Andrew Bogut has not asked the Dallas Mavericks to ship him out of town, but he won’t beg them to keep him either.
The big fella, who’s looking forward to bouncing during free agency, is keeping an open mind about the whole affair.
Andrew Bogut: "I don't want to be traded, but I'll roll with the punches." https://t.co/i1c26UKAbz pic.twitter.com/pxPUapMotw
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 5, 2017
Bogut, 32, says he hopes the Mavs keep him for the remainder of the season.
Per ESPN:
“I’m not silly. I’ve been in this league long enough. I’m an expiring contract,” Bogut said Thursday, a day after expressing during an interview with Australia’s Sky Sports Radio that he expected his time in Dallas to be brief. “I haven’t asked for a trade, but I know in this league we’re 11-24, and I was being honest. There’s a chance that I get traded. That turned out into a headline that says ‘Bogut wants out,’ which is false, but it’s just one of the things you have to deal with in this league.
“Like I said, they can obviously get some picks back and build for the future by trading some of the veteran guys, and I could be one of them. Hint and emphasis on ‘could.’ I’m not saying I’ve gone to management and asked for a trade, which I haven’t. I also haven’t gone to management and begged them not to trade me. I’m just waiting to see what happens.”
“Do I want to be traded? Look, if there’s an opportunity to go somewhere and they want to do it, I’m not going to beg them to not trade me,” Bogut said. “But I have not gone to the [front] office and asked for a trade. That’s probably the best answer that I can give you. It’s been a tough season for everybody involved, but it’s far from the truth that I’ve gone to management and asked for a trade.”