Phoenix Suns select Bogdan Bogdanovic 27th overall

The Phoenix Suns went international with their third pick of the first round, selecting Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Beyond having an awesomely redundant name, Bogdanovic is a 21-year-old scorer adept at both attacking the rim and shooting the three. He’s 6’6 with a 6’11 wingspan, which gives him good potential to play quite a few roles on the next level. The third Adriatic League player drafted in the first round, he averaged 15 points per game but took 13 shots to get there on 39% shooting. Bogdanovic was also named the Euroleague Rising Star, which is an award given annually to the top young player in the competition. This award is no joke, as past winners include Nikola Mirotic (two times), Ricky Rubio, Danilo Gallinari, and Andrea Bargnani.

Bogdanovic does a little bit of everything well on offense. He’d be able to make the most immediate impact with his shooting, as his shot has a quick release and he comes well off of screens with good balance. It’s also worth mentioning that he has solid ball-handling ability both coming off of pick-and-rolls as well as when he’s going to the rim.

Defensively, Bogdanovic is solid at using his length to contest jumpers and get into passing lanes. He gets lost from time to time, but that’s expected for a young player. There is reasonable expectation that Bogdanovic, given his tools and length, could develop into an above-average NBA defensive player at some point.

As far as his fit with the Suns, he would be a pretty good fit with both Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe as a spot up shooter once they got into the lane. Also, his length should allow him to guard both wing positions, which is something valuable given the amorphous nature of the Suns’ lineup from time-to-time. It’s not uncommon for them to run lineups with two point guards, three power forwards and no centers, or potentially lineups with two centers next year given that Miles Plumlee and Alex Len are in the fold. Defensive versatility is important for offensive teams that play like this.

The assumption is that he’ll stay in Europe for another season, which is totally okay with the Suns given that they also have rookies Tyler Ennis and T.J. Warren to bring along. Still, I would expect that one day we see Bogdanovic end up as a solid role-playing two guard that can play solid defense and score off the bench.