In roughly 24 hours, the Sacramento Kings will be tipping off their 2021-22 regular season vs. the Trail Blazers in Portland. The vibes in training camp and preseason have been immaculate. The Kings, for the first time in forever, have something resembling playoff (or play-in) expectations. Realistic or not, that has been the mindset of this organization since everyone arrived back in Sacramento last month.
The vibes ran into a brick wall Wednesday afternoon. Out of seemingly nowhere, Marvin Bagley’s agent, Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports, blasted the organization for how they intend to use Bagley to start the season. According to Schwartz, Bagley was informed that he is not a part of Luke Walton’s rotation tomorrow night.
— excel sports (@excelsm) October 19, 2021
In case the tweet gets deleted, because yikes, the statement reads:
“Sacramento has informed Marvin Bagley he is not in the opening night rotation, which is completely baffling. It’s clear they have no plans for him in the future, and yet, passed on potential deals at last year’s deadline and this summer based on “value”. Instead, they chose to bring him back but not play him, a move completely contradictory to their “value” argument. This is a case study in mismanagement by the Kings organization.” – Jeff Schwartz
What Jeff Schwartz conveniently left out of his statement is what happens to Marvin Bagley’s qualifying offer if he doesn’t meet starter criteria this season. Starter criteria would mean starting at least 41 games or playing at least 2,000 minutes in the fourth season, or an average of those in seasons 3 and 4. If Bagley misses those benchmarks, his QO goes from around $14 million to around $6 million.
In other words, Marvin Bagley is going to lose a shit ton of QO money if he isn’t in the rotation, and it sounds like the Kings told him that would be the case.
I’m sure we’ll have more on this story soon as information begins to leak out. For now – your move, Monte.
Team Bagley not helping basketball player Bagley at all.
I’m kind of fired up for the late second we’re gonna get for him.
Yeah, but in 2025.
And top 55 protected.
Dude, with these its hard to know what is true or not
Sorry, it’s fake!
Dumb Owner hired Dumb GM. Sorry kid you are fucked.
The question is, who is Keanu in this video?
Is it Marvin Bagley? Is it Kings fans?
Who is Keanu in this situation???
NSFW (language)
The Kings have led the league in mismanagement the last 15 years, Bagley’s drafting included. Benching Bagley right now isn’t one of them.
It’s the right decision. Len, Thompson, Davis, Mitchell have all earned a rotation spot, and Marvin hasn’t. He’s bench filler, nothing more.
AND 1!!!!!!!
It’s (probably) the right coaching decision for this team as it’s constructed. It doesn’t seem like the right front office decision to hang on to him knowing the situation might blow, and you weren’t going to play him anyway.
The strawman you’ve constructed, where the front office has prioritized keeping Marvin Bagley? Aside from the fact that he is in Sacramento, is there anything that you could explain to me that would demonstrate that this is as a result of a management strategy being employed?
And since the market is so hot for Bagley, what would you say the range is for types of players who might come back to Sacramento? What would constitute success, or failure in that regard?
The Bagley thing is obviously not going to work out, which alters VD’s selection from catastrophically stupid, to historically embarrassing. If I’m able to reach this conclusion, are you under the impression that other NBA GM’s see it differently, and have been offering McNair anything of value?
Because it seems like you’re just saying stuff.
Uh huh. You mean like this?
Or maybe more like this?
Are you sure you’d know a strawman when you see it?
Bagley being in Sacramento is pretty good evidence of the thing I actually said, and not thing you pretended I said, which is that the front office has decided to keep him in Sacramento as of today. That decision has now backfired.
If you’re going to sit the guy, even salary relief has value. And yet, here he is.
And it seems like you’ve anointed yourself the Monte McNair’s white knight, trolling anyone who dares criticize him. It’s beyond tired, and adds nothing to the discussion.
Yes, I’m down on the team, and for good reason. I get that some folks don’t want to hear that, and that’s their prerogative. I’m allowed my opinion and what I have going for me is I don’t spend time trolling other people for disagreeing with me.
I’m no Monte apologist, but it is worth noting that players with talent retain trade value, even if they are benched, while the converse is also true, players who get on the floor a lot, but lack talent, don’t have much trade value. Bagley is one of the latter.
100% fair point. I’m not arguing Bagley has any specific value. I’m saying Bagley had more value (whatever that was) before this blew up, and the blowup has been inevitable for months. The front office should have moved him before this happened.
I don’t disagree, but there were headwinds that Monte faced: (1) Team Bagley fans that kept adding up Bagley’s points and rebounds and saying that showed he was a good player requiring a good return in trade; and (2) local media propagandists that would have had us believe that Bagley was a budding star. Can you imagine the furor if Monte had traded Bagley for less, which would have been inevitable?
With that said, Monte still should have done it.
If Monte is influenced by Team Bagley (fans) and the local media (propagandists), he’s worthless.
