Windhorst: Kings elected not to take a draft pick from Hawks for Bogdanovic

During the action-packed NBA offseason, the Sacramento Kings had a sign-and-trade in place with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The deal in place would have seen Bogdan Bogdanovic and Justin James go to Milwaukee in exchange for Donte DiVincenzo, D.J. Wilson, and Ersan Ilyasova. However, that transaction fell through because Bogdanovic reportedly never agreed to the terms of the deal.

The 28 year old — who was a restricted free agent in the offseason — signed a four-year deal worth $72 million with the Atlanta Hawks in November. Kings general manager Monte McNair elected not to match the offer, allowing Bogdanovic to leave with netting an asset in return. The decision perplexed some NBA Insiders, including ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

Windhorst discussed the Bogdanovic saga on the Hoops Collective Podcast, and reported that the Kings could have gotten something from the Hawks in exchange for Bogdanovic:

“The Kings got offered a draft pick by the Hawks to do a sign-and-trade for Bogdanovic, and they didn’t take the sign-and-trade. And then they didn’t match. Now when I heard that, I thought, it’s the same old Kings. I understand not matching. They’ve got a bunch of money there. I get that. I would have matched, but again I don’t answer to the owner...

I was like, what’s going on? That’s why there was actual drama about whether they were gonna match or not, because it was like, well, they didn’t do the sign-and-trade, so they had a sign-and-trade to get DiVincenzo, which I thought was a nice trade. Okay, that fell apart. Then they had the chance to get an asset, and look, I don’t know what the what the pick was. For all I know was a top 20 protected first-round pick, but it’s better than nothing. So they do that, and I’m like, well, it’s the same old Kings. But now, this draft pick looks like it could, you know, pivot them.”

It seems like Windhorst was referring to rookie Tyrese Haliburton when he was talking about “this draft pick,” and he is absolutely correct. Haliburton was a steal at No. 12 and will be in the running for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

The 20 year old averaged 10.6 points and 4.4 assists while shooting 50% from beyond the arc before suffering a wrist injury. He has been the perfect complementary fit next to De’Aaron Fox and will be a star with the franchise for a long time.

McNair has been focused on maintaining financial flexibility since he took over as general manager, and his moves have been aligned with his vision from the get-go. McNair won’t be judged on how the Kings do this season, but rather where the franchise is two-to-three years down the line.