Sacramento Kings: 3 bold predictions for 2018-19 NBA season
1. Marvin Bagley will put up prime Zach Randolph Numbers as a rookie
Marvin Bagley’s teammate, Zach Randolph, is the perfect guy to look to as a mentor as he enters his rookie season in the NBA. Although many NBA analysts were surprised the Sacramento Kings took Bagley with the second overall pick over Luka Doncic, he may be more ready physically to compete in his rookie year.
Randolph’s best years in the NBA were between 2006-11 with the Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies. His peak was arguably in 2006-07 with Portland, when he averaged 23.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
In his lone college season with Duke, Bagley averaged a very similar 21 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. In five preseason with the Kings, Bagley averaged 12.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game. As their highest pick in 29 years, the Kings plan on making Bagley one of their cornerstone pieces moving forward.
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He has played well with Fox so far and his minutes should trend upwards once the regular season starts. It may be difficult to emulate the prime season of one of the better power forwards in the last two decades during his rookie season, but Bagley is a special player who will do great things moving forward.