Croatian basketball player Bojan Bogdanović has allegedly agreed to join Utah Jazz for the next NBA season, with a contract worth 73 million USD, reports HRT on July 1, 2019.

This would be Bogdanovć’s fourth NBA team after the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers. Media reports claim that Bogdanović will sign a contract with Utah for four years. 

Recall, Bogdanović’s career in the NBA began with three years in Brooklyn, from 2014 to February 2017, followed by a move to Washington. In July of 2017, he signed a two-year contract with the Indiana Pacers.

Utah could be dangerous next season ?

Bojan Bogdanovic has agreed to a $4-year, $73M deal with the Jazz, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/GXNKpVQNyZ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 30, 2019

In 399 games played in the NBA, Bogdanović has an average of 13.3 points and 3.4 rebounds. Last season, the Croatian representative played 81 games and reached an average of 18 points per game, 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while his average for three-pointers was 42.5 percent.

In other NBA transfer news, Mario Hezonja has allegedly agreed on a move from the New York Knicks to the Portland Trail Blazers where he should sign a two-year contract. After the first season, the 24-year-old Dubrovnik native can terminate the agreement, ESPN said. Hezonja’s contract is worth over a million dollars per season, as it is the minimum NBA wage for players with four years of experience in the highest-quality basketball league in the world.

Mario Hezonja has agreed to a 1-year, minimum deal with the Blazers, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/ycSxDffZhX

— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) July 1, 2019

After spending four seasons in the Eastern Conference, where he played for the Orlando Magic for the first three years and moved to the New York Knicks for the 2018/19 season, Hezonja will head to the West and join the team that made it to the conference finals last year, though they lost all four games to the Golden State Warriors.

Last year, Hezonja played 58 games for the Knicks, 24 of which he started in the top five and spent 20.8 minutes on average on the court. In that time, he averaged 8.8 points, with 41.2 percent of shots in play, out of which three-pointers accounted for 27.6 percent. He also averaged 3.0 rebounds with 1.3 assists.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

April 16, 2019 - In an exclusive interview for Dnevnik Nova TV on Monday, Croatian basketballer Dario Šarić spoke about the NBA season behind him and the collapse of the Croatia national team. 

The regular season of the NBA league is now over, and Croatia will have two representatives in the playoffs - Bojan Bogdanović and Ivica Zubac.

Two days ago, Mario Hezonja became only the second Croatian basketball player after Toni Kukoč to hit a triple-double in the NBA league. Now, he’s set a new career record. 

Mario Hezonja played another great game in the New York Knicks jersey. The Croatian basketball player found a place in the starting lineup and made his debut as a point guard for the New York club. But better yet, he also achieved the first triple-double of his career against James Harden's Houston Rockets, reports Gol.hr on April 6, 2019. 

Apart from making his debut as the Knicks’ point guard on Friday night, with a spot in the starting five, Mario Hezonja achieved the first triple-double of his career with 16 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. The Knicks’ might have lost to the Houston Rockets (120:96), but it’ll be a game Hezonja will remember for a lifetime.

"Super Mario" has thus become only the second player in Knicks’ history with at least 16/16/11 in a single game. Before he was only Richie Guerin in 1957. It was also the first triple-double of a Knicks’ player after Jarrett Jack’s on January 11, 2018, and he even became the first Croatian after Toni Kukoč with a triple-double performance. 

"He had a great game, organized us, called for real attacks, attacked when he had to attack and did a great job on rebounds,” Knicks coach David Fizdale said.

Harden had a relatively quiet evening for his standards lately. He still scored 26 points and eight assists in just 29 minutes on the court, while Chris Paul (11 points, 10 assists) and Clint Capela (12 points, 15 rebounds) achieved double-doubles.

Hezonja was given a chance to start as the point guard as Emmanuel Mudiay is out for a left shoulder injury. Hezonja showed he was indeed worthy of his spot on the Knicks' team. 

Dario Šarić scored 19 points (4/6 for two-pointers, 2/4 for three-pointers, 5/5 free throws) in the Minnesota Timberwolves' win against Miami Heat (111:109).

Ante Žižić scored 12 points with six rebounds in the Cleveland Cavaliers' close defeat to the Western Conference leader Golden State Warriors, led by Steph Curry with 40 points, seven assists and six rebounds. The Warriors celebrated 120:114.

Dragan Bender’s Phoenix Suns won against the New Orleans Pelicans after extra time 133:126 (117-117). The Croatian scored 11 points and added six assists and 10 rebounds. The most efficient was Jackson with 35 points, nine assists and five rebounds.

Ivica Zubac scored 11 points in the derby of the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers and added eight rebounds. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Croatian basketball player Mario Hezonja played the best match of his NBA career against his former team, Orlando Magic. Despite the New York Knicks defeat (114:100), coach David Fizdale praised Hezonja after the game and revealed that he was the one to motivate the Croatian player.

Ivica Zubac and his Los Angeles Clippers have moved into 5th place in the NBA's Western Conference, which secures them a spot in the playoffs. 

The Los Angeles Clippers celebrated at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks 124:113 in the first match of the Sunday NBA program. In the battle of two Croatian basketball players, Clippers’ center Ivica Zubac was better than Marijo Hezonja, reports Index.hr on March 24, 2019. 

Both were members of their team’s starting lineup on Sunday. Zubac spent 20 minutes in the game, and during that time scored 10 points with 4/5 shots in play, ten rebounds, one assist, and one block. Hezonja was on the court for 25 and a half minutes, scoring six points (2/9 shots in play, 0/3 three-pointers), and added five rebounds, three assists, and one block.

The Clippers’ 44th win this season was led by Lou Williams who scored 29 points and seven assists, Danilo Gallinari with 26 points and eight rebounds and Montrezl Harrell with 24 points. In their 60th defeat this season, Knight Emmanuel Mudiay scored 26 points, and DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks. 

The Clippers have almost and theoretically secured the playoffs while New York is at the bottom of the charts with convincingly the worst record in the NBA league this season.

In other NBA news, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dario Šarić defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 112:99, while the Croatian basketball player participated with 11 points (shots in play 3/9, three-pointers 3/6), four rebounds, three assists, and one steal and one block.

The top scorer for Minnesota, which broke a series of five defeats, was Karl-Anthony Towns with 33 points and 23 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins added 22 points and Josh Okogie 17. Mike Conley led Memphis with 23 points.

The Phoenix Suns and Dragan Bender recorded another defeat over the weekend, losing 112:103 to the Sacramento Kings. Bender, who played in the starting lineup, hit four baskets (shots in play 2/6, three-pointers 0/3) in 36 minutes on the court, adding four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Bojan Bogdanović had another stellar game over the weekend, scoring 35 points in his Pacers’ win against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. The Croatian also added six rebounds and three assists. Ante Žižić’s Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 127:105. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Bojan Bogdanović and his Indiana Pacers lost to Ivica Zubac and the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center on Tuesday. 

The Los Angeles Clippers can thank the Los Angeles Lakers for last month's trade of Ivica Zubac - they can’t believe just how good things worked out.