Marvin Bagley’s sophomore season can be characterized as nothing short of a disaster plagued by injuries. With the season resuming and plenty of time to heal, Bagley has an opportunity to write a good conclusion to his otherwise forgettable season.
In the eyes of Sacramento’s front office, the 6’11 Bagley is regarded as a cornerstone piece to the franchise and one that is key to breaking the 13 year playoff route strongly heading to year 14.
If normalcy reigned supreme, Bagley likely would’ve stayed on the sidelines as the Kings were in a tight race to snag the eighth seed from the Memphis Grizzlies.
The coronavirus pandemic changed everything across the globe but in Bagley’s perspective, it became additional time to let his foot sprain heal while building muscle and getting stronger in hopes of a possible return.
Even before the league’s temporary shutdown, Bagley’s season was anything but normal. This became immediately apparent on opening day, when Bagley was ruled out for 4-to-6 weeks with a fractured thumb at the hands of Deandre Ayton, who soon after the game was found to have violated the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.
Bagley would make his return to the court in December and played in eight games where he averaged 13.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.9 blocks on 47.3% shooting from the field and 85.7% from the stripe. But the Duke product suffered another setback when he dove for a loose ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves and got up limping. He would be out for the next eight games.
Bagley returned mid-January for four games and impressed against good opponents like Dallas, Utah and Miami despite Sacramento going 0-4 in those games. Bagley averaged 15.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, one assist and one block on 48.3% shooting from the field and 83% from the free throw line. He was improving and finding consistency to his game that he couldn’t develop being in-and-out of games.
Then again, after putting up 15 points and 15 rebounds in a close loss to Miami and arguably his best game of the season on both ends, Bagley’s initial foot sprain was aggravated again and he was ruled out for at least three weeks. It didn’t help that the medical staff struggled to properly assess and treat a key player to the organization and the evaluations were ongoing after every few weeks.
It looked like all hope for Bagley’s return evaporated, until March happened. As the season plans to resume in late July, that gives Bagley about five months to have healed and be ready to contribute. In late April, Jason Jones of The Athletic reported that Luke Walton said Bagley’s foot was feeling much better and doing great via a conference call.
Kings coach Luke Walton just held a conference call with media. Some key points:
1. "Marvin is doing great. He's feeling much better."
2. Luke is focused on current roster/possiblitiy of return of the season and front office is monitoring draft.
3. Yes, Luke has seen Tiger King— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) April 22, 2020
In an article also by Jones of The Athletic from about a month ago, Kings assistant coach Rico Hines said that Bagley is working his butt off to be a killer whenever this thing starts back up this season or next season.
There’s good reason to be cautiously optimistic about Bagley’s return. Injuries have hindered his opportunities to learn and grow as a sophomore, but if he clears the injury protocol and does well in team drills and scrimmages, we could see him out there when the play-in starts.
A bench role similar to that of last season may be the best scenario as rushing him out there is imprudent. He’s already facing a lack of reps throughout the course of the regular season and by adding up the time missed due to the pandemic, his consistency and play could be rough – and we should expect it to be.
We saw the promise Bagley showed as a rookie last year, putting up stats of 20 points and 17 rebounds and 28 points and 14 rebounds in two separate games against the Golden State Warriors who had their dynasty players intact. Or performances of 22 points and 11 rebounds against Toronto and 24 points and 12 rebounds against San Antonio. The talent is in him and it’s critical to not lose sight of that for a 21 year old.
The season’s resumption provides Bagley an opportunity to end the season strong and be the cornerstone piece this team drafted him to be, regardless if Sacramento takes the coveted eighth seed.
I have my doubts whether 8 games can erase/redeem a season and a half, but I guess this is a sort of offseason, so optimism galore.
What I want to see from him is better court awareness and passing, swifter passing, more passing, better movement and spacing, better screens, better defensive awareness and understanding of positioning on defense and in defensive rebounding (aka boxing out).