That was the only thing Monte could have done this summer. When the Marv trade does inevitably happen it will be for less.
This doesn’t affect his value one bit. The front office should have moved him last year, that is true. Now… it’s actually good asset management to not have him in the rotation. If you can’t get shit you like for such a talented player with #2 pick hype and that guy hasn’t proven shit yet then getting his qualifying offer down is actually brilliant from my perspective. There’s WAY WORSE things then having Marvin Bagley be your end of the bench big man for 6.5 million a year for 4 years and MAYBE he figures it out at some point. But even if he doesn’t “figure it out”, Marvin in 2022 on a 6 million dollar contract on a very limited role the previous year retains upside curiosity and could be very attractive to another team. At least from my perspective.
This would seem to depend on how they value the cap-space. They seem fine with letting him go for nothing more than the $11 mil. And the trade offers may not be as helpful as 11 mil. in cap-space.
Best post so far….
Andy comments. He doesn’t converse. If you question him, he takes his comments and goes home.
But would you say not trading him last season was a mismanaging move though? I don’t understand paying the guy 11 million this year to be out of rotation is wise…
I still believe Vivek is/has been meddling in all this. McNair started last season saying he was gonna trade all and then at deadline Vivek (we heard) decided to hang onto players a go for play in.
It makes waaaay more sense to me that not trading Bags (or others) and retaining Puke Is Vivek and Co.
Makes a lot less sense that a GM is that dumb. A GM who worked in a real organization.
I think McNair is working within limits set by the piece of shit owner
Amonk, I don’t necessarily disagree with your opinion, but I do have an honest question.
What is your source of information that Vivek is meddling and not trading Bagley, and others, to apparently spite himself rather than because the market is not there or the offers are completely underwhelming?
My understanding is that Buddy, one of the owners favorite players, was all but traded to the Lakers until Westbrook’s agent changed the compass points. That doesn’t sound like an owner that won’t move players, in fact, one of his favorite Kings was moved until the trade fell through.
It’s definitely an opinion. I do recall articles talking about Vivek not wanting to trade players at trade deadline. Going for playin And that sounds more logical than McNair changing his mind.
As for this off season, I think they were up for grabs.. My thoughts about trades were only about that trade deadline.
You are not wrong about the Kings shifting to try for the play in when they were originally looking to maximize their draft position. I also remember articles about the team not wanting to trade Barnes at the deadline. Any owner of any business will weigh in on an organization’s strategic or tactical moves. It’s just my opinion, but I think Vivek defers to Monte. I definitely don’t think he would sabotage his team just to spite a player that has not delivered a return on the team’s investment such as Marvin. Monte offered Bagley for Bay. Similar stats, but the deal was never consummated. Happens a lot in the NBA. Too bad, the Kings would be in a better place today had they been successful in finishing that trade.
Just my two cents.
Don’t get too frustrated, you are in for a treat with Davion and how he works with younger players (seems odd to say that about a rookie to be sure, but that is what he does) and helps them to get better. Not to mention how mature he is and the aura of intense competitiveness that just oozes from him. It is contagious in a positive sense of that word.
Bagley is as Bagley does at this stage. He is the only person that can change his trajectory. The Kings have made that clear to him now. That is a good development in my mind.
I am frustrated with this organization, mostly because Vivek. Tired of them always choosing the least logical/smart path. Never figuring out the obvious or way too late-like finally making Bags earn his start.
And I am excited to see Davion amd love Haliburton. Those 2 plus Fox are a good start.
I don’t know that the Kings can overcome the reign of Vivek. Or that he’ll fully back away-ala Dolan If he does, and they fire Luke, maybe……
I am on board re Luke.
I’ll take Vivek over the Maloofs. Every. Fucking. Time.
Would be great if he’d let his GM do his damn job, tho.
It’s an excellent development
I’m sure they weren’t 100% sure he wouldn’t be part of the rotation. I am 100% sure they hoped he would come into camp this year with 10 pounds of added muscle and improved defensive mechanics and IQ. Marvin f’d this up himself. Not Monte.
ps I have been more critical of Monte than impressed in his time here. However, not this time. I tip my hat to him here.
Bleacher Report once suggested we trade Bagley to the Thunder for Kenrich Williams and the PHX first rounder. I’d do that deal in a heartbeat right now.
hell, I’d take either one of them straight up at this point.
His whole camp is so exhausting.
Vivek amd his whole camp is fucking exhausting. In this mess because of Vivek/FO.
Too stupid to cut bait. Same idiotic logic of not trading vets and rebuilding cause they think they are close. Same idiot logic that allows Coachless Walton to still be here.
Yeah, as if we needed more reminders of how much this organization has just completely fucked up so many things, even in the 2018 draft when they were LITERALLY gifted the best-case scenario pick number and somehow managed to find a way to crash and burn even that.
Yes. They fucked up the pick and every step thereafter.
