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Star Already Bright for Suns Draft Pick Bogdanovic

It’s a refreshing time for Bogdan Bogdanovic. For the first time since Phoenix drafted in June, first-time observers are noticing his game more than his name.

It’s been hard to do otherwise. As the sixth man for talent-heavy Serbia, the 6-6 guard is turning heads far sooner than many outsiders predicted. His averages of 11.4 points per game on 49.2 percent shooting have hoops mind wondering whether his future might be closer to the present than originally predicted.

One of Bogdanovic’s teammates seems especially certain of his upcoming success.

This is a serious proclamation. Serbia boasts one of the most impressive basketball pedigrees in Europe, especially dating back to its pre-independence history as part of Yugoslavia. Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic, Toni Kukoc and Vladimir Radmanovic are just a few of the NBA talents that hailed from Bogdanovic’s homeland. Its neighbors in the Slavic region have produced stars such as Drazen Petrovic,  Toni Kukoc and, of course, Goran Dragic.

The latter makes for a fair comparison, one that makes Bogdanovic’s potential path even more intriguing. Like Dragic, Bogdanovic’s international experience started at a very young age. Both European guards played for their respective countries’ junior teams (U-18, U-19, etc.). Once Serbia wraps up its current FIBA World Cup run, Bogdanovic will boast the same two-tournament experience (World Cup/Championships, EuroBasket) that Dragic earned in his first two years with Slovenia’s national team.

If anything, the Serbian guard seems to be on an even faster track to stardom. His role and production for his national team at age 22 (11.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.6 apg) is closer to that of Dragic at age 24 (12.7 ppg, 4.1 apg, 3.3 rpg in 2010 World Championships).

It’s also worth noting that Bogdanovic’s success comes despite playing for a relatively deep Serbian team. Nenad Krstic, Milos Teodosic, Miroslav Radulijica and Nemanja Bjelica are part of an established core of veteran players. Teams like those tend to put young talent on the backburner, much as Spain did with Ricky Rubio throughout the 2000s.

Not so for Bogdanovic, who is second on Serbia in minutes (27.3 mpg), second in shot attempts (8.7 per game) and third in scoring.

His transition to the NBA (which could happen as early as 2015-16) already figures to be different than that of Dragic’s. Indeed, he has become something of a high-riser this summer after being drafted in the first round,  winning the Rising Star Trophy in Euroleague, signing with Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul and starring for Serbia in the FIBA World Cup.

“These last three months have been the most important ones in my life,” he recently wrote.

It looks like plenty more are coming.