An ugly opening night loss for Sacramento — 124-95 to Phoenix, a game where the Kings turned the ball over 27 times — just got even worse.
Big man Marvin Bagley III, who started his night at the four but also played more than 14 minutes at center, will be out 4-6 weeks with a fractured thumb, the team announced Thursday. Kings’ coach Luke Walton said Thursday it happened in the fourth quarter, when a Suns player tried to strip the ball and caught Bagley’s thumb.
Here is the entire official announcement:
An MRI conducted this morning on Kings forward Marvin Bagley III revealed a non-displaced fracture (right thumb) sustained during Wednesday’s game vs. Phoenix. Bagley is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. His status will be updated as appropriate.
Hearing that Marvin Bagley’s injury will not require surgery.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) October 24, 2019
That’s a blow to the Kings, who are counting on Bagley taking steps forward in his second season to help push then up the standings and into the playoffs (for the first time in 13 years). It’s going to mean some shuffling of the Kings’ rotation.
With Bagley out, Walton said his initial thinking is to turn to Nemanja Bjelica. That could change between now and Friday evening when the Blazers roll into town.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) October 24, 2019
Another option is to go smaller, have Harrison Barnes play the four, then play De’Aaron Fox at the point, Buddy Hield at the two, and some combination of Trevor Ariza and Bogdan Bogdanovic at the three. Luke Walton has options to tinker with and see what works.
This injury is mostly a setback for the development of Bagley, which is a setback for the Kings.
Both Fox and Hield went down with minor injuries during the game in Phoenix, but both are expected to play Friday against Portland.