And if he can keep his father from being a dick towards the team’s star (no, that is not Bagley III), he gets bonus points.
Good luck, Marvin.
I agree with the passing. Especially if he’s gonna be on that second unit with Buddy.
If he comes back and is a major factor in the Kings reaching the postseason, I would call that a minor redemption
If the team has any success in the postseason (even just pushing a series to 6 or more) and he’s a part of it, it’s an even bigger one.
https://i.chzbgr.com/full/5977271552/h74AABF56/cant-tell-if-a-minor-or-c-major
(I love that you used a meme from I Can Haz Cheezburger, Rik!)
Thank you. Don’t know what went wrong there. I blame Greg.
I couldn’t get it to work either, so I used “THE FORCE”, as in I forced it to work.
I grabbed yours and threw it into Meme Generator, which is free/fast/easy for uploading your own photos/images.
Well, that could lead to a discussion about what “a major factor” is.
If you look at counting stats, he may get there.
To me, he’s shown nothing yet to give me a feeling that he is more than an empty stats guy. Advanced stats seem to support that. So if he would have great advanced stats in such a run and the eye test confirms it, kudos to him.
This “Training Camp/Summer League Lite”¢ will not sway my view of Bagley. Its a SSS that the FO will spin to fit their narrative.
If he does good to great it will be “SEE REDEMPTION …PICK JUSTIFIED”
If hes rusty it will be “Give him another year to prove he can fix it…just like Vlade and Luke”
But now that Grant is gone, who’s going to make these excuses for the organization now? 😉
What the fans don’t understand is….
I gotta be 100% honest: I’m waaaay more interested in who replaces peaches than whether MBIII contributes marginally to a bubble team in a short summer league-ish stint
I can think of only one suitable replacement.
I don’t know that I’d want to determine the quality and value of Bagley’s play based on whether this team can push the Lakers to six or seven games. Frankly, I’m not sure I would take that bet for any of the potential eight seeds.
Then how about a bet on which arrives first:
End of the Pandemic, or End of the Kings Playoff Drought?
Either way, a lot of people won’t be around to see it.
High quality exchange here ^
8 games? Maybe not. If he plays well, that’ll go a long way to ensuring we play more than eight.
I wouldn’t count on much more than sheer athleticism and some skill. He’s been away from the team for too long to expect chemistry, etc.
I really want to see him succeed. I found myself being upset with him because of Luka and it definitely wasn’t fair. The kid can ball, and he’s got that lethal 2nd jump. I think it’s all about finding a good group to throw out there with him. He should definitely come off the bench. If for any reason, god forbid, he tweaks something at Disney World, I think the Kings need to call it a day and just consider it a series of unfortunate events.
I was driving through the Starbucks drive-through this morning listening to Carmichael Dave talk about Play-In games. And maybe if the Kings make the playoffs we can all watch via Zoom.. King-Zoom. Who knew that the Kings were ahead of the curve. I remember the virtual experience of the new G1C before it existed. The King’s owner was 2 seconds ahead of the rest ..
https://youtu.be/TvHm9ccW8-w
Think of the backgrounds for fans ..
I want to be Jamie and Sign Woman can be Flo .. I’m so in .. Let’s do this ..
Forget Play-In games .. This is so Kangz .. Let’s watch the kings win the 2020 Championship. It is so us, to only be able to watch in virtual.. Vivek knew what he was doing.
I think Ziller hid the cat dish in there somewhere?
Zoom will be the new “Game Thread” then? I like it! I have an idea for how to post dance gifs (if we win, of course).
How many people can fit on a zoom chat? I was reading about Discord, which TKH has a channel for, but it seems Discord’s Go Live feature only allows 50 people at this time (and normally only 10).
oh .. The zoom wave would be awsome. I think that zoom can do 64, then you have to swipe right to see the next 64 ..
That’s a lot of cats!
