Wizards' trade for forward Bojan Bogdanovic paying big playoff dividends

WASHINGTON – By the time the NBA trade deadline rolled around, the Washington Wizards not only knew they needed better depth, they knew exactly who they wanted.

Bojan Bogdanovic was on their radar early in the season – his performance for Croatia at the 2016 Rio Olympics made an impression as did his shooting for the Brooklyn Nets – and by early January, the Wizards locked in on the 28-year-old guard-forward.

After a slow start to his first-round Eastern Conference series against the Atlanta Hawks, Bogdanovic is showing why he was high on the Wizards’ trade-deadline wish list.

He scored 14 points and collected six rebounds in Washington’s 103-99 victory against the Hawks on Wednesday. He was 2-for-3 on three-pointers following up his Game 4 performance in which he scored 13 points, including 2-for-4 on threes.

“For Bojan, this game was a carryover from last game,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “He made some shots. He’s a shotmaker.”

He made only 1 of 10 threes in the first three games of the series.

“When you go through a season, you’re going to have some games when you don’t make them,” Brooks said. “You have to stay confident. You have to stay positive. And our guys believe in his shotmaking ability.”

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After Bogdanovic, who is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer, connected on his first three-point attempt with 2:20 left in the second quarter, he raised his right hand in celebration.

“I’ve struggled a lot from the three-point line in this series, so it was big for me to open the game that way,” he said.

Drafted in 2011, Bogdanovic didn’t come to the NBA until 2014-15 when he signed a three-year, $10.2 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets.

At 6-8, he plays most small forward but can move to a stretch four when the Wizards want to play small as they did in Game 5, forcing Bogdanovic to guard Paul Millsap on a few possessions.

He proved he could hit the three-pointer in his first two seasons, and at the 2016 Rio Olympics, he led all players in scoring (25.3 points per game) and shot 45% on three-pointers. He averaged 14.3 points and shot 34% on threes through the first two-plus months of the season with Brooklyn, and the Wizards made their push to acquire him.

“I wanted to go to some team that was fighting to be a real contender this season, and Washington was for sure,” Bogdanovic said. “I was really happy to come here. We have one of the best point guards so I knew I would have many wide-open looks. I’m trying to take advantage of that.”

It didn’t take him long to fit in with the Wizards. In his first seven games with Washington, he averaged 17.4 points and scored 27, 27 and 29, including a game-winning shot against Orlando.

The Wizards believe he would have better shooting opportunities if he were on the floor with John Wall, Bradley Beal and Marcin Gortat creating space.

“Bojan is known as an offensive player,” Brooks said

And the Wizards need that offense off the bench.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.