Playing time for newly acquired Washington Wizards center Marvin Bagley III was scarce with his former team, the Detroit Pistons.
It seemed the very talented big man just couldn't get on the court with the stockpile of players at forward and center for the Pistons keeping him on the bench.
Now, a fresh start for Bagley with the Wizards that he doesn't want to take for granted.
In the first two games with his new team, Bagley became only the third NBA player ever to record consecutive games scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds with a new team after an in-season trade.
The other two to accomplish this feat are pretty notable, one of them being Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain and the other a three-time All-Star in forward Antoine Walker.
Bagley shows his potential and his hard-hat attitude every time he is on the floor, and it shows up on the stat sheet.
"He's done a really good job in two games with a limited package of plays," Washington coach Wes Unseld Jr said after Saturday's loss to the San Antonio Spurs. "(He) plays to his strengths, doesn't try to do anything that is out of character."
After starting the first two games and playing a ton of minutes Unseld sent him to the bench with Wizards starting center Daniel Gafford returning from injury.
Only playing 18 minutes in the loss to the Denver Nuggets he still was able to collect 14 points and seven rebounds, five of the seven came offensively.
The prospect of a Bagley and Gafford front court for Washington is definitely intriguing and should they get time sharing the court, it will be fun to watch.
"He just works," Gafford said of Bagley after the game against the Nuggets. "He puts a hard hat on too... I'm excited to have him on the team and seeing him strive and do the things that he's been doing."
But as the trade rumors swirl around Gafford, it seems like the majority of the playing time will belong to him in order to raise his trade value.
This is Bagley's big chance to show he belongs in this league and to solidify himself as a future piece for the Wizards rebuild.
Only time will tell if the former number two overall pick can find his footing in and turn his career around with Washington.
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