The Sacramento Kings will be jockeying for playoff position when the NBA begins seeding games in Orlando in late July. However, the Kings have been battling roster issues as competition nears and, on Monday, the team announced that former No. 2 overall pick Marvin Bagley III suffered a right injury during a practice. That issue required an MRI and further examination revealed an injury that will sideline the second-year big man for the entirety of Sacramento’s stay in the bubble.
Lateral foot sprain for Bagley. He is expected to be in a boot for at least two weeks, sources said. https://t.co/QRzXP08Onn
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 22, 2020
In short, this is unfortunate for both player and team. The Kings don’t have overwhelming depth in the frontcourt and, considering the team’s position in the standings, Sacramento has virtually no margin for error as games begin.
For Bagley, the 2019-20 campaign is essentially a lost season, as the former Duke star appeared in only 13 games as a result of injury issues. Bagley did average 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game when he was able to play, but he wasn’t terribly efficient and the Kings have interesting roster-building concerns as they continue to evaluate what he can bring to the table.
If nothing else, it would have been informative to see Bagley on the floor in a high-intensity environment, and the Kings will lose out on valuable evaluation time as a result. In the grand scheme, though, Bagley’s health is of greater concern than anything that could have taken place in Orlando for the 21-year-old, and the next time he will be on the floor in a competitive environment will be during the 2020-21 season.
