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As NBA free agency draws to a close and Andrew Bogut remains a free agent, his decorated career in basketball may be drawing to an end.
At this stage, his options include waiting for an NBA side to offer him a Veteran Minimum Contract, accepting a lucrative deal from China, or retuning home to play in the NBL. In any case, whatever Bogut’s future has in store for him, he will go down as Australia’s greatest ever.
Bogut is a trailblazer in every sense of the word for Australian basketball. He entered the league in 2005, when Australian basketball was crying out for talent. Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal’s careers were drawing to a close and Luc Longley had retired four years prior.
Enter Bogut who was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the first overall pick. Bogut was highly regarded after a stellar sophomore year for the University of Utah (averaging 20.4 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1 steal per game) and an eye-catching tournament with the Boomers at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Bogut shot out of the gate in his first season for the Bucks as they finished the season with a record of 40-42 and qualified for the finals in eighth place. Bogut finished the season averaging 9.4 points and 7 rebounds and was awarded a place in the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Bogut continued to toil away in Milwaukee over the next few seasons, before exploding in the 2009-10 season. He averaged 15.9 points, 10.2 assists and 2.5 blocks per game in a season where the Bucks finished with a record of 46-36 (still their best season since 2001).
Bogut was awarded with a place in the All-NBA Third Team. A year later, although with injuries starting to set in, Bogut led the league in Blocks with 2.6 per game.
The following year, Bogut was then traded to the Golden State Warriors who with young guard duo Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, were beginning to make noise in the West. Bogut’s role morphed in Golden State as Curry and Thompson went on to become two of the greatest scorers in league history.
Bogut’s offensive game took a back seat as his defence started to shine though. In 2014-15, Bogut averaged 6.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks and was awarded with a place on the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. This was a stellar year for Bogut and the Warriors as they finished the season with a record of 67-15 and won their first title in 40 years, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-2 in the finals.
Even though Bogut was relegated to the bench for large chunks of the finals series as both sides went to ‘small ball’ line-ups, Bogut was instrumental during the regular season in getting them to the finals.
Unfortunately for Bogut, his productivity began to take a steep dive following this season. In the 2015-16 season, Bogut’s numbers (5.4 points, 7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks) started to decline and again did not participate fully in the finals series, this time due to a knee injury.
(AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Following this season, Bogut was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in a salary dump so the Warriors could sign superstar Kevin Durant. Bogut was in and out of the Mavericks side, largely due to multiple injuries he sustained during the year.
In the end, he was shipped out of Dallas to Philadelphia who waived him immediately. To complete the season from hell, Bogut was then signed by the Cleveland Cavaliers, only to break his leg less than a minute into his first game.
Putting the last few years aside however, it’s clear that Andrew Bogut has had a very good career in a very challenging and competitive league. Since Bogut’s entry into the league, the number of Australian’s has ballooned to an all time high.
Last season found eight Australians (Aron Baynes, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles, Thon Maker, Patty Mills and Ben Simmons) including Bogut on NBA lists, with this number set rise in the future.
Arguably, only Luc Longley and Patty Mills have had the kind of success Bogut has had in the league thus far. Longley won three titles with Michael Jordan in the 90s, while Mills won one title with San Antonio in 2013-14.
But neither of them were ever considered to be part of the core of their championship winning teams, rather they were both role players in a bigger scheme. Bogut however was the undoubted best player in Milwaukee during his prime and became a vital cog in the Golden State defensive scheme.
So when Andrew Bogut does eventually retire from basketball, he should be remembered as both Australia’s greatest ever player and the trailblazer for this current crop of Australians tearing up the NBA.
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