Kings basketball is back!… and so is the Kangz drama! As our buddy Will Griffith pointed out yesterday, the team was literally one day away from a Kangzless offseason, but then Marvin Bagley’s agent raged on Twitter about his client’s lack of a gifted spot in the rotation.
We spent much of the episode talking about this “beginning of the end” to Marvin Bagley’s Kings tenure. Topics included:
- The full statement from Bagley’s agent, Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports, and why Bagley’s camp likely cares that he’s not guaranteed big minutes
- Praising the decision to not gift him playing time
- Should the Kings have traded him by now?
- Why the Kings should just send him home, and why they should absolutely not cut him
- Why Jaren Jackson Jr.’s $105M extension in Memphis makes him a fantastic comparison for Bagley
- The continuing Ben Simmons drama in Philadelphia
- Why Davion Mitchell is not untouchable, even after a fantastic preseason
The Overtime question of the day – would you rather fight one bear-sized hamster, or twenty hamster-sized bears? Let us know in the comments! Also, make sure you stick around for a metaphysical discussion on how many holes a straw has.
Will Marvin Bagley play for the Kings again? What should the team do with him moving forward? Should Davion Mitchell be off the table in any Ben Simmons discussions? Is this podcast schizo quality and lacking any critical thinking? Let us know!
The Kings Pulse podcast is available on all major listening platforms.
We should have drafted Marvin Gardens. Would have had a monopoly on nba titles.
I’ll show myself out.
GO TO JAIL
Do Not pass go, do Not collect $200.
I’d go with Marvin Berry. The guy that cut his hand in Back To The Future, forcing Marty McFly to play guitar.
It didn’t occur to me until you read the agent’s tweet, but his language about how the Kings “chose to bring him back” sure has the same vibes as the endless unsubstantiated claims that there were viable offers for Bagley, and no one could get McNair to budge.
Congrats on working the same angle as one of the dumber parasites in the representation business.
Maybe darts is his game. Has he even tried? What if he crushes at darts?
I think the Kings should release the Marvin onto the dart world.
This made my day.
I’m sure that it would end well –
Nah, Marvin seems more like a Second High Jump kind of athlete. Not the Triple Jump because that requires 3 jumps.
Arguably the worst pick in Sacramento history, and that is quite an accomplishment.
Pervis Ellison is always a go-to when it comes to bad picks, but that was not a particularly strong draft. Sean Elliott and Glen Rice wound up being the best of the early draftees, and Tim Hardaway and Shawn Kemp were among the post-lottery steals.
Kings could have had Damian Lillard instead of Thomas Robinson, but beyond that Harrison Barnes is probably the next best after Lillard when it comes to who was left on the board.
Kawhi over Jimmer, of course, but it also could have been Klay Thompson, and there were non-lottery guys that cashed big (Jimmy Butler, Vucevic). This would be the best argument for worst pick aside from Bagley.
Doncic. Young. Doncic. SGA. Doncic. Mikal Bridge. Doncic. MPJ. JJJ. Did I mention Doncic?
The Bagley pick has set this organization back a decade, and Team Bagley feels as though they are the victim here? Bagley will get away with over $36m from his rookie deal, and if you break that down by games played it will wind up being an amazing number, far in excess to what Doncic, Young and SGA earned per games played during their rookie deals.
Best of luck to you in the future, Marvin. I hope that things work out for you. As far as Team Bagley is concerned? You’re budget LaVar Ball, at both best and worst. Go cry victim to the billions of people that will never see $36m in their collective lifetimes while actually going to work and meeting their respective industry’s standard day-in and day-out.
Just a beautiful and concise wrap-up of this whole shit show.
This alone kills me: “Bagley will get away with over $36m from his rookie deal, and if you break that down by games played it will wind up being an amazing number, far in excess to what Doncic, Young and SGA earned per games played during their rookie deals.”
And this could be the motto of our age: “Go cry victim to the billions of people that will never see $36m in their collective lifetimes while actually going to work and meeting their respective industry’s standard day-in and day-out.”
