Forward Bojan Bogdanovic has been on playoff teams in seven of his eight NBA seasons, so he wasn’t sure what to think at first when he was traded to the rebuilding Pistons. However, a discussion with Detroit’s management made it clear that the two sides have the same goal going forward, which is why he signed a two-year, $39.1M extension last week (the final year is partially guaranteed for $2M).
“Just talking to Troy (Weaver) and (Pistons owner Tom Gores), they assured me that the team is going to go in the right direction,” Bogdanovic told Mike Curtis of The Detroit News (subscriber link). “We got a good salary cap (situation) for the summer that we’re going to try to bring someone in … We’ve been rebuilding, so they’re trying to win, so that’s the first thing that I asked them, and that was the main reason (to extend), honestly.”
As Curtis notes, the Pistons project to have roughly $48M in cap space next summer, which is theoretically enough to sign a maximum-salary free agent. However, the list of 2023 free agents isn’t the greatest, so it seems unlikely they’ll use all of it on one player.
Though the Pistons are just 2-8 to start the 2022/23 season, Bogdanovic has excelled, averaging 20.2 points on a career-best shooting line of .500/.486/.946 (.679 true shooting percentage). Head coach Dwane Casey recently raved about Bogdanovic, per Curtis.
“He’s one of the pieces that we are building with and want to go forward with,” Casey said. “We’re still in rebuilding mode, but one thing that he’s shown is his leadership, and that’s what you gotta have on a young team. You gotta have some veteran pieces mixed in there when they’re going against grizzled veterans.
“He’s that piece. He fits in. He’s patient. He’s sharing his knowledge with the players, things that he’s seen over his career and his ability speaks for himself.”
Here are a few more notes from around the Central:
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