Wizards Get Bojan Bogdanovic, Chris McCullough In Trade With Nets

The Washington Wizards added depth to their scoring game Wednesday by acquiring small forward Bojan Bogdanovic and forward Chris McCullough in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

Nets Trade Bojan Bogdanovic To Wizards

The Nets received a lottery-protected 2017 first-round draft pick, along with Marcus Thornton and Andrew Nicholson. 

Bogdanovic is averaging a career-high 14.2 points per game– more than double any Wizards reserve is averaging– in his third NBA season. He’s also shooting 36 percent on 3-pointers. The 27-year-old, 6-foot-8 Croatian will become a restricted free agent after this season. A second-round pick of the Miami Heat in 2011, he signed with the Nets in 2014.

“Bojan is a very good shooter and a talented overall scorer whose versatility gives us an added dimension as we gear up for the stretch run,” Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld said in a statement. “He is a proven starter that will provide us an added boost off the bench and allow us to be creative with our lineups.”

Nicholson, who the Wizards acquired in the offseason, is averaging just 2.5 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.3 minutes after signing a four-year, $26 million contract last summer. The cost for giving up Nicholson was a first-round pick, which the Nets need.

Thornton, 29, averaged 6.6 points for Washington this season. He has scored 11.9 points per game.

Washington (34-21), which has won 18 of its last 21 games, leads Atlanta by 2.5 games in the Southeast Division and is third in the Eastern Conference, behind Cleveland and Boston.

“I like where we are as a team, but we’re not satisfied,” said new Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “We’re not just going to be happy with what we’ve done in the first half. We want to come out and play good basketball throughout the season.”

Bogdanovic was the top scorer in the 2016 Rio Olympics, averaging 25.3 points to lead Croatia to a quarterfinal berth as the top seed from its group. He led the Nets with 99 3-pointers and was second on the team in scoring.

McCullough, 22, has spent most of this season in the NBA Development League. The 6-foot-9 forward was the Nets’ first-round pick in 2015 but was delayed in starting his career as he recovered from knee surgery in his lone season at Syracuse.

This trade follows one by the Toronto Raptors for Serge Ibaka that Brooks said didn’t raise the pressure on the Wizards to keep up in the East.

The NBA trade deadline was Thursday (Feb. 23) at 3 pm E.T.

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 13: Bojan Bogdanovic #44 of the Brooklyn Nets races up court in front of Bruno Caboclo #20 of the Toronto Raptors during their game at the Barclays Center on April 13, 2016 in New York City.

Article by Pablo Mena