How did the Utah Jazz do with the Bojan Bogdanovic trade with the Detroit Pistons?
The Utah Jazz made three major trades prior to the 2022-2023 season, with Rudy Gobert going to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Donovan Mitchell going to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Bojan Bogdanovic going to the Detroit Pistons.
We’ll get to Gobert and Mitchell eventually, but first, we’re going to talk about the Bogdanovic trade. So let’s start with the beginning of it.
Trade Recap
The Pistons acquired Bogdanovic for Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee. While Olynyk is still with the Jazz as of press time, Lee is now with the Phoenix Suns, via a two-way contract. Bogdanovic is also with the Pistons still, but due to his age, he could be traded rather soon.
2022-2023 season results
Neither the Jazz nor the Pistons made the playoffs in 2022-2023. The Pistons went just 17-65 after losing star guard Cade Cunningham. Despite the loss of their star player, the trade worked out for the team, as Bogdanovic shot over 40% from three and scored a career-high 21.6 points per game.
The Jazz faired better record-wise, going 37-45 and narrowly missing the play-in tournament. The team didn’t use Lee at all, but Olynyk saw a lot of time. The big Canadian averaged 12.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, shooting just below 40% from three-point range.
While both teams didn’t make the playoffs, both of the key players in the swap did help the team tremendously. Bogdanovic’s offense helped the Pistons avoid an even worse season, while Olynyk helped give Walker Kessler time to develop. Both men are going to be big pieces for their respective squads in 2023-2024, one way or another.