Part of why it is sooooo infuriating hearing Kings announcers, etc keep trying to tell me Bagely was good. Give him time etc. Fock that. The media shoulda been all
over Vivek and these idiots from the jump, not talking down to fans.
You are welcomed
They’re the campers that leave the camp site with smoldering logs in the pit.
Higher career earnings going forward, Marvin Bagley or Jabari Parker? 😉
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1450594317958004736
Jabari’s made $55 million his career. I really do hope I’m wrong but I don’t think Bagley comes close to that.
“going forward”
He’s already north of $40 mil, if my math is right, and still only 22.
“Going forward “
Jabari is somehow only 25!
Then who the hell was that wearing his uniform last year!?
That next 15 million isn’t going to be as easy. Bagley’s injuries essentially gave him an extra year. Although I think his deal gets picked up based on what he produced his rookie year.
This didn’t age well. Or at all…lol
But they are literally the same person.
There it is!
kAnGz!
As I posted in other thread, Kings-Vivek are fucking idiots. They should have gotten rid of him before last season.
As I’ve been saying, they needed to get rid of Bags before league realized how useless and injured Bags is.
Historically bad pick and the Kings heaped error on top of error by living in a fantasy land where Bagely gets good. News flash—he never was and never will be.
Can’t disagree about the historically bad pick. But when was the window when the Kings knew but the league didn’t? He has been injured practically since day 1.
Just the idea that after year 1 or 2 Years some teams may still have thought Bags is worth getting. Maybe they’d think, ok, he’s injured but maybe he’s not injury plagued etc.
Teams like the Kings?
Or, they coulda just cut bait and have that $ for another player. Addition by subtraction.
Isaiah Thomas, or Harry Giles?
Ouch
The entitlement in this camp is mind blowing.
It’s not entitlement, at least from his agent– it’s desperation. Schwartz has to create a narrative about “KANGZ mismanagement” to distract from his client’s basketball shortcomings, which are so severe that a 31-41 team in desperate need of talent has decided he isn’t good enough to take off his warmups unless Tristan Thompson, Alex Len, and Terence Davis all get hurt. It’s the only way Bagley gets anything more than an unguaranteed camp contract next summer.
I agree. If Bagley wants a larger role, he should improve on the parts of his game that would ensure playing time. He’s talented enough to average 14 and 7 using one hand, smart enough to be enrolled at Duke, but can’t learn where he’s supposed to be on defense in three years in the league? At this point I’d be impressed with him getting into a defensive stance on a regular basis.
If Bagley took the challenge of having to earn minutes instead of insisting on his right to them, a lower QO wouldn’t mean anything because a team would take a chance on him with a larger contract.
Yeah desperation is exactly right. The agent knows that absolutely no Kings fans really believe his struggles are due to mismanagement by the team, rather than Marv’s own body and skill.
So the audience for the tweet is really the next team’s GM, who can use that as the argument for why they’re paying anything more than league minimum for him.
It’s too bad that Bagley being removed from the rotation didn’t come with Vlade Divac’s jersey being unretired.
Or Robert horry missing that fateful shot…
Assist Vlade
I was around for the glory years. Love Vlade the player, and love his uniform on the rafters.
I was also around for the glory years. I liked Vlade as a player, but he wasn’t nearly as good as CWebb or Peja, so I wouldn’t have retired his #.
I am glad the decision was not yours to make. Those teams wouldn’t have been what they were without Vlade. Facts.
The great thing about those years was how well the team played together and their ball movement and Vlade was integral to that. I see what you mean, he was not magic Johnson or Lebron, but that was the best thing ever to happen to a weak franchise and he deserves a lot of credit for that. And we should appreciate it because as we have seen over the last 15 years, it is not to be taken for granted.
Should this be a dance thread?
I nominate this for comment of the year. 👆
I think his agent has a point though. If they had offers for him or received counters, move on! It’s time to be done. What did they expect to get in trade – a starter and a protected 1st?? And his value ain’t gonna climb being out of the rotation.
My guess (based on nothing) is they were/are hoping to package him with Buddy and maybe other assets in exchange for a player who’s actually kind of good. It hasn’t happened yet. Schwartz is doing the only thing he can to try to salvage Bagley’s value: shout “KANGZ” to distract from the fact that his client has not shown himself worthy of a spot in an NBA rotation.
That said, I believe the only person from whom we’ve heard anything about offers or counters for him is his agent. Which is about as biased a source as you can get.
And on top of that we don’t know if any of those potential trades would have been good for the Kings. The agent doesn’t care about that. He only cares if they would’ve been good for his client. Any trade would’ve been good from his standpoint.
The “if” at the beginning of your second sentence is doing a hell of a lot of heavy lifting.
When did you start believing what agents say?
