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It seems all of the recent talks on Bojan Bogdanovic are with regards to the Detroit Pistons trading him this season, as they remain leagues away from even playoff contention while the veteran swingman is still quite productive, the perfect recipe for a trade.
But one local Pistons beat writer, James Edwardsreported this week that Detroit isn’t super eager to trade the Croatian sharpshooter:
The Pistons don’t appear to be eager to move Bogdanovic, who is in the midst of a career-scoring season and has added great leadership value to the young team. Of course, every player has a price, but with Detroit interested in turning a corner over the next year, the idea of keeping Bogdanovic is appealing to the organization. Bogdanovic signed a contract extension earlier this season, and it has always been my understanding that Detroit wanted to ink the veteran forward to a longer deal to keep him around, not to move him this season.
However, Charania reported this very week that the Lakers – of course – are interested in Bogdanovic and have a package prepared to offer Detroit:
“The Lakers have discussed sending a protected first-round pick, as well as salary like Patrick Beverley, to the Pistons for Bojan Bogdanovic, sources tell me.”
NBA Insider @ShamsCharania reports on the Lakers pursuing shooting in the trade market. pic.twitter.com/Mzfs4NNyzB
— The Rally (@TheRally) December 13, 2022
Meanwhile, Marc Stein said this week that the asking price by the Pistons from the Lakers for Bogdanovic is currently an unprotected future first-round pick:
The Pistons have to date declined those overtures, sources added, insisting on a fully unprotected future first from the Lakers to seriously entertain a Bogdanović swap. Detroit, in fact, continues to tell interested teams (and there are several) that it wants to keep Bogdanović, who is averaging 21.0 points and shooting 50.8% from the field (43.7% on 3-pointers) as a Piston.
With Bogdanovic currently being 33 years old and having two fully guaranteed seasons left on his contract, Detroit might be wise to move him now before injury or age affect his value as a trade asset.
For the latest Bojan Bogdanovic rumors and salary info, click here.
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