The Kings‘ decision to let Marvin Bagley III stay away from the team while he recovered from a broken bone in his left hand raises questions about his future with the organization, writes Jason Jones of The Athletic. Bagley, who hasn’t played since March 15 when he suffered a fracture of his fourth metacarpal, rejoined his teammates Thursday on their road trip.
Jones states that letting Bagley be on his own for so long with an injury that wasn’t season ending appears to be “more of the coddling and enabling of players” that the Kings have gotten a reputation for. Team officials stayed in touch with Bagley during his absence, but Jones suggests he could have benefited from taking part in game preparation and other day-to-day activities.
Bagley still has a splint on his hand and is not close to returning to action, according to coach Luke Walton (Twitter link). When he does return, his performance over the remainder of the season may help the Kings determine his future. Bagley will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, but he has only played 50 combined games over the past two seasons. League sources tell Jones that Sacramento made Bagley available before this year’s trade deadline, but the front office didn’t receive any offers it liked.
There’s more on the Kings:
- De’Aaron Fox has been the one constant on a Sacramento team that has posted a five-game winning streak and a pair of nine-game losing streaks this season, notes Spencer Davies of Basketball News. Fox is carrying the Kings’ offense every night and averaging a career best 25.2 PPG. “Just from the hours that he puts in and watching him this summer, (we knew) that something different was about to happen — we saw how locked in he was,” teammate Richaun Holmes said. “It’s honestly been amazing to watch. … He’s so vocal on and off the floor, and just his mindset is to attack.”
- Lindsey Harding, who is in her second season as an assistant with the Kings, has been named head coach of the South Sudan Federation women’s team, Jones tweets.
- In case you missed it, the Kings have signed Damian Jones to a second 10-day contract. His first one expired Friday night. With Holmes injured, Jones has been the team’s starting center in the past two games.
I heard that Trade can save player’s life
Trade Bagley
Someone should get smart and grab Bagley for peanuts. Kings just dying to get rid of him. I guarantee they will regret it.
Maybe they can do what the Cavs did when they gave away Kevin Porter for a top-55 protected pick they will never receive. If the Kings send Bagley to a team that knows how to develop players then maybe he can get away from being on a perpetual cellar dweller just like Porter did.
Bagley in San Antonio or Dallas can become something.
I feel like Bagley would be a good fit in New York playing next to cream cheese
So the winner between Bagley and Bjelica is: Neither. Nor the Kings, since apparently no team wants Bagley very much, the subtraction from addition, the tease. I advocated for him once, thought him flexible in positioning, but Dukies don’t always turn out. A 4 only like DXC said.
His rookie scale option isn’t cheap as a former high pick. $11-12mil? SAC/Divac felt forced to re-sign Hield high, then chose to say bye to Bogdan when he was offered high. Decisions.
I vote no extension. I suspect he is buzzy-headed. For the Kings, it is going to be a yes or no, with an opportunity then to bid a year later, but Bagley would likely rather move on.
Kings still don’t have a plan…
Step 1: fire Luke Walton
The Kings seem like they are moving in the right direction. Jabari Parker has a great game last night for the Celtics. Hopefully the curse of Luka will keep ending with this draft. Divac was a poor judge of talent!!