Report: Marvin Bagley not in Kings rotation for opening game

The 2021-22 season is a big one for the Sacramento Kings. The organization has steadily been acquiring lottery talent and appears poised to break a long playoff drought this year. However, center Marvin Bagley appears to be out of Sacramento’s plans this season and that isn’t sitting well with his agent, Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports.

There’s several storylines going on here, but the key piece of it is Sacramento’s mismanagement of a player it took No. 2 overall ahead of guys like Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Schwartz accuses the Kings of refusing to deal Bagley at the trade deadline and over the summer due to a lack of return value, but then essentially backtracking on that assessment when keeping him out of the lineup.

Of course, it’s easy to see this as an agent looking out for the best interests of his player and ultimately himself. The Kings, on the other hand, have had some massive gaffes during an extended run of futility. Bagley, who averaged 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, hasn’t developed into a star. He’s been consistent in terms of production and could at least be seen as a player in the rotation.

As stated earlier, this is a big season for the Kings on many levels. Luke Walton is coaching for his job. De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield are either going to be in the playoffs or on new teams after the season. Bagley would seem to be a part of the solution in Sacramento. Obviously the Kings disagree. The season hasn’t even tipped off yet and we’ve already got drama brewing across the league.