Sacramento Kings big man Marvin Bagley was informed that he will not be in the team’s opening night rotation against the Portland Trail Blazers on Oct. 20, according to his agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports.
Schwartz’s full statement:
Sacramento has informed Marvin Bagley that he is not in the opening night rotation, which is completely baffling. It’s clear they have no plans for him in the future, and yet, they passed on potential deals at last year’s deadline and this summer based on “value”. Instead, they chose to bring him back but not play him, a move completely contradictory to their “value” argument. This is a case study mismanagement by the Kings organization.
The Kings have a relatively new front office, led by team president Monte McNair, that clearly don’t seem too interested in the former No. 2 overall pick in 2018.
They look to be prioritizing smaller lineups centered around their young backcourt of players that features De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and rookie Davion Mitchell.
Richaun Holmes is coming off a career-best season (14.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.6 blocks per game) and will be the team’s starting center, with newly-added veterans Tristan Thompson and Alex Len backing him up.
Bagley, 22, played 43 games (42 starts) last season and averaged 14.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.
Where the two sides go from here is unclear at this time, but Bagley and his agent will surely be hoping for a trade at some point in the future.
