Last season, when healthy, Marvin Bagley III was essentially gifted a starting spot at the power forward position with the Sacramento Kings. Whether it was hopeful thinking that Bagley would finally stay healthy and break out or a lack of depth at the position, Bagley started 42 of the 43 games he was healthy last season.
Unfortunately, Bagley never took that step and was in and out of the lineup with injuries for a third consecutive season to begin his career. In his career, Bagley has only played 118 of a possible 226 games.
This year though, for a Kings team trying to finally end the 15-year playoff drought, someone with Bagley’s faults and injury history can no longer be penciled into that spot or even relied upon in a major way.