At this point it makes more sense for our big man rotation to be some sort of combination of Bjelly, Holmes, Len, and Giles but don’t tell Vivek/Vlade that.
I still think that if he can stay healthy, Marvin is going to have a very nice career. I’m hoping that the pause we’re having, and the massive ramifications related to it, may have granted perspective to some, and that they will stop placing the burden of massive organizational incompetence on Bagley’s shoulders.
And I really hope that this forced restart isn’t going to have terrible consequences.
I think it would certainly help if we adjust our expectations. He won’t be Luka, probably won’t even be a high-end player, but could still be a pretty useful NBA big.
Yeah, the FO would love that.
Hey, let’s treat our no. 2 franchise pick as a middle of the first round and we won’t be disappointed. And look at that, we have a chance at play-ins! Re-extend Vlade!
If you don’t have expectations, you won’t be disappointed!
If you pretend we didn’t win the lottery and just stayed at no. 7, you won’t be disappointed!
And if my wife ever leaves me, I’ll just pretend I never met her in the first place!
Speaking of Luka, I was looking at one of those “Get reacquainted with the 22 playoff teams” articles on ESPN, and I happened to notice the Mavericks record. Woof.
There ain’t no redeeming Marvin. He will always suck and never be Luka. Off with his head!
That’s a bit harsh. We can limit it to his right hand. He barely uses it anyway.
He doesn’t need his head to improve his passing instincts… But he might need his right hand…..just saying…
<S>”Might need”…..I couldnt tell you if thats true or not since is there even video of the last time he played in a regular season game? </S>
File this article under the genre of:
I am waiting to see if he can stay on the court for a meaningful stretch first. Then, maybe then we can start to talk about possible “redemption” stories.
Yes, I would like to see him be able to play 40 games or so in a row.
Thats a good start…..but why not see what he looks like playing minimum 70 games in a single season.
Hes never played more than 62 games in a season so Im not sure if hes truly experienced hitting the infamous rookie wall.
Bagley… 70 games in a season?!
Thanks Greg! (am I doing this right?)
I think 22 or 23 straight games would be a new career best for him.
Se we’ll just need to get to the finals, then.
I’d be happy with that, too.
I’m guessing the down vote here should be forwarded to the Kangz front office?
There is always that one guy. Try not to be that guy and buck the trend. Especially if that one guy is a Mavericks fan. Enjoy your Luka ..
Why can’t we have nice things?
But seriously, since I can’t get the yellow-highlight to work for new comments, I’ve resorted to upvoting all of the comments I’ve read.
That way I can check for the green thumbs up icon to see which comments I’ve read already, and which ones I’ve not read.
Unfortunately, that means I have to read my own stupid comments over and over again.
Yup Kosta.. I was wondering why you were up voting me. I’m the down vote guy. See my takes on BLM and joking that I thought I’d be the first to get -5 down votes.
It did show that some on KingsHerald are not good at math. I got -6 🙂
OK, there is still some bitterness about that math problem.. Talk to the paw!
“Feeling much better.”
That… does not fill me with confidence.
We will re-evaluate our confidence in 6-8 weeks.
I’d be happy if he can get through 8 games without getting injured again. He can work on redeeming himself next season.
This off-season is going to be huge for Bagley and the Kings. Bagley has to come back having improved on some part of his game because the way he currently plays is not going to work in the modern NBA.
He’s almost already had a full offseason since he actually played.
Yeah the lack of games played in his first two seasons has massively put him behind in terms of development.
It’s so easy for you. You can transfer all your Galinari jokes to Marvin.
Spackler’s distaste for Gallo has nothing on his contempt for Josh Smith….
I can’t think of another athelete right now with a bigger chip on his/her shoulder. I hope he comes back and absolutely crushes fools.
He will have a hard time not pushing too hard and letting the game come to him. Hopefully he can achieve the right balance.
His team awareness and tunnel vision are bad enough when he isn’t pushing too hard/playing with a chip on his shoulder. I’m terrified to think of what it might be like when he is.
