The future remains murky for oft-injured Kings power forward Marvin Bagley III, a talented scorer who still needs to develop on defense, writes Jason Jones of The Athletic.
Bagley has shown flashes of the reason he was so highly coveted out of Duke during his second game back after his latest injury, a left hand bone fracture that kept him sidelined for 22 contests. The Kings selected Bagley with the No. 2 draft pick in 2018 ahead of future All-Stars Luka Doncic and Trae Young.
“Obviously nobody plans to get a hand caught in a jersey and break your hand, but you can’t control things like that,” Bagley said of his latest injury for the Kings. “What I could control was how I prepared to come back and things that I was doing to make sure I was ready when I did come back.” Sacramento will pay for Bagley’s $11.3MM player option next season. Jones writes that, though Bagley was rumored to be a potential trade candidate in March, the Kings could not find a deal that would net them enough of a return to be worth pursuing.
There’s more out of California:
- Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has liked what he’s seen out of forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, writes Alex Espinoza of NBC Sports Bay Area. Currently inked to a two-way deal with Golden State, has fought his way into the Warriors’ rotation through his moxie and hustle, averaging 5.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.4 APG across 19.5 MPG. “We’ll see how it plays out,” Kerr commented to reporters about a potential long-term deal with Toscano-Anderson after this season. “Juan is clearly a very effective NBA player. We’d like to have him here for a long time.”
- Lakers guard Alex Caruso has had to take on more playmaking duties for Los Angeles with key ball handlers LeBron James and Dennis Schroder both sidelined, per Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register.
- Though the Warriors have been waylaid by injuries that have impacted their roster depth, they have kept two roster spots empty in a calculated cost-saving decision. Anthony Slater of The Athletic wonders if the club’s choice warrants further scrutiny, considering that it still fighting for a play-in tournament spot during a standout year from All-Star point guard Stephen Curry.
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