NBA free agency: Utah Jazz to sign Bojan Bogdanovic to multi-year deal

The Utah Jazz reportedly came to terms with former Indiana Pacers big man Bojan Bogdanovic during the opening hours of NBA free agency.

Right on the heels of their blockbuster trade for Mike Conley, the Utah Jazz’s big offseason just got even bigger.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Jazz and unrestricted free agent Bojan Bogdanovic have agreed to a four-year deal worth $73 million. Utah had made the former Indiana Pacers big man their top priority in free agency, meeting with his reps just after the frenzy tipped off on Sunday.

His signing means the end of Derrick Favors‘ run in Utah after eight years. The Jazz have agreed to send the No. 4 man on their all-time rebounding charts to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for future draft picks. Along the way, they’ll also create a sizable trade exception.

Favors may have been the longest tenured Jazzman and a fan favorite, but this move is a huge win for the team offensively. Bogey is fresh off a career season that saw him put up 18 points a night and shoot over 40 percent from distance for the second straight year.

After Victor Oladipo suffered a ruptured right quad in January, Bogdanovic was key in helping the Pacers maintain some of their momentum and secure a playoff spot without their star. Over the final 30 games of the 2018-19 campaign, he averaged 21 points per contest and knocked down 42 percent of his 3-point shots.

He should flourish in Quin Snyder’s offensive system, a scheme that generated more open looks than just about any other squad in the Association. Last year, Bogdanovic was a 45-percent 3-point shooter in the catch and shoot and a 46-percent shooter on wide open threes.

Bogdanovic was also in the 77th percentile of players off of screens (1.08 points per possession) and the 73rd percentile as the cutter (1.39 ppp).

After struggling to score last season, the expected starting five of Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert should be an elite offensive unit in 2019-20 and one of the best offensive crews in Jazz history.

When they spaced things out with Jae Crowder swapped into the first five for Favors last season, the Jazz scored nearly 116 points per 100 possessions, 12.8 more than the opposition by the same measure.

Now, they’ll have a much better offensive player in the four spot, not to mention a massive upgrade at the point in Conley. Sorry, Ricky Rubio.

Simply put, the Jazz have the look of the contender in the Western Conference next season after getting eliminated in short order by the Houston Rockets in each of the last two NBA Playoffs.

With their big guns in place, the Jazz will now turn their attention to populating the back end of their roster.

• Published on 06/30/2019 at 5:11 PM MDT
• Last updated on 06/30/2019 at 5:11 PM MDT