After missing 22 games, Marvin Bagley III will play for the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Bagley has recovered from a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb, an injury he suffered during the first game of the season versus the Phoenix Suns.
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1204874631678590976
Bagley finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Suns. He didn’t require surgery on his thumb.
The second overall pick in the 2018 draft, Bagley averaged 14.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game during his rookie season for the Kings while shooting 50.4 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from the 3-point line and 69.1 percent from the charity stripe.
The Kings are looking to make the playoffs this season for the first time since 2006. Bagley is part of Sacramento’s core which includes De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Harrison Barnes and Harry Giles.
Fox is still out with his ankle injury.
Sacramento is 10-13 on the season, ninth place in the Western Conference standings. Getting Bagley and eventually Fox back in the lineup is necessary for the Kings to get over .500 and ultimately compete for a playoff spot in the rugged Western Conference.
With the way Luka Doncic has played with the Dallas Mavericks, there’s some pressure on Bagley to play at a high-level since the Kings passed on Luka to select him.