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Sacramento Kings: Time To Slide Bogdanovic In To Starting Lineup

By Anthony Cardenas

SACRAMENTO, CA - APRIL 02: Bogdan Bogdanovic #8 of the Sacramento Kings drives to the basket against Eric Gordon #10 of the Houston Rockets at Golden 1 Center on April 2, 2019 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - APRIL 02: Bogdan Bogdanovic #8 of the Sacramento Kings drives to the basket against Eric Gordon #10 of the Houston Rockets at Golden 1 Center on April 2, 2019 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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The rough start to the Sacramento Kings season has gotten rougher with each passing day, a trend that continued early Friday.

Dan Feldman of NBCSports released a report this morning reporting that Bogdan Bogdanovic is unhappy with his role as a long-term backup with the Sacramento Kings. Feldman referenced a quote from the Brian Windhorst podcast from last week in which both Tim MacMahon and Windhorst agreed that they have heard rumblings of Bogdanovic’s displeasure with being the sixth man.

Things have likely only gotten worse after his dismal performance in the Kings opening game against the Suns in which Bogdanovic scored just two points on 1 of 10 shooting. But there could be a simple remedy to the problem, and might be the silver lining to the unfortunate Marvin Bagley injury.

The option that many outlets have discussed is Sacramento moving Nemanja Bjelica in to the starting lineup to replace Bagley, a move that the Kings found success with during the early part of last season.

But the move that would likely be most beneficial to the Kings would be for Luke Walton to insert Bogdanovic in to the starting lineup instead. This would, of course, force Harrison Barnes, who typically plays small forward, to move over to the 4 spot. This should be a non-issue for Barnes, as he has played 49% of his career minutes at power forward.

This would allow Bogdanovic to start at small forward while keeping the backcourt of De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield intact.

Taking Bogdanovic out of the second unit would be the biggest problem that this move would create. The bench needs a go-to scorer and leader, and Bogi has been the sensible decision to fill that role. But if he’s a starter, who becomes the bench leader? Trevor Ariza? Cory Joseph? The aforementioned Bjelica?

Next. Three Things We Learned In Kings Loss To Suns. dark

Sliding Bogdanovic in to the starting lineup this early in the season is certainly not something that the Sacramento Kings thought they would be doing. But with his displeasure coupled with the injury to Bagley, it might be Walton’s best possible choice.

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