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Reports: Bojan Bogdanovic expected to leave Fenerbahçe Ülker for Brooklyn Nets

By Reed Wallach
Facebook/Fenerbahce
Facebook/Fenerbahce

Media in Croatia, Bosnia and Turkey are all reporting that Bojan Bogdanovic, drafted by the Nets in 2011, has decided to leave Europe and join the Nets, signing as early as this week. The Nets have yet to confirm the signing.

Among the reports is a tweet from Turkish sportscaster Ismail Senol, who covers Bogdanovic for Fenerbahce in Turkey. In a Turkish language tweet, Senor writes the Brooklyn Nets will "likely" sign him.

Similarly, Google translations of media in Bosnia, where he was born, and Croatia, where he plays internationally, say  the 6'8" swingman is expected to leave the Turkish team and sign with the Nets next week. Croatian media reported the news came from Bogdanovic's camp. In the past several days, speculation about the signing has increased.

As Stefan Bondy tweets, it's big news in Croatia...

Bogdanovic is reportedly vacationing in the Seychelles.

With Shaun Livingston going to the Warriors, the Nets earmarked the mini-MLE exception for Bogdanovic. Worth three-years and $10.3 million, the first year of the contract would be equal to what the No. 4 pick will get this year. Bogdanovic had verbally committed to staying with Fener, but never signed a contract, leaving the door open for a jump to the NBA.

A Bosnian blogger said Bogdanovic agreed not to depart Fener until Fener could find someone to fill in.

That replacement appears to be Bogdan Bogdanovic, a 6'6" Serbian who was drafted at No. 27 by the Suns. NBA TV mistakenly showed highlights of Bojan on the Barclays Center big board after Bogdan was drafted, leading to apologies all around.

According to a report in Jutarnji, a Croatian newspaper, timing was critical for the 25-year-old...

Bogdanovic saw his chance, because he's going to the NBA in his prime, at 25 years old. It would be early enough to get his first NBA contract and sign the next one, if all goes according to plan, for an astronomical sum.

The Nets have been close to signing the 2011 draft pick before. As recently as last season, but talks fell apart. A big  part of that collapse in talks was his $2 million buyout from Fener, but this year he has none. This year, with a new agent, Arn Tellem, talks moved quickly once Livingston agreed to sign with Golden State.

His game, if not his skill level, has been compared to Paul Pierce as Justin DeFeo wrote not long after he was drafted. He has twice played against NBA competition during NBA Europe games, scoring 11 vs. Boston two years and 19 vs. Oklahoma City last year.

Bogdanovic, in an odd twist of fate, would be the third Net to have been born in Mostar, a small Bosnian city of 125,000. Zoran Planinic and current Net, Mirza Teletovic, were also born there. The city was the scene of heavy fighting in the Balkan Wars of the mid-1990's, In the war's aftermath, Teletovic's family chose Bosnian citizenship, Planinic and Bogdanovic chose Croatian. Mile Ilic, taken by the Nets in the 2005 draft, was also born in Bosnia.

Nets fans will get their next look at Bogdanovic when his Croatian team opens the FIBA World Cup on August 30 vs. the Philippines and Andray Blatche.

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