I think maturity is probably the most important component. Age is a factor and he’s very young still. I know there are players at/around the same age that already seem to have vet-level maturity but I’d argue these are the exception and not the rule. Most players ‘get it’ after a few seasons under competent coaching.
Fox should really take a strong leadership role and help Marvin morph into the best player he can be for this team. He seems to be a stronger voice than Luke at this point.
Well
Maturity has a lot to do with how one is raised. have you seen/heard his dad? His maturation may take while.
If you are asking if I am talking about the son or the father, the answer is “yes”.
Sadly, the guys that need to make major leaps in maturity (as in, recognizing and embracing their optimal role for team success) rarely do it in their early-20s or for their first team.
Maybe Isaiah Thomas has a bigger chip on his shoulder, but he’s so little it’s still smaller.
(ducks!)
Now he has shoulder chips?!? How many games is that going to cost him?
I actually worry he is going to come out and ‘try” too hard. I’m sure he is aware that his performance, small sample size and all, is gonna be examined under a microscope. I really worry that he will try to perform at such a level that he may end up hurting the team effort. Would it surprise anyone if he approaches 20 and 10 but the Kings lose 6 of their 8 games?
I mean, technically he watched a King’s tape.
I remember when Tiger King came out I ended up watching all the episodes in one day.
Hmmm. I’ve never seen Klam and Coach L in the same room at the same time….
His avatar looks Luke-ish?
Safety cat.. Sounds like he did watch King tape? We caught him ..
Maybe! Basketba’al knows we love making major judgements based on tiny sample sizes. People are ready to throw money and minutes at Len based on 9 games of career outlier play. I don’t see why we wouldn’t be willing to call Bagley’s season redeemed based on 8-ish games.
If we win the Play-ins, I will gladly Marie Kondo my Luka Doncic-patterned sock collection.
Maybe it’s just me not understanding the point of that poll question on twitter, but I feel like the Bagley>Len crowd is misunderstanding the results.
That often happens when people use charged terms like “deserve” in sportsball questions. Also, these types of polls tend to pit players with vastly different roles and expectations against each other.
To me, the folks voting for Len over Bagley in the context of who “deserves” their minutes right now are not saying that they think Len is the better player overall (now or potentially), just that he has done more to “deserve” the minutes reflective of his role: a back up big.
People are viewing what Bagley “deserves” relative to his expected role: a lead banana. I think we can all argue as to whether Bagley has “earned” or “deserves” the minutes of a lead banana to date and that is why some folks are voting for Len over Bagley.
It’s not an apples to apples comparison.
Poll question?
“People are ready to throw money and minutes at Len based on 9 games of career outlier play.”
I thought this was a reference to a debate going on on twitter right now.
Nope. Just and example of small sample size judgement. I knew nothing about the twitter debate.
I am firmly in the Doncic camp and am sickened by the front office for making such a monumental mistake…especially in a league that is becoming more perimeter oriented every year. Fireable offense which we all saw from day one.
However; I am going to play devil’s advocate for a second for the purpose of discussion. Bagley supposedly shined during the Team USA stuff last summer and has shown some LIMITED moments of brilliance. IF he can stay healthy (and that’s a BIG IF), he might be able to develop into a very good young player. I do like his fit with Fox and shooters around him and do like the spark he gives the team. Honestly, I was surprised his defense didn’t hurt the Kings as much as everyone mentioned during the pre-draft write ups.
Is he going to be as good as Doncic-NO. Can he still be a valuable piece to this team long term if healthy-YES. I would compare it to this. Doncic is ALL-NBA/Hall of Fame Talent (Lebron-esque), Bagley could be ALL Star/Quality Starter Talent (Bosh-esque). He could also be Out of the League or 5th Big if injuries continue to limit his development (like Greg Oden)…time will tell.
