Washington, D.C. – Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has acquired forward Bojan Bogdanovic and forward Chris McCullough from Brooklyn in exchange for forward Andrew Nicholson, guard Marcus Thornton and a 2017 protected first round draft pick.
“Bojan is a very good shooter and a talented overall scorer whose versatility gives us an added dimension as we gear up for the stretch run,” said Grunfeld. “He is a proven starter that will provide us an added boost off the bench and allow us to be creative with our lineups.”
Bogdanovic (6-8, 225, name is pronounced BOY-ahn bog-DON-O-vich) has averaged career-highs of 14.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists this season while shooting .357 (99-277) from three-point range in 55 games (54 starts). He holds career averages of 11.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 212 career games (121 starts) while shooting .441 from the field, .366 from three-point range and .847 from the line in three seasons with Brooklyn. The 31st overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft averaged 11.2 points and 3.2 rebounds while shooting .433 from the field and a career-best .382 from long distance in 79 games (39 starts) last season.
The 27-year-old sharpshooter has scored in double digits 44 times and tallied 20+ points 12 times this season. He played for the Croatian National Team during the 2016 Summer Olympics, leading all scorers with 25.3 points per game while shooting .506 from the field and .450 from three-point range. Bogdanovic was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 9.0 points and shooting .355 from three-point range in his first season (2014-15). Prior to the NBA, he played 160 games for Fenerbache Ulker of the Turkish Basketball League, averaging 13.7 points and 2.3 rebounds.
McCullough (6-9, 215) holds career averages of 3.9 points and 2.2 rebounds while shooting .429 from the field in 11.4 minutes per game. As a rookie in 2015-16, the former 29th overall draft pick averaged 4.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 24 games (four starts). This season, the Syracuse alum has appeared in 14 games with Brooklyn averaging 2.5 points and 1.2 rebounds and has played in 31 games with the Long Island Nets of the D-League where he averaged 18.1 points and 7.7 rebounds to earn 2017 D-League All-Star honors.
“We feel Chris is an intriguing prospect as a first-round pick who was recently named a D-League All-Star,” said Grunfeld. “He has high potential and we look forward to our staff continuing his development.”
Nicholson was originally acquired as a free agent by Washington on July 7, 2016, and averaged 2.5 points in 28 games this season. Thornton originally signed with the Wizards on March 9, 2016 and re-signed with Washington on July 28, 2016. In parts of two seasons in Washington, Thornton averaged 7.2 points in 47 games played.
“We thank Andrew and Marcus for their professionalism and their contributions to our team,” said Grunfeld. “We wish them both the best moving forward in their careers.”