The Kings gave Bagley every chance to earn a spot in the rotation over the last 3 seasons. He responded by being a defensive sieve and an offensive black hole, with the durability of wet paper. He still can’t use his right hand, he can’t rotate on time to protect the lane, and he breaks every time the cooling Delta breeze comes wafting through G1C’s hangar doors from the southwest. Marvin Bagley and his “camp” have mismanaged Marvin Bagley. The Kings’ only sin was picking him in the first round, never mind the top 2.
All this. Especially regarding Marvin’s camp…
So basically you’re saying that it’s the hangar doors fault. Gotcha.
Because of course something like this was going to happen. And yet I’m not even a bit surprised. Good ‘ol Kangz never fails to disappoint.
Well, he can’t get hurt if they send him home!
The agent is right about it being a little crazy that he is out of the rotation and that we haven’t moved him (also hilarious he openly says his client isn’t worth anything).
On the other hand, he is horribly wrong about how he is going about this. The Bagleys in the end may be worse than the Ball family and not even close to as good.
Finally, the Kings make Bagley accountable by making him earn his minutes. The team has turned a corner, with young players like Haliburton and Mitchell setting the tone without being held back by Bagley’s sense of entitlement. I can only imagine what Mitchell thinks of him.
As I said on the other thread, most of the responsibility with what’s happening is on Marvin Bagley, not his dad or his agent. That being said, it was obvious to everyone that this was coming, and the front office has now blown up whatever value Bagley had by getting next to nothing done with the roster over the last year.
Yes, Alex Len and Tristan Thompson are less of a net negative than Bagley today, and the Kings front office completely mismanaged this situation by not dealing Bagley earlier.
Shucks, and Bagley’s value around the league was so high before all of this, but McNair insisted on getting an All-Star, and now here we are.
I’m not going to respond to you trying to distort or create a straw man out of my argument, other than to point out that I see it happening.
A couple of weeks ago you wanted to guarantee him playing time. Now he is garbage?
I would argue (as other people above have) that a $6 million worthless player is more valuable than a $14 million worthless player, at least in terms of actually being able to trade him.
Your move, Monte?
Do you actually want him to address this? The only concern McNair has with Bagley is trying to spin him off for something of decent value. If Bagley’s agent wants to lower his own client’s value, then give the man credit for innovating a new way to get paid as an agent: Cutting his own throat and percentage.
If McNair says anything about this, I will be greatly disappointed.
I think readers on this site will say plenty on his behalf! Agreed that Monte just needs to sit tight and wait for the right offer. And who knows, Bagley might very well be worth a $6 million QO some day.
It’s a lot more than saying things. A motive is frequently ascribed to McNair as the reason why Bagley is still on the roster. As if Kings fans were the only people on earth able to understand that Marvin Bagley isn’t worth $11 million per season.
There’s no demand around the league for Wilt Chamberlain, either.
LOL
Would love to see the $6 million dollar man turn his career around in Sacto. next year….Your move Team Bagley
If only Bagley would pull a Ben Simmons. Now, that would be hilarious.
Phone in his sweatpants pockets during practice?
I fully expect this to be the next headline on TKH
Marvin never fails to always disappoint.
For the fucking love of the game can we please reconcile two bad problems and trade for Ben Simmons. It doesnt have to be this hard for either team.
The best part of the article…
“Bagley was informed that he is not a part of Luke Walton’s rotation tomorrow night.”
WNP-CD
Will Not Play –Coaches Decision
If only we could WNC Coachless Walton—Will Not Coach- fans decision.
Getting rid of Bags is great, now how about Luke. Then Vivek. Now I’m dreaming.
I am clairvoyant! This was before the agent statement:
https://mobile.twitter.com/SactownAnthony/status/1450569873931730946
There is at least one thing Marvin Bagley and I have in common!
Man if only Bagley’s value is anywhere close to Simmons, a straight up swap would be a match in heaven!
Lol. Fuck Marvin (Trash)Bagley. I used to give shit about the Ball family, but Marvin surrounds himself with even more toxic and worthless people.
Honestly? I don’t give a shit if Marvin doesn’t play another game in a Kings uniform. He needs to GTFO and not be a distraction.
Sucks that he wasn’t Luka. But I was hoping he would be a strong NBA player at the least and not a brittle piece of glass that can’t stay healthy and develop.
Yogurt should have instructed Marvin how to use the Schwartz properly.
Schwartz speaks for his client. Fine – that’s his job. But how does this help his client? and second, MB3 has to earn minutes- that is, produce. On the court. Schwartz ought to be publicly quiet, wait for Marvin to get his opportunity and then encourage his client to make the case for more playing time.
What good is the yappidy-yap?
Potential deals? like what? a bag of popcorn, offered by Daryl Morey who sees deals only through his own lens?
Offered MB3 to Detroit for S. Bey – no go from Detroit.
Rhetorical: why are second overall picks so problematic?
FLOP. Most definitely, your biggest flop.
Qualifying offer? Guy is gonna be in China next year
I’m Nostradumbassing by tomorrow morning there will be 300+ comments here.