Hell, I’m 5’11” and even I can set a damn screen against guys who are bigger than me.
Nonsequitor: Met Shawn Kemp in his store in Seattle this summer. Nice guy. Huge guy. Nice store, too.
Can you play SF?
I could … if you don’t care about making it to the playoffs.
I’ve been watching these Kings for longer than 15 years, so sounds fine to me!
I assume that his store sells baby products in bulk.
“Hey, where are the condoms?”
“The what now?”
lol. The what now? love it.
Terrible pick from the jump (double jump). Why it took them this long to make Bagely earn his spot, I’ll never know.
And Vivek has set this franchise back decades.
What I wonder is, can this team get good with this asshole running the team? I’m dubious.
Can’t argue with that, but Vlade owns that pick, because his name was on the office when it was made.
Decades, though?
Yeah, agree that “decades” is overstated at this point. Missed that bit in my response. He’s a couple seasons from a decade at this point, but not “decades.”
The idea of there being another 5-10 years already sunk is too much.
Yeah, there’s nothing sunk right now. The right roster moves could turn this team around quickly, and Vivek isn’t stopping that from happening, at least as far as anyone knows. But it’s also not inevitable that the team must make the playoffs in the next 5-10 years. Here’s hoping.
I was thinking about this the other day, if Doncic goes on to win some MVPs (likely) and/or a few or more titles (possible), does the Bagley pick become the second worst pick in NBA history behind Sam Bowie?
The similarities are there, right? Consensus #1 was a big man, pick #2 were total failures based partially on picking for position of need rather than BPA, and then pick #3 is that transformative player you build a team around for near 20 years. To be clear, it officially becomes worse than the Darko draft (which IMO is the second worst pick of all time) if Luka’s career outshines Carmelo’s. Time will tell.
The Fultz pick would have to be considered when you consider both Tatum and Donovan Mitchell (and don’t sleep on Tatum as a darkhorse MVP this year now that he is apparently running the point in Boston).
I guess I don’t have those as high up on my list because many thought Fultz was the #1 pick, while most (at least around here) thought Doncic was the easy pick. Time may tell, and Tatum or Mitchell may win some titles, but as of today, there is no way in hell I’m trading Doncic for either of those guys.
To your point, the yardstick on these deals is fashioned from the absolute bottom of the barrel. And that the Kings have multiple candidates for shittiest draft picks speaks directly to the record setting playoff absence.
True that.
So far, it looks very similar to 1984, true. Will it be the second worst pick ever after Bowie instead of Jordan? I’m not sure as I don’t know as much about all-time draft blunders overall.
To your point about Fultz, which is about what the consensus was for the right pick at that time, per Brett Huff’s aggregation, Doncic was the #1 pick based on the first picture or I guess #2 pick based on the second picture below. Bagley is below him in both pics. The talking heads knew.
Anthony Bennett, Kwame Brown, Michael Olowokandi, Hasheem Thabeet and Derrick Williams would like a word. Maybe in terms of pure obviousness, Bagley is a worse pick. I don’t think there is one person in an NBA front office, outside of Sacramento, who would have picked Bagley over Doncic.
“After two years on the job, Kings General Manager Vlade Divac learns that he can watch cartoons on his laptop.”
And buy filterless Camels on-line.
Outside of Anthony Bennett in a really bizarre draft where the only likely hall of famers were taken 15th and 27th, was anyone scratching their heads after those guys were picked. Lots of GM’s would have taken those guys where they went. I really don’t think anyone other than Vlade was taking Bagley over Doncic.
2018 The Sacramento Vladevek picks…
You’d want to fight the bear sized hamster. Fighting 20 rats is already scary, now fighting 20 bears the size of a hamster or rat? Horrifying.
Imagine how big that wheel is, tho
I think I’d go the other way. If I can stomp on a thing, then I feel like it’s Advantage sims. Just need to break out the Docs and get to work.
