utah’s motivation to make this deal is peculiar, to say the least.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Bojan Bogdanovic, Utah Jazz & Detroit Pistons Updates
Olynyk has a partially guaranteed deal for the 2023-24 season while Lee has a team option. Bogdanovic is on an expiring deal, so there isn’t much future money involved in the deal. However, not getting back at least one draft pick can be seen as a bit of a failure on Danny Ainge’s part given the number of teams reportedly interested in acquiring Bogdanovic.
