How well did Marvin Bagley III perform in his first couple of games with the Sacramento Kings?
The Sacramento Kings took a risk in this year’s draft by selecting Marvin Bagley III with the second overall pick. Since then, Bagley has gotten some runtime with his new team as he participated in both the California Summer Classic and NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
Now that the Kings and their fans have witnessed Bagley in action, what grade does he deserve in the few games he has repped the purple and white? Enjoy this slideshow which showcases my thoughts on the topic.
Offense
In the four games Bagley has played in, he averaged 10.3 points per contest while shooting 33.3% from the floor, 10% from the three-point line, and 66.7% from the free-throw stripe.
When evaluating Bagley’s offensive performance, I thought he was inconsistent. Although Bagley had two games where he scored 15 or more points, he also had two games where he combined for just eight points.
Not only was Marvin’s scoring ability unpredictable, but his shooting efficiency as well. When looking at his numbers, his percentages were below average in almost every area on the court.
In a nutshell, Bagley was either really good on the offensive end or a liability in his four games. Although he presented flashes of his dominance, he also showed weaknesses that could haunt him when the regular season starts.
Defense
Bagley’s defense needs work going forward. To be fair, Bagley was a low-key rim protector for the Kings as he averaged almost two blocks a game. But with that said, I thought he was subpar overall.
A vulnerability in Bagley’s game is his lack of strength, and it was put on display throughout his summer league campaign.
Constantly Bagley was getting overpowered by opponents that were bigger than him which impacted both his ability to defend and rebound the ball. In four games, Bagley averaged just 5.8 rebounds a game. Not bad, but considering rebounding was a strength of his in college, I expected him to be better.
Another hole in Bagley’s defense was that he would often be late in defensive switches which would result in easy buckets for his competition.
Again, there were some flashes Bagley displayed that shows he could be a good defender down the road. But right now, improvement is vastly needed.
Final Thoughts / Overall Grade
Prior to the draft, I was (still am) a huge fan of Bagley and was perfectly fine with the Kings selecting him at #2. But it is time to take off the rose-colored glasses.
In my opinion, Bagley did not play like a second-overall talent during his games with the Kings. He was able to showcase to the fans flashes of being a dominant interior scorer and rim protector. But he also displayed that his lack of strength could give him some growing pains during his rookie season.
Although I still believe Bagley can become an asset for the Kings in the future, he is not the NBA-ready player that some had him projected to be. The good news is that Marvin has high potential and also the motivation to learn and get better. But if one expects him to make an immediate impact right away, I think disappointment is inevitably coming their way.