Atlanta Hawks’ $72M sharpshooter sidelined ‘three months’ after surgery
The Atlanta Hawks‘ medical concerns have not ceased just because their season ended. For all of the talk of their roster being ill-equipped to thrive outside of Trae Young, having to overcome injuries took its toll as well. It was something that Travis Schlenk acknowledged in his exit interview.
Hawks CEO, Steve Koonin, took to the radio waves to dispel at least one rumor floating around about John Collins being dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers for the seventh-overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
He did say he expects the team to be active this offseason.
What he did not say, however, Prof. Dr. Dragan Radovanović, a doctor of the Serbian national team, did.
Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic recently underwent another knee surgery
Bogdan Bogdanovic was expected to play for the Serbian National Team in FIBA’s EuroBasket 2022 tournament. He averaged 20.4 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in the last tournament. Bogdanovic averaged 15.1 points, 4.0 boards, and 3.1 assists while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 36.8% from three for the Hawks this past season.
His overall efficiency was his worst since 2019 and his deep range accuracy his worst in three seasons.
The playoffs saw Bogdanovic go for 14.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists.
A knee injury cost him the decisive Game 5 in the first round against the Miami Heat and took him out of several others during the regular season. He suffered an avulsion fracture in his right knee in January of 2021 and came into this past season still recovering from an offseason procedure.
Now, Rada Nikolic of SportKlub.rs reports that the Hawks’ sixth man underwent another procedure on his right knee.
This, from Dr. Radovanovic, has been translated (thanks, Google) from Serbian to English.
“Two or three weeks ago, our national team member underwent surgery on his jumping right knee, and recovery takes time, not very short, at least three months. We hear from each other almost every day, the procedure went in the best order, at a clinic in California. He will stay in America for another month, and then he should come to Serbia, Belgrade. ”
EuroBasket will run from September 1 through September 18 in the Czech Republic. The optmistic timeline would put a return to action at the end of August.
That would be in time for the Eurobasket Tournament and, more importantly, the NBA season. But he is still not expected to play in the former. It also raises questions about his long-term outlook. Bogdanovic underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April of 2018 while still a member of the Sacramento Kings.
He is under contract with the Hawks this season at $18 million and has another $18 million in a player option for next season, per Spotrac.
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Not only does his availability and health impact the Hawks, but it also impacts how other teams might view him this offseason as Travis Schlenk goes about upgrading the roster. His contract is perfect for salary-matching purposes.