:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67979050/usa_today_14729127.0.jpg)
Bogdan Bogdanovic will join the Atlanta Hawks this season as the Sacramento Kings have decided not to match the contract offer tendered by the Hawks. Bogdanovic was a restricted free agent and the Kings had right of first refusal on the deal. The move leaves Sacramento with five open roster spots and not much cap space this off-season, hampering their efforts to catch the Portland Trail Blazers and other contenders in the NBA’s Western Conference.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported the news.
The Sacramento Kings have declined to match the Atlanta Hawks’ four-year, $72 million offer sheet for restricted free agent guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 25, 2020
For Hawks GM Travis Schlenk, it was a wise gamble to overpay market value on Bogdanovic. That’s how you land players in restricted free agency. Now, Bogdan joins Danilo Gallinari as centerpieces of an ATL free agency class that's reshaped roster around All-Star guard Trae Young.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 25, 2020
ESPN’s Bobby Marks weighs in on the cap space created by the move, which is less than a mid-level exception.
Sacramento is technically under the cap by $6.5M but should act as a team over when you combine the $9.3M midlevel and $3.6M biannual exception.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 25, 2020
5 open roster spots in Sacramento.
Bogdanovic will enter his fourth season after having been drafted 27th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft. He played in 61 games for the Kings last year, starting 28. He averaged 15.1 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game, shooting 44.0% from the floor and 37.2% from the three-point arc.