The Nuggets might be bringing Nikola Jokic a Serbian sidekick.
Denver has interest in adding wing Bogdan Bogdanovic in free agency, according to RealGM. The LA Clippers hold a $16 million team option on Bogdanovic that they’re expected to decline, which would make the 33-year-old an unrestricted free agent.
The pull is obvious: Bogdanovic and Jokic go way back with the Serbian national team.
Serbian outlet Meridian Sport, via Đorđe Matić, reported Denver is “eagerly waiting” for the free agency window to open on June 30 to start the chase. Matić wrote the Nuggets had Bogdanovic’s name circled before but lacked the financial room to make a move while his contract ran.
This would verify the smoke around the situation for years where the two have hinted at wanting to play with each other as well as some reporting that linked the two players in the past. This is the most firm and logical situation yet.
The duo’s international resume is awesome — silver at the Rio 2016 Olympics, the 2019 FIBA World Cup and bronze at Paris 2024.
And the friendship angle matters with this group.
Jokic made that clear entering last season, making this comment about the roster turnover going into last season.
“Here’s a bunch of my friends who left — DJ, Russ, Vlatko, Russ, Dario. So I need to find some new friends,” Jokic said.
He even sized up center Jonas Valanciunas with the bar set: “He’s qualified to be my friend.” Valanciunas, though, is likely to be cut this summer to save ownership money — so Jokic may be back in the market for friends. A countryman like Bogdanovic would check that box in a hurry.
But at this point is Bogdanovic useful as a player or just as a friend?
Bogdanovic will be 34 and is coming off a lost season. He played just 23 games for the Clippers last year, averaging a career-low 7.4 points on 38.8% shooting and 34.7% from deep. He’s appeared in only 77 games over the last two seasons. For his career, the 6-foot-5 wing has averaged 14 points and shot better than 38% from deep.
He’d theoretically fill a similar role to pending free agent and Sixth Man candidate Tim Hardaway Jr. But Denver already has a similar piece in Julian Strawther. And he’s a better player at this point than Bogdanovic. Yet, the Nuggets just need guards — and they might be desperate enough to bet on Jokic chemistry.
Still, it’s the opposite of what’s coming from the team.
Speaking Wednesday on DenverNuggets.com, EVP of Basketball Operations Ben Tenzer laid out a vision of the NBA Draft that doesn’t parse with an aging shooting guard.
“You try to dissect the year. We had a great regular season. Tough run in the playoffs for a lot of reasons. So, just trying to focus on obviously how we can be better,” Tenzer said. “I think focusing on players, targeting players that kind of fit what we’re looking for and where the league is evolving, to watching the playoffs now and seeing what goes farther in the playoffs. We’ve talked a lot about length, athleticism, physicality, improving our defense, things like that.”
Bogdanovic checks none of those boxes at this stage of his career. The fit, for now, is about friendship and floor-spacing more than the blueprint Tenzer pitched.
