A sign-and-trade deal that would send Kings swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic to the Bucks appears to be dead, at least for now, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to Wojnarowski, the Kings and Bucks had hoped to bring Bogdanovic the framework of their sign-and-trade agreement and negotiate his contract with Milwaukee on Friday. Instead, he’ll enter restricted free agency in search of an offer sheet or other sign-and-trade scenarios, per Woj.
Wojnarowski initially reported late on Monday night that the Kings and Bucks had agreed to a deal sending Bogdanovic and Justin James to Milwaukee in exchange for Ersan Ilyasova, D.J. Wilson, and Donte DiVincenzo. However, Sam Amick of The Athletic reported earlier Wednesday that the deal was in peril, since Bogdanovic apparently never agreed to it.
As I wrote in our earlier story, it’s hard to believe that the Kings and Bucks wouldn’t have confirmed that Bogdanovic was on board with the move before it was reported. But it was also unusual that a deal involving a free-agent contract was being reported four days before free agency actually began. A this point, it’s unclear whether the deal fell apart as a result of a major communication breakdown or if the NBA got involved due to perceived tampering.
Either way, it’s a major setback for the Bucks. They’re still hoping that a Bogdanovic deal can be saved, but it sounds like he’s ready to move onto other options, according to Amick. The Bucks are still on track to land Jrue Holiday from the Pelicans, but will have to look elsewhere if they want to try to turn a DiVincenzo package into an impact player.
As for the Kings, if they’re not intent on re-signing Bogdanovic themselves or matching an offer sheet, they’ll likely look to negotiate a sign-and-trade with another club.
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