Why the Bogdanovic extension was a brilliant move for the Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons made a somewhat surprising move, giving Bojan Bogdanovic a two-year extension that will keep him with the team through the 2024-25 season.
Troy Weaver said they were going to try and entice Bojan Bogdanovic to stay after trading with the Utah Jazz to acquire the veteran sharpshooter, but I wasn’t expecting this to happen so quickly.
The trade has been a huge win for Detroit, as Bogdanovic has arguably been their best player so far and gives them the sharpshooter they were lacking.
Some fans were worried about how this would affect the Pistons’ cap space, but even with this signing, they are still projected to have the 3rd-most amount of money next offseason:
Updated 2023 NBA cap space projections after recent extensions & 23-24 rookie scale team option decisions:
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) October 31, 2022
1 HOU $59.3M
2 IND $49.8M
3 DET $48.0M
4 SAS $47.9M
5 UTA $42.6M
6 ORL $34.4M
7 LAL $31.9M
8 OKC $26.2M
9 CHA $19.9M
All other teams currently project to be over the cap.
Bogdanovic would have been one of the top free agents anyway, so signing him now ensures that some other team doesn’t get the chance to, and the Detroit Pistons will still have plenty of money to splash out on other upgrades.
It makes sense from a financial standpoint, but that wasn’t the only reason this was a smart move by Detroit.
The Detroit Pistons need quality veterans
Troy Weaver and coach Dwane Casey have both said many times that a team as young as Detroit needs veterans around to keep the young guys from eating each other.
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But it’s more than just age, you need quality veterans who can actually play, who have been though every game situation and don’t get rattled in the big moments.
Having a guy like Rodney McGruder on the bench is great, but it is no substitute for having an impact veteran who is out there mentoring and guiding the young players on the court in real time.
Bogdanovic has lived up to that, as he is a much more vocal leader than I expected and is a guy who has been through just about every situation after playing in Utah where he was in the playoffs just about every year.
The Pistons will get the tail end of his prime, so Bogdanovic isn’t just a warm veteran body there to be a bench coach, he can still play and will help this team turn the corner and get more competitive.