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Sacramento Kings Rookie Report: Ranking Marvin Bagley Against the 2018 Class

By Ryan Ritter

SACRAMENTO, CA - DECEMBER 12: Marvin Bagley III #35 of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 12, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - DECEMBER 12: Marvin Bagley III #35 of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 12, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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With a season well underway, the Rookie Report this week looks at how Sacramento Kings rookie Marvin Bagley stacks up against his fellow rookies in the 2018 class. How does he fare against the other rising stars?

Well, that was quick. Just as soon as Marvin Bagley came back from injury for the Sacramento Kings, he’s out again for the next 10-14 days. And Harry Giles appears to be out of the rotation entirely, having been assigned to the Stockton Kings on Tuesday. What’s a Rookie Report to do?

Well, we’re going to have to get creative for the rest of the year. As for this week, we’re going to dive into some good old-fashioned statistical analysis.

As always, the Rookie Report considers a week to be Sunday to Saturday. Thus, this report only considers the games against the Chicago Bulls on 12/10, the Minnesota Timberwolves on 12/12, and the Golden State Warriors on 12/14.

On to the Rookie Report!

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Marvin Bagley

Weekly Stats: 12.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.0 stls, 0.0 blks, 68.8% FG, 50% 3PT, 87.5% FT, 19.4 mpg

Overall Stats: 12.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.4 stls, 1.0 blks, 53.6% FG, 34.6% 3PT, 68.3% FT, 23.1 mpg

Advanced: 18.4 PER, .592 TS%, 13.8% TRB, 5.7% AST, 3.8% BLK, 22.3% USG, ORtg 113, DRtg 112

Marvin Bagley was still recovering from a back injury when he went out midway through the game against the Warriors. It was revealed that he suffered a bone bruise and will be re-evaluated in ten to fourteen days.

This injury, coupled with Giles’ lack of playing time (more on that later) may be putting the Rookie Report on an extended Christmas break the next couple of weeks.

Since Bagley seems to be out for most of the rest of the calendar year, and with 26 games under his belt, now seems as good a time as any to check out how his stats rank among the other rookies this year. In a loaded rookie class (including an all-time rookie season from Luka Doncic, please don’t throw anything at me), Bagley is facing some serious competition amongst his peers.

The good news is that, statistically, MBIII is more or less holding his own. Using the stats provided by Basketball Reference, Bagley’s statistical ranks are as follows:

Points per game: 5th

Total points: 6th

Rebounds per game: 4th

Total rebounds: 4th

Total blocks: 6th

Field goal percentage: 8th (although it raises to 3rd if you include only players who have logged 25 games or more)

Minutes per game: 12th

Total minutes: 12th

So he’s not exactly mounting a Rookie of the Year campaign, but he’s absolutely not embarrassing himself, like some of us feared might happen back in June. Also, it’s important to keep in mind those last two numbers.  He’s putting in work with significantly less minutes than other rookies (Jevon Carter puts in more minutes per game than him, for reference).

There’s been renewed hand wringing about Bagley’s selection at #2 in the 2018 NBA Draft after (overblown) comments from Dave Joerger about Luka Doncic’s recent play. And, yeah, it’s hard not to be jealous about the historic campaign he’s been putting together this year. But it’s important to remember that Marvin Bagley has been far from a bust himself.

Hopefully when Bagley comes back from his latest injury, he can continue proving why our fears were unfounded. For what it’s worth, Joerger had similarly strong words about him and De’Aaron Fox as a tandem.

Harry Giles

Weekly Stats: 0 ppg, 0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0 stls, 0 blks, 0% FG, 0% 3PT, 0% FT, 2 mpg

Overall Stats: 5.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.2 apg, 0.6 stls, 0.2 blks, 47.6% FG, 0% 3PT, 52.0% FT, 10.0 mpg

Advanced: 14.0 PER, .487 TS%, 14.1% TRB, 17.3% AST, 1.6% BLK, 26.7% USG, ORtg 96, DRtg 108

Harry Giles has effectively fallen out of the rotation at the moment, having put in just under three minutes last week to go along with two DNP-CDs. Thus, not a ton to report for him this week.

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As of this particular writing, he has been reassigned to the Stockton Kings, indicating that, even with Bagley out for the next couple weeks, he will not be finding his minutes in Sacramento now. My weekly reminder: it’s totally disappointing, but not a reason to panic yet.

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