Sacramento has a new regime, and second-year team president Monte McNair is not invested in former No. 2 pick Marvin Bagley III the way the previous front office was. McNair didn’t draft Bagley and is ready to move on.
Bagley is not part of the Kings rotation to start the season (although he remains on the roster).
That led Bagley’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, to take the unusual step of ripping the Kings publicly in a Tweet.
— excel sports (@excelsm) October 19, 2021
While an agent ripping into a GM behind closed doors in an attempt to advocate for his player is not uncommon, but to do so publicly as Schwartz did here is very rare. Bagley’s father has regularly gone after the Kings on Twitter, even once demanding a trade.
Schwartz went public because it is about the money (it’s always about the money), starting with Bagley’s potential qualifying offer next season.
One thing to keep in mind with Marvin Bagley III is the starter criteria in his contract.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) October 19, 2021
If Bagley does not start 41 games or plays 2000 minutes this season, his Qualifying Offer for next offseason will drop from $14.8M to $7.3M.
Bagley splits time between the four and the five. The Kings will start Harrison Barnes at power forward with Maurice Harkless behind him, and after those two there are not many minutes left. Richaun Holmes (who the Kings extended this offseason) will start at center, with Tristan Thompson behind him and Alex Len in the mix. Again, not many minutes to be had beyond that group.
The Kings did not extend Bagley’s rookie contract, meaning he is playing for his next deal this season. If Bagley is not in the rotation and getting minutes, the value of next year’s qualifying offer and any money beyond that drops fast. Last season Bagley averaged 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds a game, but as has been the case the past couple of years, he missed significant time due to injuries.
