Is Bojan Bogdanovic really "an option," a trade asset ... or both?

Bojan Bogdanovic is playing well again. In four games, all wins, in the Turkish Cup, he's averaged 16.8 points a game in 25 minutes, shooting 14-of-27 from inside the arc and 9-of-20 outside it. He's also 12-of-12 at the stripe.  That's a big improvement from the beginning of 2014 when he went into a monster slump after leading the Euroleague regular season in scoring.

So what? Isn't he going to sign with Fenerbahce, his Turkish club, for another two or three years, as reports suggested last week. Appears so. Aren't the Nets limited in what they can give him if, as expected, they offer Shaun Livingston the mini-MLE at three years and $10 million. Yup. They could only offer him the rookie minimum. Aren't relations between him and the Nets less than ideal after last year's failed contract talks? That's what we hear.  And doesn't he want to go to a club where he will play big minutes, not be stuck behind Paul Pierce, whose game his resembles?  Another yes, according to Turkish sources.

Still, Billy King called signing Bogdanovic an "option" in his end-of-the-season wrap up. Based on the above paragraph, seems like a stretch.  As Mike Mazzeo writes, "King left open the possibility that Bogdanovic could come over next season, but it would be a surprise. It looked like it was going to happen this past season, but the deal hit a snag, and the Nets signed Andrei Kirilenko instead."  You could also argue the signing of Alan Anderson, too, was a result of those failed talks.

Bogdanovic has yet to sign with Fener and is unlikely to do so until July. Would the Nets go to him if Livingston moves on? Would he agree to a deal with Brooklyn?  All uncertain.  So what's his value?  Mazzeo thinks he and Mirza Teletovic are "probably King's best trade assets," but if, as rumored, he signs a two or three year deal in Europe, even with small buyouts, that asset diminishes in value. Bogdanovic turns 25 in the off-season, meaning his upside and trade value is dropping. It's true Teletovic (and half the Spurs roster, it seems) came over later in their careers but few GMs have the patience to wait that long.

What's our best guess? His rights wind up being traded on Draft Night, the end of a three-year pursuit that failed ... and perhaps the start of an anxious period as the front office waits to see if he is as good as a lot of them thought he could be.

• How should Billy King spend his summer? - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York