Atlanta Hawks: Grading every offseason move
Bogdan Bogdanovic: 4 years, $72 million
One of the most highly touted free agents of the offseason, Bogdan Bogdanovic, landed in Atlanta after a sign-and-trade with the Milwaukee Bucks failed to stick. Drafted by Phoenix with the 27th pick in 2014 and traded to the Kings in 2016, the 28-year-old Serbian shooter was a backup for most of his three seasons in Sacramento but saw an uptick in scoring when he was inserted into the starting lineup last year. He averaged a career-high 15.1 points per game last season and saw drastic improvements in his midrange and free throw shooting percentages.
Whether he comes off the bench or starts for the Atlanta Hawks, Bogdanovic should prove to provide instant offense. As the worst three-point shooting team in the league last year, he solves their catch and shoot problem, and has an impressive 61 percent shooting percentage around the rim.
While most are anticipating his production on offense, the Bogdanovic addition still leaves much to be desired defensively. He’s got nice size and strength to him which should help make up for what Trae Young lacks on the defensive end, but only time will tell if it actually works out that way. He’s no world-class athlete but he does move well. It’ll be interesting to see if the Hawks decide to bring him off the bench or to go ahead and give him the two-guard spot over Cam Reddish.
At any rate, the Atlanta Hawks are definitely much better with Bogdanovic on the squad. We’ll see if he and other Hawks players can have breakout seasons to push them into the playoffs.