Report: Nets discussed Lowry-for-Bogdanovic swap, 20 teams interested in Croatian forward

Slovenia Basketball Eurobasket

Slovenia Basketball Eurobasket
Bojan Bogdanovic (AP)
Roughly 20 of the 29 other teams have expressed some sort of interest in the 24-year-old Bogdanovic, a league executive told Alex Raskin of the Wall Street Journal.

Bogdanovic was the first pick of the second round in the 2010 NBA Draft, mostly thanks to a unique clause in the CBA that forces teams to pay a strict salary scale for first-round picks. (Minnesota Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic fell to the first pick of the second round in 2008 for the same reason.) He’s valued higher than a regular second-round pick.

Raskin added in the report that the Nets had discussed a swap with the Toronto Raptors, sending embattled guard Kyle Lowry to Brooklyn for Bogdanovic’s rights. The Nets ultimately passed, as Lowry would be little more than an expensive backup to Shaun Livingston and Deron Williams. Lowry also makes upwards of $6 million, meaning the Nets would have to include another contract in the deal, most likely Jason Terry. Terry has two years left on his contract, an unappealing deal for Toronto to swallow.

In 15 games in Euroleague this season, Bogdanovic has averaged 15.9 points in 30.7 minutes per game, shooting 55.4 percent from two-point range and 31.7 percent from three-point range. His game has drawn comparisons by some — including us — to current Nets forward Paul Pierce.

Bogdanovic is an intriguing prospect for the Nets to deal because he doesn’t have any salary implications, so the Nets could theoretically include Bogdanovic’s rights, say, with their Disabled Player Exception to entice a team into trading a valuable player to Brooklyn. Here’s more information on that, and the options the Nets have.