The assumption of many when the Pistons traded for Bojan Bogdanovic on the eve of training camp was that it was a trade of convenience motivated more by the prospect of flipping him at the trade deadline than by the overwhelming logic of his fit.
Monday’s announcement of a contract extension for Bogdanovic should put that to bed for good.
With the qualifier that no player is immune from trade proposals too good to ignore, the expectation now should be fully that Bogdanovic ends this season in a Pistons uniform and starts next season in one, as well – teal or otherwise.
And that will make everyone from Troy Weaver to Dwane Casey to Cade Cunningham and all who share a locker room with the sharpshooting veteran extraordinarily pleased.
“It’s good. He’s a vet, a proven vet and he can score the ball and make plays,” Saddiq Bey said after Bogdanovic scored 21 ultraefficient points – he took eight shots from the field and eight from the foul line – in Sunday’s 128-114 win over Golden State. “To be able to see that on the court, having another person, another shooter that can space the floor, makes it easier for all of us.”
The NBA’s collective eyebrow was raised when Detroit was learned to be Bogdanovic’s destination. Utah hung the “for sale” sign out in July, trading first Rudy Gobert and then Donovan Mitchell for a bounty of future first-round picks and pick swaps. Veterans like Bogdanovic and Mike Conley were known to be available leaguewide. Contenders were lining up for the chance to add a 40 percent 3-point shooter who has no trouble blending into any lineup. When it was the Pistons who emerged with Bogdanovic, a report surfaced that some suitors were scared away because his side made known its desire for a contract extension.
That might have been an issue for teams with onerous luxury tax burdens or complicated cap sheets going forward, but not for the Pistons. Weaver has said he would never put the Pistons in a position of lacking a significant veteran presence. He’s used his cap space more often to add veterans on value contracts than to splurge in free agency and Bogdanovic’s deal seems especially reasonable given the recent extensions handed out on the expectation of a coming cap spike.
The value of Bogdanovic to young players like Cunningham, Bey, Jaden Ivey and Isaiah Stewart hardly could be overstated. His shot-making and poise lends order to the inevitable chaotic interludes teams with that many young players in key roles endure. The Pistons now have control of Bogdanovic through the 2023-24 season. With as much promise as their young core radiates, the Pistons are poised to be playing meaningful games beyond the mid-April conclusion of the regular season by then. Bogdanovic, at minimum, is a sturdy bridge to that future – and quite possibly will remain a significant part of the puzzle beyond then.
At that point, Weaver might well view cap space in a different light. Free agents follow the money, to be sure, but all else being equal they also look for franchises of promise. Detroit is emerging among that landscape. Go back to Kevin Durant’s words last spring when the Pistons pushed a Brooklyn team chasing playoff position on a night Cunningham dazzled.
“When you’ve got a 6-7 point guard, that’s a good start,” Durant began. “Somebody who can wreck a whole defensive game plan with his size, his talent, his skill.” Durant went on to tick off the other assets: Bey, Stewart, Marvin Bagley III – and that was before Ivey and Jalen Duren were added to the mix. “I can see this team being a force to be reckoned with in the future.”
The NBA standings are often a trailing indicator of future performance. All that talent Weaver has put in the pipeline over the past 24 months is simmering now. Adding Bogdanovic to the mix helps keep the heat in the pot. The Pistons are building to a boil.