Is Bojan Bogdanovic falling out of favor with Knicks’ staff?

At the time, the deadline deal that sent Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes to Detroit in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic between the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks seemed like a home run for the Knickerbockers.

Grimes was in the middle of a disappointing season, and Fournier had been banished from Coach Thibodeau’s rotation a long time ago. It felt like the Knicks were giving up pocket change for two established veterans who could provide a much-needed scoring punch off the bench. Alec Burks was a Thibs guy who had been around for a playoff series before, and has a reputation around the league as a quintessential bucket-getter.

The real cherry on top, though, was one of Croatia’s finest exports. Bojan Bogdanovic. A career 40% shooter from three, Bogdanovic had averaged over 20 points per game in three out of the last five seasons. An efficient and methodical scorer, Bojan was the centerpiece in the deal that was supposed to propel the Knicks into a deep playoff run.

Less than 20 games into his Knicks career, and Bogdanovic may already be finding himself in the doghouse.

In the 17 games he’s played, Bogdanovic has averaged 10.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. Unfortunately, he’s been doing it with terrible efficiency, doing it with 39/34/82 splits. Not terrible numbers, but for a guy who’s averaged 46/40/87 coming into New York, it’s fair to be a bit disappointed.

On top of his subpar offensive game, his defense is futile. Bojan Bogdanovic is only 34, and everyone knows that Thibodeau is a sucker for defensive-minded guys. Bogdanovic is not one of them. And as a result, his minutes have already been affected significantly.

In yesterday’s matinee vs. Brooklyn, Bogdanovic only played seven minutes. He hit one three. He grabbed one rebound. And it’s part of a larger trend, one in which the Knicks’ staff seems to be trusting Bojan less and less.

In the last six games, Bogdanovic has barely played above 15 minutes a game. He’s averaging four points per game. He’s shooting 28% from the field, and only 21% from three. It’s a concerning result, and his minutes are starting to slip into the single digits. He has shown little to no life in the Knicks’ offense and seems like a shell of the player we watched on the Detroit Pistons earlier this year.

As the Knicks begin to gear up for one last final regular season push, and ultimately the playoffs, possible playoff rotations will start to gel and form. When it comes to Coach Thibs, you’re either in or you’re out. Either he’ll run you into the ground, or you’ll be lucky to get in the game for ten minutes. Bojan Bogdanovic is a player who is obviously far, far better than his early results would have you believe. But unless he catches fire, and quickly, he may find himself on the outside looking in come playoff time.