The OKC Thunder are in the midst of a rebuilding process that Sam Presti has made clear will feature no shortcuts in the quest to return to title contention. However, any time any player is disgruntled from now until the end of time, they will be linked to the Oklahoma City Thunder due to the future NBA Draft picks Presti has compiled. Not just first-round picks, but a bevy of second-rounders to be tossed in as sweeteners for buy-low candidates.
Enter Marvin Bagley, the second pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, ahead of players like Luka Doncic and Trae Young, is unhappy in Sacramento. Bagley and the Kings have had such a falling out that the Duke product’s agency took to Twitter on official letterhead spelling out the 22-year-olds desire to be traded 118-games into his NBA career.
Should the OKC Thunder trade for Marvin Bagley?
There are a ton of directions to take this idea, the thought of an athletic forward who averages 14 points, seven rebounds, and an assist per game while hitting 50-percent of his shots from the field and 31-percent from behind the three-point line in his career is appealing.
In flashes, Bagley has shown why he was such a highly regarded prospect, while he will always look like a whiff compared to Doncic and Young, his NBA career is far from over.
A season ago on corner triples, Bagley shot 41-percent pouring in the three-point shot overall at a 36-percent clip.
An athletic rim roller who has shown an ability to space the floor, and was an All-Rookie member in 2018-19, there is a ton of reason to buy-low on him. There is also cause for concern.
With Bagley having that potential, why has he completely fallen out of the Sacramento Kings rotation according to his agents? From nearly the moment Bagley arrived in Sacramento, his father has been a distraction, and Bagley III uses Twitter to like tweets that get the rumor mill churning.
While many can point to this as “well, that is not a Sam Presti player, he always preaches character!” A few poor tweets do not represent his character, and furthermore, we have seen this song and dance before.
Remember LaVar Ball? He was going to be the downfall of LaMelo and Lonzo Ball, but once his sons went to better environments, no matter how messy it was from point a to point b, he has been a non-issue. LaVar Ball calmed down so much, the Oklahoma City Thunder organization inked LiAngelo Ball to a G-Leauge contract before the pandemic.
It comes down to how much the Kings value Bagley, and given the fact they have dropped him from the rotation, the asking price can not be extreme. If it only takes a second-rounder and a throw-in role player, why not take the shot on Bagley?
The OKC Thunder were in the mix for Kevin Porter Jr according to sources, who was another buy-low candidate that ended up hitting big as a Houston Rocket. This could be the Thunder’s success story.