Atlanta Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic on Lakers’ radar ahead of trade deadline: Report

The Atlanta Hawks got another solid win on the road beating the Utah Jazz 116-108. It moved their record on the road to 14-15 while they are back above .500 on the season at 26-25. They got several strong performances including from the starting backcourt as Dejounte Murray and Trae Young stuffed the stat sheet with 40 points, 14 assists, nine rebounds, and five steals.

Young also got a block for good measure, though the game still got close late and needed De’Andre Hunter to put it out of reach with a dagger three.

Supersub swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic did not have a great night scoring the basketball with just nine points on 3-for-9 shooting and going 2-for-6 from beyond the arc, though he did extend his streak of games with multiple made threes to three straight.

He added six assists and six rebounds showing why he is popular ahead of the trade deadline.

Western Conference contenders could create bidding war for Atlanta Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic

“The Lakers had Westbrook trade discussions with teams in the approach to Thursday’s deadline,” writes Dan Woike of the L.A. Times before turning his attention to the Hawks. “The team could also have interest in Atlanta guard Bogdan Bogdanovic as they try to add shooting.”

Bogdanovic is averaging 15.3 points on 55.3% true shooting while knocking down 37.3% of his threes with 3.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. He has maintained his effectiveness (and a virtually identical usage rate) despite the addition of Murray this past offseason. But the Lakers are not the only team sniffing around Bogdanovic.

“They also want…Bogdan Bogdanovic from Atlanta,” writes Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo! Sports about the Dallas Mavericks adding “they’re desperate and determined to get help for Luka Doncic before he passes out from exhaustion in carrying that franchise.”

Bogdanovic is in the final guaranteed season of his contract but does hold an $18 million contract for next season. The 30-year-old has been an extremely valuable piece for a Hawks team that, before this season, was light on players who could attack the basket off the dribble and act as another ball-handler.

He has also suffered knee injuries in each of the past two seasons while his salary next season creates some questions for the luxury tax-averse Hawks.

The Phoenix Suns have also been said to have an interest in the player they drafted in 2014.

Atlanta is a conundrum, making moves and decisions that hurt the team to help the books – the trade of Kevin Huerter being the prime example. Moving Bogdanovic could theoretically do both, though it is hard to see an acquiring team giving up that kind of asset in return.

The Hawks have been a popular team in the rumor mill this season, mostly for John Collins who has been available for the past three seasons. But things have gotten a little more exotic in recent weeks amid the team’s inconsistent play this season as even Young’s name has been bandied about as a potential move even if it is a little further down the road.

That still seems like a far-off (almost non-existent) possibility. Bogdanovic and Collins seem far more plausible if not likely candidates to be donning different jerseys by this time next week.