A bear-sized hamster? I mean, you’d have reach on him with those stupid little arms he’d have, but they do not get tired (see: wheel, hamster), and those choppers would also be much larger. One good lunge and you’re a carrot stick, pal.
This. You’ll almost never beat a 400 pound hamster. But if I can kick a hamster-sized bear into a wall, it’ll be dead. Just gotta keep moving long enough to keep them from piling on me, and pick em off one by one.
I was hoping for a hamster’s docile nature to let me get one or two sneak attacks before it starts fighting back. I think I’d get overwhelmed by 20 mini bears attacking me at once.
I think the assumption (as Brenden discusses in the pod) is that all animals here are in a rage and are attacking. Otherwise, why would either of these animals bother me? A 400 lbs hamster likely doesn’t have anger on it’s own, while 20 hamster-sized bears will likely stare up at me and run away in terror.
Obviously y’all have never had to fight a whole village of Smurfs.
Unless those are hamster size grizzlies…incredibly intelligent predators that stalk their target.
When two work in tandem one will work it’s way through the tall willows on your flank around behind you downstream while it’s hunting buddy stays a little distant and confronts you head on to freeze you in place. Before you know it, literally, it’s a sandwich and you are in the wrong place. Speaking from experience in the Sunlight Basin.
Give me the hamsters.
Good point. All my friends have said 20 mini bears for the same reason. They think the hamster would be too big to fight and outlast.
I think size is overrated (hides hands in pockets).
Is a honeybadger any less fierce because of its small size? A wolverine?
A small bear would still be ferocious!
Just like, cute ferocious.
Not just a small bear… a bear that’s like, 1/8 the size of a honeybadger! Size totally matters when it’s that disproportionate!
Would you rather draft a Marvin Bagley-sized Isaiah Thomas.
Or an Isaiah Thomas-sized Marvin Bagley?
Wait, that doesn’t really work….
Either way it’s an improvement on current Bagley !
Would you rather have a Luke Walton-sized VHS recorder or a VHS recorder-sized Luke Walton?
If you can overwhelmingly deal with something while keeping your hands free, that’s just too large of an advantage to give up, even if the enormous hamster has a reasonable disposition.
That fucka gonna chew on something, it’s in his nature.
I think we’re just going in circles now.
Ok, I got it now….
Would you rather draft a Kevin Durant-sized Mugsy Bogues…
Or a Mugsy Bogues-sized Kevin Durant?
Kings are going to show Marvin the door(s)
(Jimmer Morrison…er, I mean Mr Cojo Risin’)
From the band “The Door(mat)s.”
♫ Now I’m going to love you
’til the heavens stop the rain
I’m going to love you
’til the Kings make the playoffs
for you and I ♫
Break on through to the play-in side!
“Oh I will light their fire alright. They better watch their asses because I’ma light a fire right under their asses.”
“Infinite holes?”
I cannot get my head around that answer. And it’s just the one hole that passes completely through it. It’s got two openings, but it’s the same hole.
I suppose a bendy-straw could have infinite holes? *eyes roll out of head*
Yeah Bryant was playing 3D chess there and I’m over here playing checkers. I get the ah-ha behind only one hole, but infinite has me confuzzled.
Tonight is as good a time as any to tell all of you, all of you, including those we differ with in our opinions, that we are all Kings Brothers and Sisters. There is no such thing as “being due”, but for all that is holy we have earned a team that fights for every win and makes the playoffs. Godspeed to all of us. I have hope.
Managements fault that he can’t stay on the court or play a shred of defense? Only thing management did wrong was draft him #2. He’s been given every opportunity to be a starter. Sounds like a guy who has always been handed things. Want more playing time? Out work and out play the guys ahead of you. Earn it.
As you guys have pointed out, Marvin Bagley didn’t earn a spot in the rotation in the preseason. His only value at this point is as an expiring contract. It is what it is.
Great comment about JJJ vs Bagley, Bryant.
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