The city of New York was ready to throw a parade when their New York Knicks traded for Bojan Bogdanovic at the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline. However, Bogdanovic’s brief 29-game tenure in the Big Apple could come to an abrupt end amid the sentiments hovering over his head, which could also cause flags to turn into pitchforks outside of Madison Square Garden.
SNY’s David Vertsberger made the case for the Knicks to part ways with the Croatian sharpshooter ahead of next season, saying this in part:
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how well Bogdanovic will fit with this team. It should look slightly better than last year’s regular season with a full camp and defined role, however, he began losing postseason minutes as the 76ers targeted him defensively non-stop, which wouldn’t change,” Vertsberger wrote.
“Assuming the full rotation returns, he’ll likely be slotted 13-20 minutes as a bench wing depending on his play. He can be expected to shoot and score well, or at the very least just provide some needed depth, but he also just turned 35 years old and is now coming off two surgeries.”
Knicks: Bojan Bogdanovic could still be a serviceable shooter despite stepping back in 2023-24
The 35-year-old put up 10.4 points and two rebounds on 43 percent shooting from the field after joining the Knicks midseason. His play dropped off from the 20.2 points he was dropping on a nightly basis with the Detroit Pistons in the first half of the year. His reduced numbers were expected in accordance with a reduced role, but even from a qualitative standpoint, Bogdanovic did not look quite the same.
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The good thing is that he was able to maintain a high volume from outside with 1.6 three-pointers made, at a high efficiency of 37 percent in 19.6 minutes a night. The Knicks thrived in 2023-24 behind their heightened emphasis on outside shooting, floor spacing, and speed. Bogdanovic could help the Knicks get even better in that regard next year off of the strength of his exceptional marksmanship alone.
New York could also lose starting small forward OG Anunoby in free agency this summer, which could make the Knicks potentially rue letting their backup three-man go over the $19.03 million owed to him in the final year of his deal in 2024-25. Bogdanovic’s fit in New York was not the issue. He appeared to fall victim to a crowded rotation at guard and small forward, and injuries took away from him being able to gel in Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau’s rotation. No matter, he’d be a good pickup to run things back next year.
