Pistons Tell Opposing Teams They Intend to Keep Bojan Bogdanovic

Pistons small forward Bojan Bogdanovic is having an excellent season on a bad team, making him a hot commodity on the trade market.

Everyone from the Lakers to the Mavericks to the Hawks to the Heat are supposedly interested. 

But for now, the Pistons are telling rival teams that they do not intend to trade Bogdanovic at all, per Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

There may be some truth to that — maybe they really don’t intend to trade Bogdanovic, who has been a basketball blessing around the team’s younger players. He is producing and teaching. Every young team needs a valuable veteran.

But you would think none of the offers are to the Pistons’ liking. Offer them more young players and more picks, and perhaps Bogdanovic could be had.

For now, though, it appears the Pistons believe that once guard Cade Cunningham returns from shin surgery, with Bogdanovic, that a playoff push in 2024 isn’t unthinkable.

The idea of the Pistons hanging on to Bogdanovic was broached last week by The Athletic’s James Edwards III on the HoopsHype podcast.

“My guess is the Pistons don’t want to necessarily trade him, but if there’s an offer like an unprotected first and maybe a young player, or multiple firsts, I think that would maybe entice them to do so,” Edwards said. “Or maybe an unprotected first and a good veteran who’s under contract for a little bit longer. I think Detroit looks around at the odds of them getting someone who can score the ball like Bogdanovic for the price they have him, and they didn’t sign him to an extension to trade him. They wanted to get him in here and be a part of this.”

Bogdanovic, 33, is averaging 21.3 points on 50 percent shooting, including 42 percent on 3-pointers.