In his first season with the Pacers, Bojan Bogdanovic took fans through an emotional roller coaster.
After trading away Paul George, many were interested in seeing who the Pacers would put in his place as the starting small forward position. A little over a week into free agency, that man became former Net and Wizard Bojan Bogdanovic.
It wasn’t the type of signing to get fans super excited, but it was a good contract and gave Indiana’s new lead man—Victor Oladipo—some more space to work within.
Indiana surprised early on, and Bogdanovic was a big part of it. Coming off a four-game losing streak in mid-November, the Pacers went on to win six of their next seven. In that stretch, Bogdanovic averaged 18.4 points on 50.6 percent shooting overall and 55.3 percent from three.
Then, about a month later, Bogdanovic made an error that some Pacers fans still may not forgive him for to this day:
After making that game-losing error, it took some time for Pacers fans to recover. But time, as it often does, healed the wound. Bogdanovic averaged 18.9 points on 52.3/47.1/93.8 shooting splits in the month of February and became the Pacers’ second most reliable scorer going into the playoffs.
Bojan somewhat struggled in Indiana’s seven-game series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but let us not forget about his Game 3 explosion:
Bogdanovic absolutely has the ability to change games. It would be nice if he was a game-changer more often, and if his shooting didn’t hold his whole game together. It seems as if when his shot runs cold, Bogdanovic kind of just becomes a guy standing around.
His highs are so great, though, so it’s hard to file too many complaints.
Bogey’s season described in one GIF
Per Game Counting Stats
14.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals, 47.4/40.2/86.8 shooting splits
Bogdanovic didn’t make any massive leaps when looking at his counting stats, but it is fair to say that this was his best season. He wasn’t as close to reaching the 50/40/90 club as teammate Darren Collison, but he was closer than some may have realized.
Like many other Pacers, the team’s style allowed Bogdanovic to have more opportunities than he had in past seasons with other teams. In Brooklyn, Bogdanovic had the opportunity but not the talent around him to put him into positions to succeed. For Washington, the talent was there but not the opportunity.
In Indiana, Bogdanovic had a perfect balance. Aside from Oladipo, no one in the starting unit required the ball to have success. Bogdanovic played well within the offense, allowing him to do his thing at an efficient clip.
Advanced Stats
Continuing to beat the efficiency drum, the advanced statistics show even further how well Bogdanovic did in that area. He finished the season with a 60.5 True Shooting Percentage, which was a career-high mark for a full season. His free throw rate of .241 (number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt) was the second-best mark of his three-year career after last season.
He was careful with the ball, handing it over just 10.1 percent of the time—a full percent better than his previous career best.
It’s hard to quantify defense in statistics, but the numbers do suggest this was Bogdanovic’s best season on that end of the floor. His 1.1 steal percentage, 1.6 defensive win shares, and -1.9 defensive box plus/minus are all either career bests or tied for it.
His lack of athleticism hurts him on defense, but as he showed against LeBron James, Bogdanovic has the instincts and size to at least be useful in one-on-one situations.
Shot Selection
Attempts: Rim – 31 Percent; Mid-Range – 27 Percent; Three-Point – 42 Percent
Accuracy: Rim – 61 Percent; Mid-Range – 44 Percent; Three-Point – 40 Percent
In today’s game, it would be great to see any player shoot more at the rim and from deep than in the mid-range. While Bogdanovic did that, it would still be nice to see the mid-range number creep closer to 20 percent of his shots and his attempts at the rim to move closer to 40 percent.
Shooting 44 percent in the mid-range is solid; it put Bogdanovic in the 88th percentile among forwards in that category, per Cleaning The Glass. Indiana’s offense called for a lot of mid-range shooting, simply because those were the shots defenses were giving them.
While the analytics call for more threes and close twos, Bogdanovic was simply doing what was asked of him and he did it well.
What Does the Future Hold for Bojan Bogdanovic?
Bojan Bogdanovic has certainly earned the right to return next season. Whether he does or doesn’t will depend on which direction the Pacers want to go.
Bogdanovic is slated to make $10.5 million next season but is guaranteed just $1.5 million of that. Indiana will likely fully guarantee that, but that doesn’t mean they will keep him around.
Indiana has two paths to take this summer: hold everything together with minor tweaks or sell high on assets in a big trade.
If they go the second route, Bogdanovic could certainly be shipped out. That isn’t a guarantee, of course, but his salary would be helpful in any deal in which the Pacers acquire an upgraded starter.
If the Pacers were to acquire a bigger name, they would probably prefer to deal Darren Collison. Bogdanovic is more of a deadly shooter and is a better defender than Collison, making it easier for him to play multiple positions and with different types of players.
Collison, coming off a near 50-40-90 campaign, may never have a higher trade value—so acting upon that and getting a good return for him would make sense.
Whether it’s in a bench role or returning to the starting lineup, I think a lot of Pacers fans would like to see Bogdanovic return to Indiana next season. After all, he did make up for his mistake against Boston—doesn’t he deserve a shot to make up for his rough Cleveland series?
He may not get the chance. But if he does, hopefully, he rewards the Pacers with an even better season.