Bojan Bogdanović
Detroit Pistons

Player Facts

Height: 6'7"
Weight: 226lbs.

Wingspan: N/A

Date of Birth: Apr. 18, 1989
College Experience: N/A

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 6
Physical Strength: 8
Positional Size: 7
Positional Wingspan: 8
Paint Scoring: 7
Midrange Scoring: 8
Three-Point Scoring: 9
Dribbling: 7
Passing: 4
Perimeter Defense: 5
Interior Defense: 4
Rebounding: 5

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Sniping from All Over

> Offensive Partner

> Attack Mode

> Interior Toughness

> Isolation Work

> Posting Smaller Players

> Respectable Defensive Points

> Facilitation Holes

> Subpar Rebounding

> Athletic Limitations + Defensive Shortfalls

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

*All short clips courtesy of Smart Highlights & Z. Highlights (YouTube)

*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

The 6'7" Croatian is a deadeye shooter as a big forward. His strengths do not end there as he can handle, post up, and score inside the arc to pad out his profile. Bojan Bogdanovic brings a notably diverse offensive game to his team.

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Sniping from All Over

Bojan has traded in many of his midrangers for more triple tries as his career presses on. While his attempts may fluctuate, his ability from the midrange stays elite. Bogey will use the pick-and-roll as a means of obtaining clean two-point and three-point jumpers alike.

He doesn't get a ton of lift on his jumpers but manages to get it off with his naturally high release point. His motion is super-quick which helps him knock down shots against tight contests. Bojan is a bonafide marksman from downtown.

Bogdanovic is a knockdown shooter from the corners, at either slot, and from the top. In both 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, he rained in 38% or higher from both corners and from above the break. In his age-31 season of 2020-2021, he canned the second-most corner threes in the NBA on a 42.4% corner clip.

Impressively, Bogdanovic can shoot threes from various foot alignments. He can pull the trigger on spot-ups initiated by either the hop or the 1-2 step on the catch. He's a sweet shooting forward off of all types of movement.

Off-the-dribble, Bojan uses his simplistic shot motion to help him remain accurate even when he doesn't get the chance to perfectly set his feet. Moreover, he will intelligently use an escape dribble to achieve a cleaner look from deep.

Offensive Partner

As both a strong cutter and spot-up shooter, Bojan has been a worthy complement to guys like Victor Oladipo, Donovan Mitchell, and Mike Conley over his career. Offensively speaking, he is quite the malleable forward who can do a number of things well.

He was in the NBA's 91st percentile for spot-up shooting in 2018-2019, and the 76th percentile in 2019-2020 - then the 88th in 2021-2022. Digging in, his catch-and-shoot three clips were a blistering 44.9% and 42.6% those first two seasons. 2020-2021 had him at a flat 39% on spot-up treys then 38.8% in 2021-2022.

Attack Mode

Bogdanovic decisively attacks closeouts for both reset jumpers and takes to the rack. He uses his big frame at 6'7" to absorb hits along his path to the hole.

Bogey doesn't always force up a quick shot. Instead, he'll get to a two-foot jump stop, throwing in a pump fake as he assesses whether to finish or lay it down to his big.

He creates positive things when he curls, occupying the attention of multiple men mindful of his shooting stroke. Bojan likes to catch it on the move and get downhill in these scenarios as well. A solid interior passer and general ball-mover, Bogdanovic continuously makes the right read based on who the opposing big commits to.

Interior Toughness

Bojan understands that he's not the quickest or most explosive athlete. He overcomes these deficiencies as a slasher by getting low and using physicality to carve his way in. Bogdanovic is also very crafty and patient as an offensive player within the paint which earns him consistent trips to the stripe.

The 6'7" forward uses his body well to shield the ball as he rises for the inside finish. He's a little right-hand dominant as a finisher, but Bojan is strong enough to continuously get to his favored right side of the hoop.

