Nets trade Bogdanovic to Washington

On Thursday, the Brooklyn Nets kicked off their trading season by dealing shooting guard Bojan Bogdanovic to the Washington Wizards. Brooklyn will also give up guard Chris McCullough for a package consisting of Andrew Nicholson, Marcus Thornton, and a 2017 first-round pick. 

Bogdanovic (left) and John Wall (middle) will now be teammates

The Nets signed Bogdanovic out of Bosnia back in 2014, and he has emerged as a legitimate scoring option in the NBA. Across 212 career games, the 27-year old has averaged 11.2 PPG and a 36% three-point percentage. In 2016-2017, he has racked up a career high 14.2 PPG and 87% free throw percentage in almost 27 minutes per game. 

Although this is the last year of his contract, Bogdanovic will be a restricted free agent this summer, and his matching rights will now be held by Washington. For the remainder of this season, Bogdanovic will serve on the Wizards' bench behind Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr. on the depth chart. As a team that is looking to make a deep playoff run this year, Washington will certainly receive a boost in production in their second unit with the addition of Bogdanovic. 

While merely seen as a throw-in piece, Chris McCullough is a former first round pick and still carries a fair amount of value. At just 22-years old, he has seen the bulk of his playing time come from the NBA Developmental League, but could form into a rotation player if the injury issues fade away. 

McCullough (pictured) has dealt with injuries all season

Brooklyn already has a first round pick in 2017, but the Celtics retain the right to swap. If that were to happen, the Nets will likely own a draft pick toward the end of the first round, in addition to the selection that was acquired in this deal with the Wizards. Washington's pick is lottery-protected, meaning that if they fall into the lottery on draft night, the Wizards keep the draft selection. However, with the team soaring high in the Eastern Conference right now, it would seem probable that Brooklyn holds onto the pick. 

The Nets will also be getting themselves forward Andrew Nicholson, who has played sparingly with the Wizards. In 28 games, the 27-year old has put up 2.5 PPG and 1.2 REB in just 8.3 minutes of action. Nicholson has about $20 million remaining on his deal that spans over the following three seasons, but Brooklyn has the necessary cap room to absorb such a lucrative contract. 

Nicholson (pictured) was due for yet another change of scenery

With Marcus Thornton, the team has themselves a veteran shooting guard whose contract is expiring at season's end. In his eight-year career, the 29-year old has put up 11.9 PPG with a 35% three point shot. He had played with Brooklyn during part of the 2013-2014 season, but was shipped off in a three-team deal that brought in Jarrett Jack from Cleveland. As you can see below, the Nets will likely waive Thornton once the trade is made official by both teams. 

The Brooklyn Nets plan to waive Marcus Thornton, league sources tell @TheVertical. Thornton was part of trade with Washington today.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) February 23, 2017

Overall, the Nets did very well in this trade. GM Sean Marks realized that the team was going in a downward spiral and cashed in on one of the few assets that he possessed. While Bogdanovic is a nice player, he likely did not project into the long-term plans for the franchise due to his age, so it is easy to understand their willingness to send him off.

Brooklyn is probably not done just yet. Their final trade chip is their best player, Brook Lopez, who has been highly coveted by a variety of NBA teams. It would be in the best interest of the Nets if they take the best offer by tomorrow's 3 p.m. ET deadline and truly commit to their rebuild.