According to a report from The Athletic, the Milwaukee Bucks are moving on in their pursuit of Sacramento Kings restricted free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ saga with Bogdan Bogdanovic is reportedly over.
On the cusp of free agency opening Friday evening, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Shams Charania reported that the Milwaukee Bucks are moving on from pursuing the Sacramento Kings restricted free agent after apparently having a sign-and-trade deal in place earlier in the week.
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All of this comes on the heels of Marc Stein of the New York Times reporting Thursday evening that the NBA has opened a tampering investigation.
The deal, as it stood, was dead after the Bucks waived Ersan Ilyasova Thursday evening before his $7 million salary was supposed to become guaranteed today. With his contract playing a huge part in the framework of the deal, the Bucks had little salary elsewhere to part with to resuscitate a deal.
Thus ends one of the more memorable free agent sagas in Milwaukee Bucks history ahead of the start of free agency.
With Bogdanovic completely out of the picture, the Bucks are in the spot of having to try and finding someone of his caliber either in free agency or on the trade market, just as Amick and Charania suggested. That will prove to be much harder than it even sounds.
Where that leads them remains to be seen, but there is also the matter of their own free agents, like Ilyasova, Robin Lopez and Wesley Matthews. Both Ilyasova and Lopez were affected by the Bucks’ pursuit of Bogdanovic, with Ilyasova being initially included in the deal and Lopez seemingly opting out because he did not want to get traded.
As for Matthews, how does the Bucks’ failed pursuit of Bogdanovic affect wanting to retain the Wisconsin native? We know that his market is shaping up to be a competitive one and with a little more flexibility on their books, the Bucks will have to dip into their exceptions to retain the 34-year-old.
Also, how do both Donte DiVincenzo and D.J. Wilson feel at the moment after having been a part of the deal that would have sent them to Sacramento? All of these questions hang over the Bucks while the biggest one hangs over their future as Giannis Antetokounmpo will have his decision on his supermax extension.
Clearly, the Bucks have to rely on their backup plan to rebuild their roster after what would have been a banner week by bringing both Jrue Holiday and Bogdanovic into the fold. They’ll have a little more flexibility at their fingertips, but not the talent that they once thought they had earlier in the week.