Bojan Bogdanovic to undergo season-ending foot surgery
New York Knicks forward Bojan Bogdanovic will undergo season-ending foot surgery after an injury suffered in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, the team announced Tuesday. Bogdanovic will be re-evaluated in three months, per the team.
Bogdanovic injured his left foot immediately upon checking in, playing only 1:11 before Nicolas Batum incidentally landed on his left leg while going for a loose ball. He was immediately taken out of the game and did not return.
Bogdanovic was already dealing with a wrist injury that listed him as questionable ahead of Sunday’s five-point win.
The 35-year-old was acquired by the Knicks ahead of the trade deadline from the Detroit Pistons, alongside combo guard Alec Burks, in exchange for Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn, Evan Fournier, Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-round picks. He will be entering the final year of a two-year, $39.0 million deal in 2024-25 with a $19.0 million cap hit, though only $2 million will be guaranteed until June 28, 2024, per Spotrac.
Even though he’s not a good defender, Bogdanovic was a solid rotational piece for New York. In 29 games with the Knicks, he averaged 10.4 points on 43.0 percent shooting and 37.0 percent from 3-point range in 19.2 minutes per game. For the season, he averaged 15.2 points and 2.7 boards on 45.4/39.8/78.5 shooting splits.
Losing Bogdanovic ahead of a potential series-clinching Game 5 is rough, even though his role was already minimized. The Knicks could also be without Mitchell Robinson, who missed Game 4 with an ankle injury. So Tom Thibodeau is expected to rely on Miles McBride and Precious Achiuwa even more off the bench against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers–and beyond, should they advance. Perhaps we see some Burks, too?
The Knicks were hard-capped this season due to giving Donte DiVincenzo near the full amount of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception over the offseason. But the Knicks, who are projected to be below the tax with 11 players on standard contracts–should each contract be exercised and fully guaranteed–should have additional flexibility entering 2024-25.
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