According to a report from The Athletic, the Milwaukee Bucks’ addition of Bogdan Bogdanovic appears to be in jeopardy at the moment.
You know that thing about counting your chickens before they hatch? The Milwaukee Bucks and the Sacramento Kinsg should have heeded that adage.
According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick ($$), the Bucks’ reported sign-and-trade deal for Serbian swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic is in jeopardy as a result of Bogdanovic never having to agree to terms on such a deal.
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Yeah, this is every bit as weird as a transaction from the Bucks and the Kings would go. And it adds to the curious nature of how the deal was reported well ahead of the start of free agency.
After all, Bogdanovic is a restricted free agent and it was as a much of a surprise to see a sign-and-trade deal be announced not just before the start of free agency, but before the moratorium is set to lift on Sunday morning.
That would have been the earliest would have seen a deal be either agreed upon or made official by both parties. Whether Bogdanovic was privy to those details remains to be seen, but the fact that he allegedly didn’t agree to any terms is quite the eyebrow raiser.
Does this mean Bogddan Bogdanovic is no longer bound to join the Milwaukee Bucks?
It’s certainly very early to determine whether that is the case, especially after the cat was let out of the bag.
However, under the guise of veering into reckless speculation, pining it on Bogdanovic and his reportedly lack of agreement on the deal may be made to duck any tampering investigation the NBA has made a note of enforcing in recent years.
There obviously have been no terms that have been reported on Bogdanovic’s next deal, even as the Bucks have been operated under the assumption they are acquiring the 28-year-old and will be up against the hard cap.
As far as the feelings around the league regarding the deal, Alex Kennedy over at BasketballNews.com shed light on that front.
Rival NBA executives were PISSED about this deal and felt like the Bucks should be punished since teams can’t agree to deals with free agents yet. Could this be Milwaukee trying to avoid a tampering penalty?
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) November 18, 2020
Whether this snafu will result in some haggling on Bogdanovic’s part to get a little more money or something remains to be seen, but perhaps the Bucks have to do that without jeopardizing what little cap space that had left.
The same goes for how does this affect the Bucks’ chances in superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo signing his supermax extension once free agency opens Friday evening. That has to be considered, especially if the framework for the deal between Milwaukee and Sacramento truly breaks down completely.
We’ll stay tuned to this situation and see what unfolds in the coming days, but perhaps hold off on buying your Bogdan Bogdanovic-Bucks merchandise just yet.
UPDATE: ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Bogdanovic will re-enter restricted free agency and seek out other deals and sign-and-trade scenarios. Along with that, The Athletic’s Sam Amick has reported that talks have fully broken down and it’s likely Bogdanovic lands elsewhere.