Marvin Bagley III, the number two overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, was a head-scratching decision for many draft experts and NBA pundits when his name was called.
With Luka Doncic still on the board, many thought the Kings were crazy to take the Bag Man over Luka – one of the best prospects in recent memory.
However, fast-forward to this point in the season, and Bagley has looked quite good for Sacramento, and the team had hung around in the playoff race before a recent swoon left them on the outside looking in.
Bagley bounced back from a recent injury, and he’s back to playing extremely well – just ask Maxi Kleber of the Dallas Mavericks after he got his dunk viciously blocked by Bagley.
"Blocked by Bagley!"#SacramentoProud 29#MFFL 29
WATCH on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/cb8TXyNer6 pic.twitter.com/Xe8kXyIKyd
— NBA (@NBA) March 22, 2019
This has been an extremely deep rookie class, and multiple players could stake a claim to a First Team All-Rookie spot: Luka Doncic, Trae Young and DeAndre Ayton are all locks and Jaren Jackson Jr. certainly has a strong case, despite only playing half the season.
After that, Collin Sexton of the Cavaliers and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Landry Shamet of the Clippers both have very good arguments for inclusion as well.
However, per Basketball Reference, Bagley’s production (14.3 PPG, 7.1 RPG), efficiency (58 percent true shooting) and advanced metrics (19.1 Player Efficiency Rating, 3.3 win shares) all make him seem like a terrific candidate as well.
No matter what, the Kings came out looking pretty good after the draft.
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