Report: Bojan Bogdanovic traded to Pistons for Kelly Olynyk
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Report: Pistons acquire Bojan Bogdanovic in deal with Jazz originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Utah Jazz are trading Bojan Bogdanovic to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Thursday.
The deal reunites current Jazz CEO of basketball operations Danny Ainge with Olynyk, whom Ainge selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft — two spots ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo — as general manager of the Boston Celtics. Olynyk spent his first four NBA seasons in Boston, and now he’ll be on an Ainge-led team again after averaging 9.1 points per game for Detroit last season.
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Ainge’s Jazz are in the middle of an aggressive rebuild, having traded All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert this offseason for a massive haul of draft picks. The trade of Bodganovic continues that rebuild, as the 33-year-old was Utah’s second-leading scorer last season at 18.1 points per game.
Bogdanovic brings a veteran scoring presence to a young, talented Pistons team led by recent top-five picks Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey.
In Utah, new head coach Will Hardy — who was the Celtics’ top assistant coach in 2021-22 — will be starting fresh with a roster stripped of most of its top talent from last season.