Sacramento Kings: Grading Marvin Bagley’s rookie season

The Sacramento Kings may not have made the most popular pick at the time, but after his rookie season, Marvin Bagley is looking to prove the Kings decision right.

The Sacramento Kings proved many of their doubters wrong in the 2018-19 season finishing with a very respectable 39-43 record after most anticipated that they would be among the worst teams in the league. This was due in part to some of the budding young talent on the roster including rookie No. 2 overall draft pick Marvin Bagley.

While the Kings failed to make the postseason for the 13th consecutive season, the promise showed by Bagley among others is enough to provide optimism for the future of the franchise. The likes of De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield developed immensely as the Kings transformed their offense into one of the most fast-paced, fun units in the NBA.

Much of that was due to the presence of Bagley who wasted little time establishing himself as one of the best young big men in the league. Although he played almost exclusively coming off the bench, the Duke product was still able to make a significant impact and lay the groundwork for future success in his career.

Now that the season is over, it seems like a fair time to assess Bagley’s performance in his first NBA season. Let’s jump in and break down the good and bad from his first year as a professional.

The Good

Bagley is going to be a very special offensive player one day, there’s no two ways about it. As long as he continues to develop his outside shot and fill out his frame, there’s no reason why Bagley shouldn’t become one of the premier offensive big men in the NBA.

His post game is strong even if he relies too much on his left hand at times, but what truly makes him stand out is his immense athleticism. Bagley has the swiftness and leaping ability that make him incredibly difficult to guard no matter where he is on the court.

Having just turned 20-years-old only a couple of months ago, Bagley obviously has plenty of room to grow, but his per-36 numbers already look quite promising. Bagley averaged over 21 points and nearly 11 rebounds per 36 minutes despite missing 20 games with knee injuries.

While his defense is still a major work in progress — as like many young players — his man-to-man defense was particularly strong as he was able to use his size and athleticism to match up with even the most talented big men. That should give him a solid basis from which he could build off of to improve his overall defensive game.

From an athletic potential standpoint, there may not be a more promising young player in the game.