It is too early to abandon that asset…if he’s healthy, play him and let’s see what we have. If he doesn’t become more consistent, or can’t stay healthy-then I’m all for abandoning him. However; we have to give him a chance.
Maybe we can decline the option for his fourth year like Divac did with Giles.
Honestly, that man is terrible at his job.
Let’s hope. I forget who said it, but I still think “skinny Zach Randolph” is looking like the best comp I’ve heard.
It was one of The Ringer’s comps for Bagley:
Here’s the full breakdown:
https://nbadraft.theringer.com/2018/
Agree with a lot of this. The better player wasn’t drafted. A mistake was made. You can dwell on that mistake and end up no better than before or you can ride the experiment out to see if it produces results.
I wish we had a better understanding of what Bagley and the coaching staff believe is the end result of this metamorphosis:
My biggest frustration in the limited amount of time we’ve seen Bagley this season is that it doesn’t appear that he’s added any skills to the arsenal since his rookie year. We got the occasional right handed finish, and that’s about it. I like my killers to be effective with a wide array of weapons like John Wick or Neo!
About the “killer”reference, I think the words “ball movement” somehow got edited out.
It’s almost like you expect Bagley to be the best player from the 2018 draft, or something.
I’m hoping for a move into the top 10.
Ever the optimist you are, I see.
One thing I hope Marvin realizes and embraces once he returns is how easy the game can be for him if he uses his athleticism properly, especially with Fox and Bogi setting the table for him.
Or, or… he can play selfish and obstinate just like he always does and completely flush what little chance there is to make the play-in game.
I imagine that’s far more likely, and hoo boy, if he went and did that…
First off, not drafting Luka is a sunk cost. I am rooting heavily for Bagley. He’s still young and hasn’t even played a full season yet. Bringing him off the bench over these 8 games (and – fingers crossed – maybe some more) is the right idea. I hope he plays well, but even if not, the experience he gains is a bonus. I, for one am not anticipating we get the 8 or even 9 seed. I think it’ll likely be between Portland, NO, and Memphis. That said, I am HOPING we get it. Also, if Bagley is stinking it up in practice or in some of the early games you can always give Giles / Len some more run. Play it by ear a little. p.s. great article.
Go Kings!
I think one thing we are all overlooking is that Bagley doesn’t have to beat out Nemanja, Giles, Holmes, and Len, but there is also a healthy Jabari Parker. Serious question…from what we have seen, is Bagley today better than Parker?
The Kings have a loaded frontcourt and minutes may be highly competitive come camp. If Bagley doesn’t shine, I’m not sure he is justified in getting any more minutes than Holmes or Nemanja. Right now I’d peg him as the third big off the bench. There are a number of reasons for this:
Joergor…… is that you? Please come back, We fired Grant… You can run the team… C’mon we were just kidding!
Agreed that his role should be like your point #2. The Kings have a legit chance at playing some meaningful play-in/play-off games. With this new format we’re closer than we were last season with 8 to play.
So the team priority should be coming out hungry and trying to win these 8 games, over featuring/developing Bagley. If he excels in that role in a way that helps the team win games, great. But I’m not expecting him to get 30 minutes and start while putting up huge numbers.
I will believe it when I see it.
It’s 2020 and we are on the internet. Even when you see it happen it didn’t happen!
(winky face)
Don’t know about redemption. I just want him to play and get reps. This season is gone, so just get to work in these games and start getting ready for next season.
test
<div class=”tenor-gif-embed” data-postid=”10060243″ data-share-method=”host” data-width=”100%” data-aspect-ratio=”1.3333333333333333″><a href=”https://tenor.com/view/dabumtss-joke-punchline-joking-badumtss-gif-10060243″>Dabumtss Joke GIF</a> from <a href=”https://tenor.com/search/dabumtss-gifs”>Dabumtss GIFs</a></div><script type=”text/javascript” async src=”https://tenor.com/embed.js”></script>
fail
Badge Legend