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Sacramento Kings Rookie Report: Bagley and Giles’ Big Week

By Ryan Ritter

SACRAMENTO, CA - JANUARY 14: Harry Giles #20 and Marvin Bagley III #35 of the Sacramento Kings talk during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 14, 2019 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 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - JANUARY 14: Harry Giles #20 and Marvin Bagley III #35 of the Sacramento Kings talk during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 14, 2019 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 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Marvin Bagley had his best week with the Sacramento Kings and Harry Giles also had his best game as a pro — The Rookie Report looks into both players’ big weeks.

After an entertaining rout of the woeful Atlanta Hawks, and an invigorating win against the Philadelphia 76ers, there are lots of positives to discuss from the Sacramento Kings this week. Let’s just agree to ignore that other game we played, shall we? Both rookie big men balled out this week as the Kings kept themselves in the Western Conference playoff discussions. Let’s take a look at what they did this week as we begin this edition of the Rookie Report.

As always, the Rookie Report considers a week to be Sunday to Saturday. As a result, the Rookie Report this week is looking at the games against the Los Angeles Clippers on 1/27, the Atlanta Hawks on 1/30 and the Philadelphia 76ers on 2/2.

On to the Rookie Report!

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Marvin Bagley

Weekly Stats: 15.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.7 stls, 1.0 blks, 47.5% FG, 0% 3PT, 70% FT

Overall: 12.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.5 stls, 0.9 blks, 51.6% FG, 23.9% 3PT, 66.7% FT

Advanced: 17.1 PER, .564 TS%, 14.7% TRB, 5.5% AST, 3.4% BLK, 22.8% USG, ORtg 108, DRtg 110

Marvin Bagley is coming off what has easily been his best week in the NBA. Averaging a double-double in three games, as well as a block and nearly a steal a game, Bagley has found a groove now. Even better, he appears to be accepting his role.  Interestingly, his PER is up to 17.1. For reference, this would put him in range as a third offensive option, according to John Hollinger, none other than the creator of the Player Efficiency Rating statistic.

For the heck of it, I went ahead and looked at the PER stat for the other two clear building blocks for the Sacramento Kings, De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield. Fox’s PER this season is 18.1; Hield’s stands at 17.7. Like all statistics being looked at in isolation, PER is not the be-all and end-all but it’s still likely that it will be a couple of years before this team develops into a perennial playoff contender. However, the value of the three players being groomed to lead this team is made clear.

Bagley was drafted to be part of the core of the Kings. Thankfully, it seems that he is fitting in quite nicely. And he’s still doing it in limited minutes (although this week he averaged 27.1 minutes a game, also four over his season average)! The future of Vlade Divac’s squad appears bright.

Harry Giles

Weekly Stats: 9.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.7 apg, 0.3 stls, 0.0 blks, 61.9% FG, 0% 3PT, 100% FT

Overall: 5.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.6 stls, 0.4 blks, 49.8% FG, 0% 3PT, 56.0% FT

Advanced: 13.7 PER, .511 TS%, 13.8% TRB, 16.0% AST, 2.4% BLK, 22.7% USG, ORtg 99, DRtg 107

Harry Giles is also coming off of a big week. He had easily his best game of his short career against the Atlanta Hawks, putting up 20 points and 7 rebounds on 10/12 shooting. Yes, he did it against arguably the worst team in the league. But when past draft picks we’ve had couldn’t even do that (Ben McLemore and Thomas Robinson are on the phone), it’s worth noting.

The other two games he played this week weren’t great, only putting in a combined eight points and nine rebounds. Most disappointingly, he had only one assist all week as well. However, it’s worth noting that the Kings were never in the game against the Clippers, and Giles would likely be at an athletic disadvantage playing against Joel Embiid at this point in his career. The lack of playing time makes a certain amount of sense if you look at it that way.

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So, for now, it appears that the Sacramento Kings coaching staff is letting the night’s match-up and situation dictate Giles’ minutes. The argument could be made that giving him burn against superior competition is the best thing for him, but the Kings have ruined careers doing that in the past (McLemore is still on hold). With a Kings squad sitting at a game out of the playoffs as I write this sentence, I’m certainly not complaining about the minutiae of minute distribution.

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