According to a source who is familiar with the negotiations, Bojan Bogdanovic and the Detroit Pistons have reached an agreement on a $39.1 million, two-year contract. Bogdanovic is committed to the Pistons through the end of the 2024–25 season, thanks to his $19.5 million salary this season. The Pistons acquired Bogdanovic from the Utah Jazz in an off-season deal.
Since the agreement had not yet been made public, the person spoke with The Associated Press on Sunday night under the condition of anonymity.
Bogdanovic was acquired by Detroit from Utah last month after they had seen enough of him so far this season to make an offer that would keep him under contract until the 2024–25 campaign.
Although the Pistons have had trouble winning games early on, they have been delighted with Bogdanovic’s play. He has made over half of his 3-point attempts this season, scoring an average of 23 points per game for Detroit. Not bad for a player that didn’t even cost the Pistons a choice in the first round.
The 8-year veteran forward broke Joe Dumars’ team record by making 24 3-pointers in his first six games with Detroit. Bosnia-Herzegovina native Bogdanovic has a career scoring average of 15.1 points. Miami selected him as the No. 31 overall choice in the 2011 NBA Draft, and after playing professionally in Turkey, he entered the league with the Brooklyn Nets in the 2014–15 season. Before joining Utah, he also played for Washington and Indiana.
Before Sunday’s game against the Golden State Warriors, Bogdanovic averaged a team-best 23 points per game. He made 24 3-pointers in his first six games, breaking the previous team record of 21 3-pointers made in the first six games of the 1996–97 season by Hall of Famer Joe Dumars.
In his third season with the Jazz, Bogdanovic averaged 18.1 points per game while playing 69 games, all of which he started.
Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee, players with single-digit scoring totals, were sent by Detroit in exchange for Bogdanovic, allowing them to obtain the cost-cutting Jazz.
Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick from last year, Jade Ivey, the fifth pick this year’s guard, and Jalen Duren, the franchise’s explosive rookie center, are the cornerstones of the team’s foundation.
Bogdanovic is a seasoned scorer eager to mentor young players, and the Pistons hope he can hasten their recovery. They finished bottom of the NBA last season with a 23-59 record, just ahead of Houston and Orlando.
Even though Bogdanovic, 33, is a little older than the rest of Detroit’s core, shooting is a must when playing with the other youthful Pistons. Ball handlers like Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey will require room to grow. The same applies to the young power forward Jalen Duren, and Bogdanovic’s position on the wing will relieve some of the load on Saddiq Bey, a fellow forward.
The Pistons initially signed Bogdanovic to compete for a play-in-round spot this year. They are not off to the best start on that front, scoring 1–5. However, Bogdanovic has upheld his half of the deal by performing admirably and giving one of the NBA’s newest clubs crucial developmental support. He will stay in Detroit while the Pistons eventually work to return to the postseason and those young guys develop further.
Since 2008, when it reached the conference finals for the sixth consecutive year and won its third NBA championship in the first two successive visits to the NBA Finals, Detroit hasn’t won a postseason series.