By the time the Sacramento Kings play their next game on July 22, 134 days will have passed from their last game on March 8. To put into context just how long that is, there were 177 days between the Kings’ last game of the 2018-19 season and their first preseason game of the 2019-20 season.
The length of the league’s stoppage of play has allowed young players like Marvin Bagley III to treat their time away from the court like the offseason, and in a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Bagley said he’s added 10 pounds of muscle to his frame.
“I was like 230-something,” Bagley said of his weight. “It went down as the season progressed, but since we started coming back, I’m at 240. I feel great, I feel strong, I still feel fast, I still feel like I can do what I can do just adding little bit more muscle on being able to bump and set screens and take screens and take a lot more contact. I definitely feel like I’ve been able to do that. I feel great.”
Bagley’s father, Marvin Bagley Jr., has been sharing videos of his son’s progress on Instagram and he looks noticeably bigger.
Bagley hasn’t played much this season, but in the handful of games he has played, it’s been evident that he still isn’t strong enough to play through contact on a consistent basis. While he’s not the type of big to back players down in the post often, he does face up and try to force his way to the basket. With a few extra pounds, he should be able to do with that with more success.
Bagley has averaged 14.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in 13 appearances for the Kings this season. His best game of the season came in a loss against the Milwaukee Bucks in December, where he scored 18 points on 6-10 shooting from the field. The Kings have gone 2-10 when Bagley’s played this season.
He will join the team in Orlando, although it remains unclear how big of a role he’ll play for Luke Walton after sitting out for the majority of the season with a foot injury. Bagley has a ton of potential, but with only eight games to compete for a playoff spot, he’ll need to be more than just an exciting prospect to crack the rotation.
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