Bucks moving on from Bogdan Bogdanovic pursuit

The Bucks are moving on from their pursuit of Kings RFA Bogdan Bogdanovic, sources tell Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Bogdanovic saga is the early front-runner for the oddest story of free agency. Late on Monday night, reports indicated that a sign-and-trade agreement had been reached that would have sent Bogdanovic to Milwaukee along with Justin James for Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova, and D.J. Wilson. However, two days later, word broke that the deal was falling apart, having apparently never received approval from Bogdanovic himself.

There was some speculation that the NBA had stepped in due to the perception of tampering or circumvention, and that the Bucks and Kings had to act as if there was no deal in place until free agency opened.

However, now it appears all parties are indeed moving on, clearing the path for Bogdanovic to explore the market for an offer sheet, while the league has opened an investigation into the reported sign-and-trade deal that is no longer happening.

Bogdanovic is one of the fall’s top free agents. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested on an episode of his Hoop Collective podcast this week that “word on the street” is that the Kings swingman is hoping secure a multiyear deal in the range of $18M per year (hat tip to RealGM).