Our player preview series for the 2026 Clippers continues with Bogdan Bogdanovic, who will hopefully be providing a scoring punch off the bench this year.
Basic Information
Height: 6’5
Weight: 220 pounds
Position: Shooting Guard
Age: 33
Years in NBA: 8
Regular Season Stats (with Clippers): 11.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.2 turnovers in 25.5 minutes per game across 30 games played (4 starts) on 47.4/42.7/87.5 shooting splits (4.8 3PA, 1.1 FTA) with 60.8% TS
Contract Status: Has two years left on a four year, $68M deal – $16.02M this year and a team option for the same amount next year
Expectations
I’d say Bogi has some of the more unclear expectations on the Clippers this year. The stars are the stars, the deep bench guys have no expectations, and a lot of the other role players have fairly set roles. Bogi, however, is a bit up in the air. The Clippers have 11 rotation-caliber players, and of them, 7 seem very locked into big roles. Bogi is one of the four who is not, making it theoretically plausible that he’s out of the rotation when the Clippers are fully healthy. On the other hand, if he’s healthy and playing well, it’s quite possible that he’s a key part of the rotation. When he does play, fans and the Clippers will expect a scoring punch off the bench with strong off-ball shooting, catch-and-shoot threes at volume, and tertiary ball-handling and creation.
Strengths
Bogi’s best strength as an NBA player is undoubtedly his three-point shooting. For his career, Bogi has made 38.2% of his threes while averaging 6.4 attempts per game. Neither number is elite, but both are very good, and in his best seasons Bogi has bettered those averages by significant margins. Bogi can shoot off the catch, off movement, and off the dribble, and has ability to shoot all around the arc. He’s not an A+ shooter, but he’s probably in the A- range, and that has real value.
The rest of Bogi’s offensive game is not too shabby either. While he’s never been great at getting to the rim or drawing fouls, Bogi is very capable of hitting pullup midrangers when given space to operate in the pick and roll, and is quite adept at attacking closeouts. Bogi also averages 3.2 assists per game for his career, not a bad number for a guy most people think of as a gunner. He can definitely be a secondary playmaker when paired with someone like James Harden or Trae Young, and is ability to do some creation and handling relieves the pressure on star players.
Weaknesses
Never a particularly good defender, Bogi looked downright creaky at points last season. He’s simply too slow to defend against the quicker guards, and is not strong enough to body up bigger players. Bogi is a smart player, tries hard, and knows where to be on defense, so he’s not truly awful over the course of an 82-game season, but there are certainly games and matchups where he can look overwhelmed.
Like so many other Clippers, Bogi’s availability is a real concern. He injured his hamstring playing in Eurobasket and is limited to start the Clippers’ training camp. Over the past five years, he’s played in 54, 79, 54, 63, and 44 games, which means he usually misses at least 20 games per year. The Clippers do have more guys who can create and handle the ball this year compared to last season, what with the additions of Brad Beal and Chris Paul (and a healthy start to Kawhi Leonard’s campaign), so Bogi getting injured is not as impactful, but it’s still something to consider.
Summary
Depending on how the Clippers play and who on the team stays healthy all year, Bogi could be an essential part of the team – or he could be an afterthought. Along those lines, Bogi is a fairly likely candidate to be moved due to his mid-sized salary and team option next year. I’ve always liked Bogi’s game and I think he’s a great fit personality-wise on this team, so I hope it works out for him. The median outcome is that he’s a solid bench player that helps the Clippers get some regular season wins but fades from the rotation in the playoffs, and that’s a perfectly fine end result if that’s what happens.
