The start of the 2023-2024 NBA regular season is less than a month away and, after an offseason that could be described as “underwhelming” by most fans, the time has come to start taking a serious look at the legitimacy of this current Hawks roster and which player not named ‘Trae’ or ‘Dejounte’ can and will be that reliable third-option on both sides of the floor.
Caleb Johnson, Hawks Insider for 92.9 The Game, took some time on Saturday afternoon to join Chris Thomas on “The Other Side of the Glass” and was asked about the player who has the best opportunity to assume that role.
“I’m going to say Bogey (Bogdanovic), a fully healthy (Bogey) because, if we recall, we kind of dealt with Bogey, especially last season, where you just didn’t get him for a third of the year because he wasn’t healthy,” Caleb answered.
The 31-year-old appeared in 54 games last season, starting nine. He finished with 14.0 ppg, 3.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists while logging about 27.9 minutes. One of the biggest upsides to his game is his ability to spread the floor and knock down perimeter shots, hitting at just over 40 percent from beyond the arc last season which is the second-highest average of his six-year NBA career.
“He’s coming into the year, he’s going to be healthy, he’s obviously going to be taking an even bigger leadership role on that bench,” Caleb continued. “What he’s going to be able to provide along with Trae and Dejounte, I think on both ends of the floor, is going to make his role really, really important.”
Coming into his fourth season with the Hawks after arriving via free agency from Sacramento at the start of the 2020 season, Bogdanovic signed a four-year, $72-million extension in mid-March of this year.
Just last month, a healthy Bogey led his Serbian National Team to the FIBA World Cup Finals before falling to Germany, 83-77. Bogdanovic lead the team in scoring during the course of the tournament (19.1 ppg) and finished the Finals loss with 17 points, five assists, and three rebounds in 31 minutes.
The Hawks open up the preseason on October 10th when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers at State Farm Arena. 92.9 The Game has your pregame coverage with Mike Conti starting at 7:00pm, tipoff at 7:30pm with Steve Holman on the call.
Complete coverage of the Atlanta Hawks 2023-24 campaign can be heard right here on Atlanta Sports Radio, 92.9 The Game