Indiana Pacers: Bojan Bogdanovic and Thad Young gone, not forgotten

Sometimes days can be bittersweet. Sunday was one of them for the Indiana Pacers as NBA free agency kicked off. While new additions are fun, sometimes the cost can be steep. Such is the lesson of Bojan Bogdanovic and Thad Young signing elsewhere.

NBA free agency bonanzas are fun, and acquiring Malcolm Brogdon and Jeremy Lamb is exciting, but there’s a price to pay for the newest Indiana Pacers‘ services. Both Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young are gone.

Bogdanovic to Utah for 4 years, $73M. Young to Chicago for 3 years, $41M. It’s a definitive end to what were two meaningful tenures with the Pacers.

Bojan Bogdanovic arrived in Indiana to not only zero fanfare, but widespread dismay. He was not a catch coming off of a brief stint with the Wizards where he scored just under 13 points per game in 26 relief appearances (0 starts). He seemed more like an admission of defeat for the post-Paul George-trade Pacers than a future lionizing force. Yet that is what he became.

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Easily overlooked in discussions where people lament the Pacers’ free agency track record, the afterthought Bogdanovic became the best free agent acquisition in at least 7 years. It would be hard to elevate him above David West, otherwise he would have been the best in much longer.

He surprised everyone when he successfully carried the offensive mantle in the absence of Victor Oladipo for the entirety of last season’s second half. He authored one of the most iconic moments in Pacers playoff history when he shredded Cleveland in Game 3 of the 2018 Eastern Conference first round.

It’s amazing how much one’s reputation can change in just a couple of years’ time. Bogdanovic, just two summers later, is now accurately seen as a final piece on the now-contending Utah Jazz. He’ll be excellent for them. Offering space for Mike Conley Jr. and Donovan Mitchell, splashing threes and taking players off the dribble whenever his number is called. Having Bogdanovic as your third option is a tremendous luxury, as almost anyone who saw him play in Indiana would attest.

Thad Young was traded for. It cost the Pacers their 2016 first round draft pick (it became Caris LeVert) to get him. Young would start and play in all but 10 of Indiana’s games over the three seasons he played for the Pacers.

Young did all the gritty stuff of the floor that you wish you were tough enough to do. While he never was the tone setter for the team during his time in Indiana (Paul George did that in 2017, Oladipo the last two), Young was the vocal presence who kept the train churning along. When someone needed to be encouraged or scolded, it was Young who delivered it. Just like if a loose ball was drifting out of bounds at a key moment, there would be Young, Johnny on the spot, leaping to retrieve it and flip it back to one of his teammates. That was Thad; the ideal teammate.

It’ll be a role he’ll continue up I-65 in Chicago. Young fills a mentor-ship void with the Bulls, much like how drafting Coby White solved a lacking talent at the point. Chicago has a young front court: Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. are both in their early 20’s and could use the type of role model that can teach them how to win; the exact role that Young excels in.

Such is the price of progress, I suppose. In order to construct one of the best backcourts in the Eastern Conference with Victor Oladipo and Malcolm Brogdon, concessions needed to be made elsewhere. By trading for T.J. Warren, the Pacers made it clear that they would be getting more youthful in the front court, and that Young was on the out. By seizing the opportunity to acquire the multi-tooled Brogdon, it made retaining Bogdanovic less likely. In the span of less than two hours on the first Sunday evening of free agency, the less likely became reality, and Bogey and Thad will bid Indy farewell.