Bagley is undoubtedly a TKH hall of famer for clicks…he will be missed!
Along with Shumpert, IT, and DMC.
I actually miss a couple of those guys. Marvin, not so much…
I don’t need soap operas.
I don’t need reality TV.
For all the drama I want in life,
I’ve got my Sacramento Kings.
I think that Tweet is a bit unfair given that the current management is not the reason that Marvin Bagley is not a good player. Further, we know that Monte offered Bagley for Saddiq Bey, whose numbers are comparable to Bagley’s, at the deadline last year, but was turned down by the Pistons. It’s not that Monte is not passing on deals. He is simply unable to trade Bagley for someone who can crack the Kings rotation. If that’s the case, it makes logical sense that Bagley can’t crack the Kings rotation either.
That’s just a GOOD news to be heard for me……particularly…..
Really smart move by the coach and the front office….
p.s. How can you guys still blame McNair for not dealing him last season / this off-season….they tried to “display” Bagley to other 29 teams by forcing to play him as the starting PF…and over 25 mins per game…….it’s pretty obvious that the FO did want to trade him for some fair trade value……………
Just imagaine what our record would be if we played some other player instead of Bagley……..we probably at least already in the play-in.
Statement by players agent: My client isn’t all that good at basketball and the Kings no longer gifting him unearned minutes is going to eat into my commission. I don’t like this at all.
Good, sit his ass. They should not play him at the expense of bettering the team. It is well documented that he is one of the worst defenders in the league at his position. His camp is the worst, his agent isn’t helping him. His value was already low, that’s why they haven’t traded him yet. If he wants to pull a Ben Simmons, withhold his salary and fine his ass. Meantime, maybe Team Bagley should STFU. And all of you enablers of his bitch ass behavior.
The situation of Simmons continue to become more interesting, as Simmons being suspended and also refused to participate in practice….
McNair better work out another deal with 76ers for Simmons ASAP….
Hield, Bagley, 1/2 picks for Simmons……..
beneficial to both parties indeed.
not beneficial for the Sixers
Much more beneficial than Simmons pulling a Butler and sabotaging practices and team morale in general. Right now, he is an emotional vampire sucking the life out that locker room…and I love it.
This is what Morey gets for his ridiculous trade demands. Had he negotiated in good faith at the beginning of the summer, this would not be happening right now and the return would have been better.
Right now, Morey is lucky if teams don’t lower their original offers.
Completely agree. This is all amusingly on Morey at this point. Now if we could just get Doc to stop by here and tell Marv to leave practice.
If we’re holding Morey responsible for not dealing Simmons, are we holding McNair responsible for not dealing Bagley, especially since this blowup has been obvious for months? I say yes to both, though Morey adds a layer of ridiculous and better value that makes that situation worse.
It’s just the asking price, right? And then the stubbornness to hold onto that asking price, long after it was clear to the universe it was too high. I think Monte asking for Bey is in the ballpark at least. And since then, I think he was hoping to include Marv in a package. That said, Monte certainly hasn’t proven himself in trades.
Yep, I agree. Those are all very fair points.
Holding Bagley and then having it blow up is not a team changing blunder in any way, but what gets me is that it was so damn obvious this was going to happen.
Marv is also expiring. So worst case, just let him stay home and then take the cap space next year. Simmons has 4 more years. Pretty big difference, really.
Those a gross mismanagement of a contract, cash, and a roster spot, IMO. Pay a guy on his rookie contract $11M to stay home? Has that ever happened before?
I did say worst case. It’s better than getting 2 yrs of a Tony Snell at 11m, though, IMO.
What does Tony Snell have to do with Bagley?
Nothing. It’s just a hypothetical. There are worse things than letting Marv sit for one year – things our past front offices might have actually done.
I guess I figure if you plan to have him sit, and there is no trade for him, you might as well cut him and open a spot for something else. If anything it removes the distraction.
Maybe you can find a trade that uses his salary as roster filler, much like Z-Bo for Barnes, but that might be the best case you could hope for if you really intend to not play him again.
How are the Bagley and Simmons situations similar Spackler? Other than that, Monte McNair is responsible for this Bagley issue. Because that always falls under the umbrella of the GM.
It doesn’t mean McNair is at fault for this Bagley problem, however.
They didn’t deal the guy when they should have, the situation was obviously going to get worse, and now the situation is worse.
It’s absolutely not McNair’s fault Bagley is bad at basketball or that his team is filled with fools. But he knew (or should have known) Bagley would be out of the rotation, and he knew (or should have known) Bagley and/or his team would blow up the situation.
Bagley needed to go, but the front office didn’t deal him, which was a mistake. More of a “What are you doing over there” than something that’s going to break the team. Hopefully, this puts them in gear to move the guy. I’m hoping the situation doesn’t devolve even further, especially if they sit on him.
