Sacramento Kings give record rookie deal to Bogdan Bogdanovic

The Sacramento Kings are making major changes to their roster in a youth movement, and apparently they are not afraid to spend money in that pursuit.

The Kings made European star Bogdan Bogdanovic the highest paid rookie ever by reaching agreement a three-year, $36 million contract, the Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday.

He was the Turkish League MVP while leading Fenerbahce to its first EuroLeague title last month. He also helped Serbia win a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics.

Known as an excellent outside shooter, the 6-foot-6, 24-year-old Bogdanovic averaged 14.6 points and hit 43 percent of his shots from 3-point range.

Bogdan Bogdanovic is unrelated to Washington Wizards guard Bojan Bogdanovic, who is from Croatia.

Bogdan Bogdanovic cannot sign the deal until July 6 when the moratorium on free agent deals ends.

Bogdanovic was drafted by the Phoenix Suns three years ago, so his contract does not have to abide by the limitations of the rookie salary scale.

The Kings were about $52 million below the projected salary cap of about $99 million, according to the Bee, which gives them plenty of maneuverability.

The Kings declined to make Ben McLemore a qualifying offer, so he will become a free agent, according to the Bee. That means general manager Vlade Divac no longer has any players who were under contract with the Kings when he took over in 2015.

Sacramento acquired the rights to Bogdanovic last year during the NBA Draft in a trade with the Phoenix. The Suns had taken Bogdanovic with the 27th pick in 2014, but in 2016 they sent his rights, along with the 13th and 28th picks in the 2016 draft, to Sacramento for the eighth pick in the draft. The Suns then took Marquese Chriss, who averaged 9.2 points and 4.2 rebounds as a rookie.

The Kings used their picks to take center Georgios Papagiannis at No. 13 and forward Skal Labissiere at No. 28.