Sacramento Kings: Bogdan Bogdanovic shines in Serbia’s win over USA

Sacramento Kings shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic emerged as Serbia’s leading scorer in their 94-89 victory against the United States in the FIBA World Cup.

The Sacramento Kings will be looking for a big year from shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic in the upcoming 2019-20 season. And if his performance this summer is anything to go off of, the Serbian shooter is ready to make an impact come October.

After Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier pick-and-rolled the United States into submission in France’s 89-79 quarterfinal victory early on Wednesday, the U.S. was then slated to play Serbia in a consolation game earlier today.

For many, this was a chance to see Nikola Jokic — the Denver Nuggets’ superstar center — tear through the United States with his precision passing and bullying post play.

Instead, it was the Kings’ guard Bogdan Bogdanovic that led the Serbians by the United States in a 94-89 win with a dazzling display of deep shooting, both off-the-dribble and as a catch-and-shoot threat.

Through Serbia’s first seven tournament games — they are slated to play the Czech Republic on Saturday for a fifth-place finish — the 27-year-old has come alive as his nation’s best scorer, averaging 21.7 points per game and scoring a tournament-best 152 points.

Although Serbia exited the tournament early after a surprising 97-87 quarterfinal loss to Argentina, Thursday’s game against the United States, even in a loser’s bracket, was a chance for an up-and-comer like Bogdanovic to prove his mettle against the very best.

And that’s exactly what he did.

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Bogdanovic came out firing in the first quarter, knocking down four three-pointers to put Serbia up 32-7 after 10 minutes of play. The United States, led by Kemba Walker and Donovan Mitchell, soon pulled within reach.

But Bogdanovic paced the Serbians in the second half, hampering the U.S.’s comeback by hitting difficult shot after difficult shot. With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Bogdanovic effectively iced the game by dropping in a contested layup over Khris Middleton.

At contest’s end, he had finished with a game-high 28 points, while also dishing out six assists and grabbing four rebounds.

Bogdan Bogdanovic, the 27th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, made his debut with the Kings in 2017, starting in 53 games for a Kings team that finished 12th in the Western Conference.

The emergence of Buddy Hield pushed Bogdanovic to the bench, but he still managed to thrive in limited minutes, averaging 14.1 points and 3.8 assists per game.

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He often came up big in the clutch, too — his buzzer-beating three over Tyson Chandler to down the Lakers is a thing of pure beauty.

At 6-foot-6, Bogdanovic is a longer, rangier guard that can shoot over smaller defenders on the perimeter and beat bigger defenders off-the-dribble. His frame is not entirely unlike that of Golden State Warriors superstar Klay Thompson.

And, like Thompson, he has shown that he can score almost at-will when he has a hot hand. Of course, it remains to be seen whether Bogdanovic’s international excellence this summer will translate to the NBA this fall.

But Bogdanovic — who is now in the nascent stages of his prime — is surely someone who’s ready to take the leap and turn into a rising star in Sacramento.

If he can, then the Kings will further edge towards its hope of soon becoming a homegrown contender.