On Monday night, Sacramento Kings power forward Marvin Bagley refused to check in and play in their game against the Phoenix Suns. Bagley, the second overall pick in the 2018 draft, has not had a great experience in Sacramento.
The Kings have benched Bagley, taken trade offers, but no deals made. And Bagley, still 22, has good basketball in him. He is a career 14 and 7 player. There are teams that could use Bagley on their roster.
So what teams could use the 22 year old big man?
Bagley will be a free agent in 2022, so this will be somewhat of a rental for whatever team trades for him. Bagley will be playing for his next contract, a former 2nd overall pick at 22 years old is not looking to be a bench player. He is looking to reignite his NBA career.
Portland Trailblazers
The Trailblazers are in a strange situation this season, they sit at 5-6 to start the season, and with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, that is not where they want to be. If things continue to go south for them, this might be the year to trade the two of them and play for the future. Bagley is not a player who will take them to the next level, at least right now. But at the moment his trade value is not very high and it would not take a whole lot to acquire him. It would be a low risk, high reward for the Blazers.
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets in the post James Harden era are in a rebuilding phase. With the 2021 rookie Jalen Green, Christian Wood, Kevin Porter Jr., they have some very solid pieces to build around. If they could make a trade for Marvin Bagley, they could be an exciting team to watch. They aren’t going to compete right away, but in a few years, a core of Bagley, Wood, Green, Porter Jr, could be a very talented team.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers are not a team that is going to contend for a championship this season. But this would be a good position for Bagley to play for his next contract. He would be backing up Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner for the time being. This would be a good situation for Bagley to play his way to being a more sought after free agent.
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns, coming off a finals appearance are obviously looking to get back to the finals again. Again, Bagley is not a guy who is going to move the needle for a team, but for the Suns, he could be a second option. The Suns and Deandre Ayton were unable to agree on a contract extension. Bagley could be a guy they could keep for themselves just in case they are unable to keep Deandre Ayton on the team. This shouldn’t be the Suns plan A, but it is a solid plan B.
This is a really tough situation for Marvin Bagley, a talented young player who just was not put in a situation where he could succeed. The Kings hold all the cards, but it makes no sense to keep a player on your roster with no intentions of playing. Keep an eye out for a Marvin Bagley trade in the future.
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