Wizards swing deal for Nets’ Bogdanovic
WASHINGTON: The Washington Wizards added Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic from the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday in a four-player deal on the eve of the NBA trade deadline.
The Wizards, 34-21, rank third in the Eastern Conference, five games behind the pace-setting defending champions Cleveland Cavaliers. They have won four games in a row and nine of their past 10.
Washington also landed forward Chris McCullough from the league-worst Nets in exchange for forward Andrew Nicholson, swingman Marcus Thornton and a firstround pick in June’s NBA Draft.
The Wizards add bench depth and some scoring punch in Bogdanovic, who is averaging career-highs of 14.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists for Brooklyn.
“Bojan is a very good shooter and a talented overall scorer whose versatility gives us an added dimension as we gear up for the stretch run,” Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said.
“He’s a proven starter that will provide us an added boost off the bench and allow us to be creative with our line-ups.”
The 27-year-old sharpshooter played for Croatia in last year’s Rio Summer Olympics, leading all scorers with 25.3 points a game and shooting 50.6 percent from the floor.
The Wizards’ reserves average only 23.4 points a game, the second-worst total in the league.
McCullough, a 2015 first-round pick, played sparingly with Brooklyn, averaging only 2.5 points and 1.2 rebounds in just over five minutes a game.
“Chris is an intriguing prospect,” Grunfeld said. “He has high potential.”
Nicholson, a 2012 first-round selection by the Orlando Magic, signed a four-year deal worth US$26 million last July.
Thornton averaged 6.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists for the Wizards.