Two Lakers rumors for the price of one! The Sacramento Kings offered Nemanja Bjelica, the Lakers wanted Bogdan Bogdanovic!
The Kings offered Nemanja Bjelica and a pick to the Lakers for Kyle Kuzma about a week ago. Not surprisingly the Lakers said no and asked about Bogdan Bogdanovic. Sacramento said no.
If you are a Lakers fan, be thankful. If you are Rob Pelinka, realize that this deal would have been a joke.
Bogdanovic will be a restricted free agent this summer and probably will command an offer sheet in the $15 million to $25 million range per year. If this is an issue for the Sacramento Kings, just think about the problem that it would potentially bring for the Lakers?
Maybe the strange moves of the Sacramento Kings showed their hand. They are cap-strapped and are looking to unload salary. After stinking up the joint in December that continued through with a six-game losing streak in January, the decision was made to showcase players.
It seems strange that Luke Walton allows Bogdan Bogdanovic to start and move Buddy Hield, a guy the team just signed for $86 million, to the bench. Finally, did anyone see the game last weekend?
Here’s what the Kings are selling:
Bogdan Bogdanovic has the skills and big-game experience from playing internationally to help a team make a deep playoff run. In other words, he is a poor man’s Luka Doncic. In the short-term for the Lakers, he’d be an excellent sixth man who can run the second unit. Then in the future, he can be a future asset because he can score and facilitate using pick-and-rolls and isolations.
Bogdan has been a clutch player for years in various European leagues, winning a EuroLeague championship with Fenerbahce in 2017 while contributing to Serbia’s fifth-place finish at the World Cup. He’s a two-time Turkish League champion, two-time Adriatic League champion, and four-time Serbian League champion.
If he’s that good, the man would be untouchable and Buddy Hield would be on the trading block. He doesn’t play as good defensively as reported and the Kings haven’t sniffed the playoffs in his tenure on the team.
Wouldn’t you rather deal with Kyle Kuzma? A player that is constantly improving at a quicker rate than Bogdanovic at a cheaper price? ESPN’s Zach Lowe breaks down the asking price.
"“The Kings should get something good for Bogdanovic — at least a first-round pick. They can wait and see if offers fatten closer to the deadline. At that point, it’s time to decide if the return outweighs the benefits of re-signing Bogdanovic.”"
Reminder: There is no first-round picks due to the Stepien Rule.