Projecting the 20 most promising young duos in the NBA

5. De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III (Sacramento Kings)

The Sacramento Kings have been cycling through one youth movement after another for about a decade. It looks like they may have gotten it right this time with 21-year-old point guard De’Aaron Fox and 20-year-old power forward Marvin Bagley III.

Under previous head coach Dave Joerger, Fox and Bagley were brought along slowly in their respective rookie seasons despite each player being labeled the future of the franchise right out of the gate.

Fox began his rookie season on the bench before being handed the keys full-time in Year 2. Bagley was in the starting lineup only four times last season after being the No. 2 pick in the 2018 draft.

While it was an impressive display of patience from a coach in a business that often doesn’t allow for patience, and it is a method that could pay off long-term, a lot of Kings fans wanted to see their potential young stars as much as possible right away.

Joerger is gone now, though, replaced over the summer by Luke Walton. In Walton’s first year, Bagley shouldn’t have any restrictions. The 6’11” Duke product averaged 14.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and could reach 20-and-10 territory in the near future.

Fox showed last season that he’s ready to join the ranks of the league’s top point guards sooner than later, averaging 17.3 points, 7.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game. While training with the U.S. national team during the summer, he looked just as good and sometimes better than higher-profile guards like Kemba Walker and Donovan Mitchell.

Sacramento’s playoff drought reached 13 years last season, but there was visible progress. The Kings finished ninth in the Western Conference standings, made a 12-win improvement on their record from the previous season, and posted their highest win total (39) since the 2005-06 season.