Yet another chapter in the Bagley saga continues to linger in Sacramento’s opening week.
New information regarding Marvin Bagley III’s future in Sacramento surfaced Tuesday afternoon, when Bagley’s agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports became the latest agent to instigate an issue between a player and his team.
In a statement released by Schwartz via Excel Sports’ Twitter account, it was revealed that Luke Walton apparently does not plan to feature Bagley in the rotation despite him being healthy, available and “excited” to play.
The revelation came following what people around the team — and Bagley himself — had said was the best training camp of his young career. However, it also came just a day after the Kings decided not to extend Bagley.
According to ESPN senior writer Brian Windhorst, Schwartz has been trying to get his client out of Sacramento for the last year, but the Kings’ brass has no intention of moving Bagley anytime soon.
As they guard their depth and monitor their new smaller style of play to start the season, the Kings aren’t actively looking to trade Bagley.”
As Sacramento looks to feature more guard-heavy lineups, the minutes for Bagley simply might not be there in the rotation, as a starter or a reserve, at least while the Kings are still trying to compete.
Injuries have undoubtedly stifled what could still be a special career for the fourth-year man out of Duke, but while he’s worn a Sacramento uniform, he just hasn’t been able to find his groove.
So with no trade in the foreseeable future and a seat on the bench, what should come next from Bagley? In hindsight, a trade in the offseason would have made the most sense, but as general manger Monte McNair shared at the start of training camp, this is the group of guys Sacramento will be heading into the season with.
No comments have been made by Bagley himself in the past 18 hours, but with Schwartz presumably acting as a mouthpiece, it seems inevitable that more words will be had in the coming days.