Eh, show me what deals they passed up. Otherwise, there’s nothing the same about Bagley and Simmons situations.
But there’s also what happens on the court, where Bagley would suck the life out of 76ers on both ends. The NBA is, ultimately, about talent, and you don’t give up talent for someone who has a lot less of it.
Not quite true. The Sixers need shooters in order to space the floor around Embiid and Hield is an elite shooter. Hell, Bagley can shoot some 3’s on occasion (ok, that last was a bit of sarcasm).
I will admit, I have irrationally been holding out hope that Bagley will figure it out in Sac, and we will have not completely screwed over the 2018 draft. O.K., Hope gone. Play him, sit him. Whatever. I’m not going to expend any more psychic energy on him. He is now an afterthought. Lets go Kings!
BTW, love the tagline – “ok, NOW it feels like the Kings season is about to start.” I was waiting for the KANGZ news to show up. Just wouldn’t seem right without it.
LOL, I knew the team would go Kangz before too long. Let’s hope this doesn’t become a locker room issue for the other players. I wonder if they don’t bother to dress him and make him sit in a suit behind the bench. Only 13 can dress tomorrow night. My guess would be: Fox, Hali, Buddy, Mitchell, TD, Barnes, Harkless, Holmes TT, Len, Metu, King, Ramsey.
More bemused than angry here. Deandre Ayton didn’t get a qualifying offer either. Phoenix had the #1 pick in 2018. They could have taken Luka Doncic. Their crappy front office didn’t and blew it. So whatever happened to the Phoenix Moons? Oh, they’re defending Western Conference champs.
Bagley is not the worst player ever. He’s had a better Kings career than Jimmer Fredette and Thomas Robinson combined (throw in Quincy Douby and Spencer Hawes for good measure). If he could stay healthy he’d easily be better than Ben McLemore. If he could stay healthy and figure out NBA defense, he’d be a front line player. Every draft pick is a gamble. Lots of #2 picks are busts (look it up). Doncic, Trey Young, Michael Porter are gambles that paid off (kind of like De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Halliburton and very likely, Davion Mitchell). Would anyone trade Fox for Markelle Fultz?
It looks like Bagley was set for major minutes this year until yet another injury happened. You can’t make the club from the tub, as they say in football. His family and management team can’t keep their mouths closed on social media but that’s not only a Kings/Marvin Bagley problem these days. One thing I don’t like as a fan is, short of bugging Monte McNair’s office, we really don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.
It gets less likely that Bagley is going to turn it around, at least with the Kings, but stranger things have happened. A couple of years ago Zach Levine didn’t get an extension from the Bulls. The Kings signed him as an RFA and then the Bulls matched. As 2018 fades into the past, so does the magnitude of not the most astute use of a high draft choice by the former general manager. The Kings will find somebody to play power forward. Hopefully, someone good enough to take them to the playoffs.
“It looks like Bagley was set for major minutes this year until yet another injury happened.”
I think that the performance of Mitchell made this less and less likely, and the Kings did what I didn’t think management had the toughness to do, bench him. The fact that Bagley is better than a laundry list of Kings’ busts doesn’t say much for him.
A realized potential Bagley–a decent inside scorer and rebounder, a bit of a threat from outside, not a liability on defense, stays healthy–would be a good asset for the Kings who otherwise don’t have that kind of power forward. There’s a (slimming) chance Bagley realizes that potential, but it will probably happen on another team (Julius Randle). Definitely not holding my breath though.
Willie Cauley-Stein–comparable to Marvin Bagley on the KIngs, though he was drafted a little lower. Cauley-Stein’s fourth year with the Kings really did him in.
I actually thought WCS’ last year was pretty good – I wouldn’t have been mad if Vlade offered something in the $10M/yr range. Of course, Willie overplayed his hand and ended up bouncing around at the vet min but he was a very effective rim runner and improving defender in the 18/19 season.
Who’s the bigger joke, Marvin or his agent?
His agent.
Bagley’s trying.
His agent is a dumbass.
Very accurate. All reports out of camp are that Bagley was working as hard as anyone and had bought into the competitiveness the staff was emphasizing.
Right, and that was the agent’s m.o. here. His client was doing everything right in preseason, and still couldn’t crack the rotation on a bad team….
“The right thing” Bagley has been conditioned to do is simple.
”I am here coach. I will start once my knees feel 100%”
For the first time in Bagley’s life someone has been real with him.
The agent is working for Bagley, and Bagley had to give him the go-ahead.
Hell, Bagley may even insisted on doing this, despite a warning from his agent.
Yeah, I’m done with Bagley ducking responsibility for the people speaking for him. Bagley is responsible for what his agent said.
“The Kings, for the first time in forever, have something resembling playoff (or play-in) expectations.”
I couldn’t get past this… We do? Thought we were still a season or two away
Pretend this plays out the way Bagley’s dick head agent wants it to go….