Numerous Bojan drives are born from dribble handoff sets. This allows him to get the basketball already in a position where his defender lags behind. From here, he can apply his strength and size without having to explosively beat his man off the bounce.

Rudy Gobert, Joe Ingles, and Derrick Favors were some main DHO partners in Utah. All told, he tallied more total points via handoffs than guys Jayson Tatum, Josh Richardson, and Terry Rozier in 2019-2020.

Isolation Work

Even with his athletic limitations, Bojan nonetheless creates his own shot at the end of the clock or otherwise. Bogdanovic is quick enough to get a step on slower forwards and centers. Against more lively defenders, he changes course and utilizes a superb face-up game around the elbow.

His 0.92 points per possession in isolation during 2019-2020 put him in the 64th percentile. Bojan vaunted himself into a relatively small group of players that year that collected 100 or more points on isolations. That 0.92 figure was superior to the likes of scorers Paul George and Jamal Murray.

Posting Smaller Players

The resourceful Bogdanovic uses his frame and balance to make the post a viable avenue. Bojan doesn't shy away from using post-ups as a vehicle to exploit size advantages. He's got a pillowy touch on his little short-range turnarounds here.

Respectable Defensive Points

Bojan plays hard on the defensive end. He competes well and allows his size and length to be contributing factors.

Bogdanovic trails shooters intensely and is a respectable off-ball defender in general. Furthermore, he's a serviceable post defender thanks to his engagement and strong body.

Perhaps Bojan's greatest defensive asset outside of sustained energy levels is his versatility. He can guard multiple positions at least adequately thanks to his physical dimensions.

Guarding a multitude of player types, Bogdanovic allowed 0.89 points per possession on isolations in 2019-2020. This put him right between the marks of good defenders Harrison Barnes and P.J. Tucker, with 0.91 and 0.88 allowed respectively.

The positionally sound Bojan is also capable of negotiating ball screens decently well. In fact, he placed in the league's 78th percentile for his defensive work on pick-and-roll ball-handlers in 2019-2020.

That defensive placement was achieved on far from a trivial number of possessions. He recorded more of these defensive sequences than guys like Kyle Lowry and Jerami Grant that year.

WEAKNESSES

Facilitation Holes

Bojan is by no means a prolific playmaker. He is capable of making some basic pocket passes and swings but high-level dimes tend to be beyond his scope of ability. His perimeter passing in particular is not up to snuff with the league's more talented high-usage wings.

His assist averages tend to be worrisomely close to his turnover averages. This results in weak if not negative assist-to-turnover ratios season after season. In 2019-2020, his turnovers per game surpassed his assists per game with 2.5 turnovers against only 2.1 assists.

Subpar Rebounding

Bogdanovic could be a better rebounder at a strong 6'7" with an abundance of minutes at the four. He has yet to bring down 5.0+ rebounds per game over a full season. However, Bojan does offer physical and gritty box-outs.

Athletic Limitations + Defensive Shortfalls

Athletically, Bojan is visibly inferior to a lot of his peers on the floor. Offensively speaking, it puts a ceiling on his blow-by ability and capability of scoring against length inside.

His 2020-2021 restricted area figure of 56.8% left a lot to be desired. Significantly smaller guards Damian Lillard and Darius Garland were more efficient from this zone that year. On the defensive side, he can get zipped by courtesy of the game's quicker perimeter players which happens to be the majority of them.

Bogey is unable to make up for his mediocre man defense with steal-getting. The defensive counting stats tend to not be there for the Croatian swingman. From 2014-2015 to 2020-2021, he nudged up to 1+ steal per-36 minutes in just a single season.

Even with his good size in the frontcourt, Bojan's rim protection is anemic. He alternated averages of 0.1, then 0.0 then 0.1 blocks per game from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020. This feeble mark is made even worse when noting that Bogey averaged 30 minutes or more per night in those campaigns.

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Bogdanovic earned a spot on the 2014-2015 All-Rookie Second Team alongside future contributors like Zach LaVine, Jusuf Nurkic, and Marcus Smart