Rival teams 'curious' about highly-valued Hawks veteran before trade deadline

At some point, the Atlanta Hawks could be left to choose between keeping the status quo and planning for the future.

They are currently seventh in the East, and there are reports that the front office will consider offers for its veteran players, excluding the likes of Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Zaccharie Risacher.

That would leave Trae Young’s future in question.

However, it more likely leaves veterans like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Clint Capela, and even De’Andre Hunter under the microscope, and one of them is already piquing interest.

“The one player opposing teams are curious about, specifically, is guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who is a proven commodity as a scorer and shooter with a contract that, even within the current constraints, is movable at $17.6 million this year, $16.2 million next year and has a team option for the same amount the following season,” ESPN’s Tim Bontemps wrote on December 13.

The Hawks have come to rely on Bogdanovic’s scoring, both on and off the ball, and as a starter and reserve. His value lies in that versatility as it does in his ability to put the ball in the basket when he is rolling.

However, when Bogdanovic is not shooting well, his deficiencies are glaring.

He is not a selfish player by any means. But he is confident and will continue shooting – as shooters do – even when he is not finding the bottom of the net. 

Bogdanovic has shot below 37% from the floor in six of his 12 appearances this season. The Hawks are 5-1 in those games despite Bogdanovic sporting an average plus-minus in four of the five victories and the lone loss.

Similarly, Bogdanovic has shot below 34% from three in seven games this season.

Again, the Hawks have overcome this, going 5-2 despite Bogdanovic posting negative plus-minuses in all but one game (a win).

He is also adequate to bad defensively in his career, though he said Daniels has inspired the team to play better on that end of the floor. The safe takeaway would be that the Hawks can survive until Bogdanovic hits his stride.

The risks of doing so could be severe. 

Interest in Bogdan Bogdanovic should at least spark tough conversations for Hawks

There is no guarantee that Bogdanovic will be more consistent, outweigh his off-nights, or his defensive woes cropping up at inopportune moments like they did against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Bogdanovic, who is in Year 2 of a four-year, $68 million contract, has also dealt with knee issues in his career. He appeared in a career-high 79 games in 2023-24, the most since his second year in the NBA, which was the last time he crossed the 70-game threshold.

Bogdanovic had not appeared in 65 games since the 2018-19 season before last year.

He was efficient versus the Bucks, but he finished with 10 points and has scored fewer than that in two of his previous four appearances coming into that game.

There are just under two months until the trade deadline. But so much can change about the trade landscape before then that the Hawks’ stance of being open to calls should eventually become more focused.

Whether that means moving Bogdanovic should be based on performance, not sentiment.