Vivek calls dick head agent. “So sorry. Please do not embarrass this glorious organization any more. I will handle this.”
Vivek calls Walton. “Bagley will play. We will start Bagley every game. His potential is too great to ignore.”
Walton speaks to Bagley. “Hey you got the start as long as you are on this team.”
McNair begins drafting a max contract for Bagley…..
Bagley. “Great coach. But my knees. I need another six months to heal.”
Bagley is sadly the weakness in every situation he is involved with.
I think they want Bagley dealt, so he has a chance to play somewhere, since that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen in Sac. Bagley hasn’t earned much of anything with his play or unwillingness to address the off court messes his team creates, but I understand wanting to be moved to a better situation.
I think the question may be is who is willing to take a flyer on Bagley at this point. Who has the need and time for his possible development? I’d say at his cost, it’s definitely not a contender or playoff team. Does a rebuilding team want to take a chance on him at his price? Orlando? OKC? Houston?
It is not good. Any real NBA team (not the Kings) understands that this is his last year on a contract.
Make the Kings pay him this year. Pick him up for half the price or less next year.
Take a flyer at a much lower price next season. The Kings and Bagley have zero leverage at this point. His agent knows that and is now scrambling.
His only value might be in another team looking to dump a bad contract, like a Kevin Love, which might entice a Kings team hoping for a playoff shot. Bagley is filler for a team looking to clear cap and not compete. Those teams are few and far between, IMO.
His greatest value is his expiring contract. You are correct.
I would be fine with the kings matching a low ball offer from another team. End of bench big with scoring punch and has a curiosity upside in a trade with him as filler. Either way I think it’s a win for the franchise honestly. That is as long as he’s not a shit bag to his teammates and becomes a cancer which I’ve never heard anything like that about Bagley in the locker room. Only really stupid stuff he and his camp put on social media that hurt him more than anyone else.
If you’re talking about absorbing Bagley’s entire salary, I would agree the teams are really limited. If you’re talking about a team sending back some salary, I think the list of teams grows. That being said, I haven’t looked at the cap numbers to see who actually could absorb his salary with sending a $6 million or $7 million player back.
I think if Bagley is going to have the slightest chance at becoming even a mediocre player he needs to leave.
He is useless to the Kings and the Kings are useless to him.
Dropping Bagley tomorrow and allowing him to sign a contract to sit on a bench in China is a positive for both parties at this point.
Agreed. Maybe he can save his career elsewhere. Probably not a Julius Randle type of growth, but something closer to what Bobby Portis has done with the Bucks.
I think he needs to learn how to play the NBA game in the background. On a practice court. He stands out too much here at this point. He does not know how to play in the NBA. It is obvious. He needs to humble himself and learn the game. Use the abilities he does have to earn a spot in the NBA.
The teams that would do that though will not give anything to the Kings to get him.
He might be an all-star in China.
Ya, whatever. I’m done with the situation.
Can we hoist up a King Joffrey ring of honor banner with number KANGZ on the back and put the last 2 decades behind us?
Had hopes the Kings and Bagley would figure it out this year, and he’d find a role amongst the guard heavy roster. There’s basically zero chance of that happening now, even if he somehow finds some consistent minutes on the team this year, it’s impossible for them to continue beyond this year. I’m really curious what they told him….I read it as out of rotation. Zero minutes. In which I get the frustration but not the outburst. I do question why the Kings wouldn’t at least bring him in off the bench with 8-15 mins in an effort to keep the “potential” label alive and trade him for something ASAP. We shouldn’t just keep him on the backend of the roster with DNP’s. That does him nor us any good. A second rounder is better than that. Shit cutting him is better. Hopefully he’s part of a trade package sooner than later.
Maybe that’s just it. Monte knows if Marv plays two seconds, he gets hurt and can’t be traded.
Monte knows that he will likely get hurt and that his true shit self of an NBA player is exposed every time he walks on the floor.
I think something became very apparent in training camp. Monte is done. Thankfully….
“In which I get the frustration but not the outburst. I do question why the Kings wouldn’t at least bring him in off the bench with 8-15 mins in an effort to keep the “potential” label alive and trade him for something ASAP.”
Bagley’s part of the 99% now, not the 1%. So he has to earn his minutes like everyone else. If he does it, he can play. If he doesn’t, he can sit and watch. The Kings aren’t going to sacrifice team performance, even if it is just for 8 to 15 minutes, for him.
Great point. Bagley is no longer the #2 pick with expectations. This is his 4th year. He has the same totem pole status as anyone else on this roster. Nothing affords him minutes anymore than Woodard at this point. If he is not helping the W/L column than he is just another player.
Play well in practice and earn an opportunity when somebody else is having a bad night or is hurt. Spend every practice injured and there might not be a spot on the roster for you at all.
I think the same thing would have happened at Duke if he stuck around another year.
Welcome to reality Marvin.
