The Brooklyn Nets have agreed to trade Bojan Bogdanovic and Chris McCullough to the Washington Wizards for Andrew Nicholson, Marcus Thornton and their 2017 first-rounder, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
The Brooklyn Nets are trading Bojan Bogdanovic to the Washington Wizards, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 22, 2017
In order to snag the much-needed pick, the Nets need to part with McCullough — a Billy King selection, mind you — and took on Nicholson’s contract until 2020. For Scott Brooks, Nicholson has been unable to crack the rotation, averaging just 2.5 points in 8 minutes per game.
Nicholson, a Canadian international, is under contract for about 6 million per year until 2020.
As Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post points out, the 2017 first rounder is lottery protected, of course, but the Nets have now secured two of the all-important selections come June’s draft.
Should add pick is lottery protected. Wizards knew they needed some bench scoring. Bogdanovic should give them that.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 22, 2017
Additionally, the Nets get back Thornton, who Brooklyn traded for a couple years ago at the 2013 deadline as well. Thornton is on a one-year deal at 1.3 million and has averaged 6.6 points in 17 minutes per game for the Wizards in 2016-2017.
Although rumors have swirled for weeks around the potential trade of Brook Lopez, it was always more likely that Bogdanovic would be moved before he hit restricted free agency this summer. Despite his team-friendly $3.5 million contract, the Croatian sharpshooter was in line for a major payday, his first in the NBA.
Bogdanovic, who turns 28-years-old in April, will play for his second team since arriving in Brooklyn way back in 2014. As players came and went from the Nets, Bogdanovic was always more than willing to take on a bigger and better role than before. With the Wizards ramping up their efforts before the playoffs, Bogdanovic should be a fantastic fit for a struggling bench unit.
This season, Bogdanovic averaged 14.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game as the team’s starting small forward.
Update, 8:33 p.m.: The Brooklyn Nets plan to waive Marcus Thornton, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Brooklyn Nets plan to waive Marcus Thornton, league sources tell @TheVertical. Thornton was part of trade with Washington today.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 23, 2017
