The Phoenix Suns are reportedly intending to bring Bogdan Bogdanovic to the NBA in October, but rumors are out that the Serbian shooting guard could play one more season with his current team, Fenerbahçe, and then sign with the said NBA squad in 2017.
The 23-year-old Belgrade native was drafted by the Suns 27th overall in 2014 but he decided to stay with his mother team Fenerbahçe for the next two seasons after that. If he moved to the NBA during that time he was drafted then he would have been required to sign a rookie scale salary of about $5.7 million for four years.
Missing out a third season of playing in the NBA means that Phoenix would still retain his rights next year, but the Turkish Cup MVP would then be able to negotiate for any amount of salary and will not be limited by the rookie scale, as per the Arizona Central.
That is perhaps Bogdanovic's motivation to play one more season in Europe before fully committing himself in the world's premier basketball league, aside of course from trying to defend the Turkish title next season.
Bogdanovic is coming off a sensational performance in the Turkish League, leading Fenerbahçe to the title on Monday night, which prompted the Suns to call him and inquire if he is ready to join them next season.
"We're tracking his progress closely," Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough said last week. "Right now, we're just leaving him alone. We want him to be focused on trying to win the Turkish League championship."
And he did just that, which in turn will have to make him face the next big step of his career.
Phoenix wanted to know whether Bogdanovic will be on board or not next season as they are trying to figure out which position are they going to draft next week, according to SB Nation.
At the moment, Brandon Knight is the Suns' starting two guard with Devin Booker and Archie Goodwin as the substitutes. Knight is 25 years old while Booker and Goodwin are 20 and 22, so drafting a rookie shooting guard will not make sense at all for Phoenix if Bogdanovic is indeed coming.
The Suns own the fourth, 13th, 28th, and 34th picks in the coming draft on Thursday, June 23.