Report: Pistons' Marvin Bagley III to Miss Start of Season with Knee Injury

Detroit Pistons forward Marvin Bagley III will miss the start of the regular season with a knee injury after exiting Tuesday's preseason contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the opening minute of the first quarter, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday.

Bagley slipped on the court and fell awkwardly while attempting to defend the basket in transition.

This could be another setback for Bagley, who missed time last season with a shoulder injury on his way to 48 games. He also played just 13 games in 2019-20 and 43 games in 2020-21.

While durability has been a concern in the early portion of his career, the 23-year-old is a double-double threat when healthy and on the court. He averaged better than 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in each of his first three seasons after the Sacramento Kings selected him with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2018 NBA draft.

He also posted 14.6 points and 6.8 rebounds a night in 18 games for the Pistons last season.

Although Bagley hasn't quite lived up to the expectations that came with being a No. 2 pick, he is still a solid role player for Detroit.

If the Duke product is sidelined by the injury, look for players like Isaiah Livers, Jalen Duren and Nerlens Noel to see even more time in the frontcourt.