The Sacramento Kings, who will be chasing the final playoff spot in the Western Conference as the NBA returns at the end of this month in Orlando, Florida, will be without key big man Marvin Bagley III due to a foot sprain which will put him on the shelf for the rest of the season.
Bagley has played in only 13 games this season thanks to a foot injury that has hampered his other foot, and had apparently gotten healthy during the NBA season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, a wrong step at Sunday’s Kings practice session means that the team has decided that Bagley will not be able to return to the court this season, capping a very frustrating 2019-20 for both the power forward and his team.
After being selected with the second overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Bagley averaged 14.9 rebounds and 7.6 rebounds per game as mostly a bench option for the team last season. Expected to take a big step forward in 2019-20, the former Duke Blue Devil has instead seen his progress stunted thanks to foot problems.
Nemanja Bjelica is expected to shoulder the load at power forward for the Kings down the stretch as they look to make up a 3.5-game deficit in the final games of the season to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
