Bojan Bogdanovic first appeared at the Nets’ practice facility in New Jersey three years ago, fresh from being selected by the team with the 31st overall selection in the 2011 NBA Draft.
But after spending the past three years playing in Turkey and after one near miss at coming to the NBA sooner, Bogdanovic was back in New Jersey Monday morning, where he was introduced as the biggest move of the team’s offseason, a potential young building block for the team to lean on in the years ahead.
“I am glad and proud to finally come over to play for Brooklyn,” Bogdanovic said with a smile while decked out in a suit and tie and seated in an interview room inside the practice facility. “I would like to thank [general manager] Billy King and all the staff from Brooklyn to bring me over, and of course I cannot wait to get started.”
There were plenty of times over the past three years when it wasn’t clear Bogdanovic’s Nets career would ever get started. He seemed like a lock to be a first-round pick in June 2011, only to decide in the days leading up to that draft to sign a three-year contract with Fenerbahce Ulker — one of the top teams in Europe — that didn’t have a buyout for the first two seasons.
After playing a key role for Fenerbahce in each of his first two seasons with the club, the 25-year-old Croatian nearly came to Brooklyn last summer, only to have negotiations between the Nets and his camp break down. Bogdanovic then wound up spending another season playing in Istanbul, while the Nets signed Andrei Kirilenko instead.
But Bogdanovic said despite the long wait, he always expected this would be his next basketball destination.
“[The Nets] drafted me three years ago, and every summer I thought it would be the time to bring me over,” he said. “But this time finally came, and I’m very happy and proud about it.”
The Nets are hoping for big things from the 6-foot-8 swingman, especially after opting to let Paul Pierce walk in free agency.
“Of course it’s not going to be easy,” Bogdanovic said of his transition to the NBA. “I have to do some adjustments, especially because there are a lot of games, [many] more than in Europe. But I am ready and I can help the team immediately.”
Bogdanovic said several times he expects to contribute immediately, and he’ll undoubtedly get a chance to do so. With Pierce out of the picture, the Nets have plenty of minutes to spare at small forward, where Bogdanovic could potentially step into a starting role.
At the very least, he should be in line to come off the bench as the sixth man, one capable of scoring both off the drive or off open looks from deep.
“First of all, I’m a shooter, but like I said, last year I improved my game a lot with the ball,” he said. “I think I’m ready [for the NBA].”
The Nets think he is, too, and after waiting three years to get him into their uniform, they’ll finally get to find out.
Bogdanovic is actually from the same town — Mostar — as Nets forward Mirza Teletovic, though Teletovic chose to play for Croatia, while Bogdanovic plays for Bosnia and Herzegovina. A third player from Mostar, Zoran Planinic, was drafted by the Nets in 1999, and played for them from 2003-06.
Although Bogdanovic said he hasn’t spoken to Teletovic yet, he said he plans to begin training with the Croatian national team for the FIBA World Cup once he returns to Europe. The World Cup will take place in Spain beginning late next month.
“Of course I know him,” he said of Teletovic with a smile. “He’s from my hometown.
“We haven’t talked yet about everything. But when I get back to Europe again, of course I will call him and ask him a lot of questions about Brooklyn, about the city and everything.”