Marvin Bagley III is ready to return to action for the Kings, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee, who writes that the big man is listed as probable for Sacramento’s Wednesday night game vs. Oklahoma City.
Bagley, the No. 2 pick in the 2018 draft, has been sidelined since opening night as a result of a broken right thumb suffered in the Kings’ first game of the season. The club initially estimated that Bagley would be out for four to six weeks, but his absence extended to seven weeks and 22 games.
When the Kings opened the season, Bagley and Dewayne Dedmon were the starters in the frontcourt. Richaun Holmes and Nemanja Bjelica have taken over those roles in recent weeks. As James Ham of NBC Sports California observes, it’s unclear how exactly Bagley will fit back into the rotation now that he’s healthy, since Holmes has been one of the team’s best players and Bjelica has been on fire as of late, averaging 17.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 3.4 APG on .515/.448/1.000 shooting in his last five games.
Bagley is one of the Kings’ key building blocks, so the club will certainly find minutes for him. Still, he’ll be brought along slowly and head coach Luke Walton will likely try to stick with the Bagley/Bjelica pairing in certain lineups.
De’Aaron Fox (ankle) remains on the shelf for the Kings and is expected to be re-evaluated within the next week or two.