The 2018 NBA Draft has already been defined by the teams like the Sacramento Kings that failed to capitalize on the chance to draft Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic. Someone feeling the consequences is Marvin Bagley.
As one might expect, the criticism of the Kings for choosing to take Bagley over Doncic has become louder as the Mavericks superstar continues to light up the NBA more and more. Bagley wants the fans to ‘just keep that same energy’ with their perspective.
“People are gonna say what they want to say,” Bagley said. “Just keep that same energy. That’s my go-to. Once things start to come around, or I start putting up these good games, don’t change positions. Stay with what you said from the jump. You want to rock with me or continue to not rock with me, that’s your opinion, but keep that same energy.”
via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee
The simple fact of the matter is, Bagley is never going to be able to stack up to Luka Doncic in the impact they bring to the table. Doncic is a highly efficient primary playmaking option at 20-years-old leading the Mavericks while Bagley is still struggling to even find a niche in the NBA.
Whether Bagley likes it or not, the Kings making the choice to draft him over Doncic will go down as an all-time draft night blunder. There is nothing he can do to change that. However, he can help mitigate some of the criticism by rounding out his skill-set and becoming an impact player.
So far this season, Bagley is averaging 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Kings and has a -12.6 net rating. He fails to do a lot of the little things both offensively and defensively that make a frontcourt player a positive contributor while failing to provide a clear dynamic element either.
There is still time for Bagley to make the changes necessary to become a high-impact player. It will just be a matter of if he is honest with himself and is dedicated to making those improvements. Meanwhile, Luka Doncic will be in the MVP conversation for years to come leading the Mavericks.
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