How Bogdan Bogdanovic Fits With the Atlanta Hawks

Reacting to the Atlanta Hawks’ signing of former Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.

The Atlanta Hawks signed restricted free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic to an offer sheet a few days back, giving the Sacramento Kings 48 hours to match the deal. After taking nearly the entire time, the Kings decided to let the 28-year-old guard walk.

He walked right into the waiting arms of Atlanta and is now officially a Hawk. The signing puts an exclamation mark on the end of a very busy offseason that saw the team add Onyeka Oknogwu in the draft, Tony Snell via trade and Rajon Rondo, Danilo Gallinari, Solomon Hill and Kris Dunn through free agency.

The Serbian guard was originally drafted with the 27th overall pick by Phoenix in 2014. His rights were traded to Sacramento in 2016 and a year later, he joined them. He spent three seasons with the team, improving each one.  In 2019-20, Bogdanovic averaged a career-high 15.1 points per game.

What does he bring to the Atlanta Hawks? For the most part, perimeter shooting. The Hawks were the worst 3-point shooting team in the league last season, something he’ll help turn around. Bogdanovic’s numbers don’t jump off the page – he made 37.2 percent of his 3s last season.

But they’re more impressive when you consider the volume of shots he took. He averaged 7.2 attempts from deep last year, more than anyone on the Hawks not named Trae Young. That’s even more impressive given he came off the bench for most the season, starting just 28 of the 61 games he appeared in.

He often takes shots off balance, flying around screens and off the dribble, contributing to that lower-than-expected 3-point percentage.

He’s also a crafty interior scorer, using his long arms to score against taller opponents, helping offset his lack of athleticism.

He shot 53.2 percent on his two-point shots last season, although he took just 1.7 midrange shots per game. Most of his buckets are coming from range or around the rim and he can do both well.

Defensively, it’s a different story. Unlike his offense where he plays better than his numbers indicate, Bogdanovic isn’t a great defender, despite averaging 1.0 steals per game in each of the last two seasons.

Hinted at earlier, the guard doesn’t have much athletic pop, making it hard for him to stay in front of elite slashers. That makes his backcourt fit with Trae a bit questionable, as they’ll now need to “hide” two players.

The additions of Rondo, Dunn, Snell and Clint Capela will help with that, but the Hawks will be paying Bogdanovic $18 million per year for offense and perhaps, offense alone. On that end, he and Young will create a very dangerous backcourt.

Bogdanovic is a great signing for Atlanta as they double-down on offense. Although he’s nearing 30, he certainly has room to grow and can be a prolific secondary playmaker for the team.

What do you think of the Atlanta Hawks’ signing of Bogdan Bogdanovic?