On a guard heavy roster he cannot stay healthy long enough to earn a spot as a back up center or forward.
This.
same agent as Barnes…interesting fact
He should understood what value in the NBA is then.
Here we are talking about the NBA future of Bagley and Nemanja is killing it for the Warriors tonight. A system, role, and coaching matter more than anything else sometimes.
An actual system with a coach that knows what a player is good at. Plug the player in the system where they fit. Put them in the game when their skill set will prevail.
And he’s going to kill us 4 times this year, too.
Bjelica has always been a quality player. Never a great defender, but a guy who makes you better on offense. I’m not at all surprised.
Eh, this speaks of desperation and an agent trying to capitalize on a poor reputation of an organization. Especially publicly and in national media outlets specifically.
The fact that Bagley isn’t in the rotation means one thing: He hasn’t produced the way they were clearly hoping but didn’t see in the preseason. The Kings would be far better off if Bagley were actually productive.
Simple, this.
I’m glad that the FO are finally reading my comments on TKH
What did I wake up to now?
I haven’t even had my coffee yet.
Bagley said nothing. His team is speaking for him. Nothing out of the ordinary really.
Exactly this.
LOL.
People keep blaming everyone but Bagley; the Kings, the media, his vamp/team, his family, his agent.
An agent doesn’t act independently from his cleint, the client needs to give a green light. All kinds of stuff happened and bagley never refuted anything in public.
This is on Bagley, and Bagley only.
Yes, it’s on Bagley.
If he did not come for the pre-draft workout, we would very probably not selecting him.
It is 100% on Bagley now. As it should be.
This is entirely on Bagley, Dutchman. Anything thinking otherwise needs to get their head checked.
This is good
Meanwhile, down in LA, Bjelica picks up a double double and is a huge factor in the Warriors’ win tonight … yet, somehow, could not beat out Bagley in Sacramento.
Are you serious about that ?
BJelly can definitely beat out Bagley, it’s the FO decided to play Bagley to raise his trade value, and that’s why the starting position goes to Bagley.
Put’em in the book, and send him to the bread line! Oooooohhhh boooyyy!
Ignoring the opportunity cost, Marvin’s rookie season was promising, if not exactly good. I thought the Kings might at least be walking away with a starting 4 even if they did pass on a perennial MVP candidate, but he just couldn’t stay healthy and clearly has an outsized opinion of his game.
Being stashed on the bench with a 50 or so DNP-CDs might be the message that Marvin needs to turn his career around wherever his next stop is, but I am totally fine with just waiting it out and grabbing the $11M in cap space next offseason if he can’t be packaged as part of an impact trade. I liked the rotation we saw in preseason and will happily watch that to see what happens.
The things is, his $11M coming off the books does little good for the Kings as they are already over the cap. They are at $108M next year with him off the books and this year’s cap was at $112M. Even if he gave the Kings somewhere in the ballpark of $10M in space, what good is it?
IMO, keeping his salary on the books and hopefully moving him in a package deal to take on or match salary would let the Kings operate above the cap. You have to spend to win.
FWIW, if the Kings hold on to Bagley through the end of the season and he becomes any type of free agent, his cap hold with the Kings will put the Kings well above the cap while Bagley is a free agent. However, his cap hold would end when he signs somewhere, whether with the Kings, which would keep them above the cap most likely, or with another team, which might put them below.
Tristan Thompson is also a free agent this coming offseason. If he remains with the team, his cap hold would be $12.64M, so that could also push them above while he remains a free agent assuming other factors remain constant.
Wouldn’t the Kings’ best strategy at this point be to keep him out of the rotation until it is mathematically impossible for Bagley to qualify as a starter for QO purposes (or he is absolutely needed due to other players being injured) and then if the Kings are out of the playoff picture, to let Bagley play for his NBA life? If another team offers anything of value in the meantime, bite on that.
Cripes, just when you thought Bagley’s trade value couldn’t go any lower! What team is desperate enough to take on a loser like Bagley? Add in his toxic team and you have a pile of shit that nobody want to step in. Just cut his sad, injury-prone ass and watch him go play in China, if they’ll have him. If not, then Beirut.
TKH,
Can we please trade Andy Sims for Bagley?
His contrarian comments are so annoying.
I’m now skipping everything when I see his name.
Bagley’s agent should be happy, biggest knock on the guy is he can’t stay healthy. Can’t get hurt on the bench, someone somewhere will by into “motivation” and “talent” and deal with this headache next year.
Another example of why culture matters.
Bagley may not be a bad kid, but everyone he’s surrounded himself with does nothing but blame everyone else for his lack of PT.
For Bagley’s sake (I think he has mad potential, I really do,) I hope he fires his agent, pulls a Fox and tells his dad to stop speaking on his behalf (how terrifying that must be for Marvin III,) shuts out all the noise and figures out how to be the best basketball player he can be instead of daydreaming about how he already deserves MVP awards.
Badge Legend