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Spoiler alert, Marvin Bagley is not happy in Sacramento. The former No. 2 overall pick has become an afterthought in the Kings rotation, logging a total of 10 minutes thus far on the 2021-22 season. Bagley’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, has publically berated the franchise for their handling of his client, who has been actively shopping the Duke product for more than a year without success, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
A fresh start would clearly be welcomed for the former All-Rookie First Team selection who, as a career 14.4 points per game scorer, has proven capable of putting the ball in the basket with regularity despite his sporadic usage. Should Sacramento finally budge on a trade, chances are the 22-year-old forward wouldn’t be short on suitors.
Could one of those suitors potentially be the Boston Celtics? Floated as a “buy-low” candidate for the Cs back in June, Bagley’s upside has Mass Live’s Brian Robb intrigued at the thought of adding some scoring to Boston’s frontcourt.
“That’s an intriguing proposal from an upside standpoint. Bagley is only 22 years old and the offensive potential for the 22-year-old is there,” wrote Robb in response to a fan asking whether he’d trade Josh Richardson for a Bagley-type player.
Could Richardson Be on the Move?
Richardson was acquired on July 31st from the Dallas Mavericks with the remainder of Gordon Hayward’s traded player exception (TPE). One month later he inked a contract extension which could theoretically keep him in Boston through the 2022-23 season. However, with surging youngsters on the wing, it’s not out of the question to wonder if Richardson could soon find himself on the outside looking in.
“Your head is in the right place though in regards to some excess depth on the wing for Boston if [Romeo] Langford and [Aaron] Nesmith continue to develop,” Robb noted. “That may leave not enough minutes to go around for those two and Richardson off the bench. Given that all those players are under team control through at least next season, one of them could become a valuable trade chip for Brad Stevens depending on how this season develops.”
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Bagley’s Defense & Contract Give Celtics Reason to ‘Bulk’
While we’ve already highlighted Bagley’s scoring ability, nowhere did we mention anything about his defensive prowess — that’s because it’s rarely on display.
Via Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey:
- 2020-21 Defensive RAPTOR Rating: Minus-4.7
- 2020-21 Defensive Field-Goal Percentage: 58.6 (compared to 47.3 expected)
- Defensive Box Plus/Minus since 2018-19: Minus-1.8
- Career Net Rating Swing: Minus-5.1
“Bagley’s defensive struggles give me pause from pulling a trigger on moving a veteran wing for him in Richardson. A wing who can switch like Richardson defensively is a far more valuable commodity right now than a big like Bagley who hasn’t been able to break into the rotation this year for a bad Kings team,” said Robb.
While Bagley would undoubtedly add a scoring punch to Boston’s frontcourt, team president Brad Stevens would likely scoff at the idea of pulling the trigger on a deal to acquire a defensive liability on an expiring contract — that is, should the asking price be Richardson.
“I’d balk on using one of them [Richardson, Nesmith or Langford] on Bagley given his development and contract situation,” Robb added. “For a cheaper price? I’d be intrigued but Stevens may be better off saving his assets for a bigger fish.”
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