Kings Rookie Marvin Bagley III Out Approximately 2 More Weeks with Knee Injury
The Sacramento Kings announced Friday that rookie forward Marvin Bagley III will resume basketball activities in approximately two weeks.
The No. 2 overall pick has been sidelined by injury on a couple of occasions already during his rookie season. He missed a pair of early December contests due to back spasms and had to leave the Dec. 14 game against the Golden State Warriors due to a left knee bone bruise.
Bagley has missed Sacramento's past seven games with the knee ailment.
When he has been healthy, though, Bagley has gotten off to a solid start to his professional career. He is averaging 12.7 points per game on 53.6 percent shooting while grabbing 6.1 rebounds as a bench player.
While Bagley has put up quality numbers early on, there has been some friction in the Sacramento organization regarding head coach Dave Joerger's handling of the rookie. Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reported in mid-November that Joerger could ultimately lose his job over the matter, as the coach has not given the 19-year-old forward as much playing time (zero starts, 23.1 minutes per game) as expected.
Of course, the injuries haven't helped Bagley's development.
With Bagley unavailable for at least two more weeks, the Kings will continue to rely on fourth-year veteran Nemanja Bjelica to hold down the 4 spot.
Bagley's return can't come soon enough for the Kings. They are in a battle for a playoff spot in the Western Conference and are tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the No. 8 seed at 19-16.
