Facing mounting injuries and expiring contracts, the Knicks negotiated Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier and capital project for Bojan Bogdanovic It is Alex Burks at this year’s trading deadline.
At the time, it would have been fair to consider Bogdanovic the best player in the business, a perennial 20-point-per-game scorer and 40 percent shooter from deep.
While New York was able to add bodies and replace a big contract with trade fodder, Bogdanovic’s play didn’t translate as expected. He went from averaging 20.2 points on 51.8 percent shooting from two and 41.5 percent from three in Detroit to scoring 10.4 points per game on 48.8 percent and 37 percent, respectively. .
Part of this had to do with the drastic change in his role. He went from a high-volume, high-minute shot putter to a bench offensive engine, and struggled to defend at the level required in Tom Thibodeaurotation.
At one point, Bogdanovic went six consecutive games without scoring in double figures, a complete 180 from the player New York expected to be trading for. He should serve as a reliable shooter and scorer amid injuries and eventually a playoff weapon if all goes well.
The result? Bogdanovic found some comfort in the final stretch of the season.
In his last 12 games, Bogdanovic has scored 10.9 points on 55 percent shooting from two and 41.3 percent from three. He rediscovered his jumper and started using his body more on the inside against weaker guards.
That play carried over into the postseason, where even though he didn’t score as efficiently, he displayed late-season confidence and it looked like the Knicks could turn to him in an offensive push. He made some big baskets in the final moments of the third and early fourth quarters of Game 1 against Philadelphia, plus two big threes to start the fourth quarter in the next contest.
Unfortunately, the Knicks wouldn’t see much more of him as he suffered an ankle injury in Game 4, which, along with his wrist, required offseason surgeries to repair. New York now has the option to waive him and the $19 million owed in 2024-25, only $2 million of which will be guaranteed if they cut him, which could add flexibility to their free agency.
So should New York keep Bogdanovic or let him walk?
It’s difficult to determine exactly how well Bogdanovic will fit into this team. It should have looked a little better than last year’s regular season with a full camp and a defined role, however, he began to lose minutes in the postseason as the 76ers attacked him defensively non-stop, which wouldn’t change .
Assuming the full rotation returns, he will likely be on the bench for 13 to 20 minutes depending on his play. One might expect him to shoot and score well, or at least just provide much-needed depth, but he also just turned 35 and is now coming off two surgeries.
There is also the possibility of not releasing him to trade him this summer or next season. He will have a big contract expiring and teams with defined skill sets would be interested, and the Knicks are reportedly in search of starsso they will need ammunition to do this.
The other side is to release him to make room for a more suitable free agent. The Knicks likely won’t have cap space and will need to tap into the luxury tax to maintain the core of their roster.
That said, under the new CBA rules, your mid-level exception increases and decreases depending on how over the limit you are. In one scenario, Bogdanovic’s resignation could open up the non-contributing MLE, expected to be worth about $13 million per year, compared to the first apron’s amount of about $5 million, and without any exception in the second apron.
New York could use that $13 million on someone like Tyus Jones, Kyle Anderson, Royce O’Neal or Gary Harris. These would be marginal upgrades, but his defensive skills better suit the Knicks’ roster and culture.
Unfortunately, with Bogdanovic expected to be guaranteed on June 28th, the Knicks will need to have a clear sense of the upcoming offseason to make their decision unless they trade him in the NBA Draft (starting June 26th). Either way, this should be one of the easiest choices, with multiple positive outcomes available to you.
