Kings mailbag: Marvin Bagley III, De’Aaron Fox, basketball dads and Twitter trade demands
What a week in Kings Land.
We saw basketball dads throw down on Twitter and a red-alarm loss to the Golden State Warriors before rookie sensation Tyrese Haliburton returned from injury to help the Kings snap a three-game losing streak.
The Kings (4-4) opened a seven-game homestand with a 128-124 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Haliburton had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists on a night when De’Aaron Fox left the game with a hamstring injury in the first quarter.
Marvin Bagley III recorded a double-double, posting season highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds in a breakout performance days after his father, Marvin Bagley Jr., demanded a trade on Twitter. Fox’s father, Aaron Fox, offered his thoughts on the issue, tweeting: “Trade him.”
How good is Haliburton? How long will Fox be out? Would it make sense for the Kings to trade Bagley now? You have questions and we have answers in this week’s Kings mailbag.
Note: Some questions have been edited for length or clarity.
Does Marvin Bagley III want to be traded?
@bstone76 asks: Does the fact that Marvin Bagley III didn’t downplay his father’s tweet mean he agrees with it?
Not necessarily, but I can’t quibble with those who viewed Bagley’s weak response as a tacit approval of his father’s messaging.
Bagley made it clear he did not want to discuss his father’s tweet when the Kings made him available to the media Sunday, saying he only wanted to talk about the next day’s game against the Golden State Warriors. Bagley was particularly evasive when I asked him if he wanted to dispel the notion that he would like to be traded.
“Tomorrow’s going to be a big game for us,” Bagley said. “I’m excited about that. Just excited to get on the court and play tomorrow.”
Instead of addressing the issue directly, Bagley left his coach and teammates in the line of fire to answer questions about distractions and chemistry issues. Bagley could have simply said his father doesn’t speak for him on such matters and laughed off the subject as some silly social media drama, but he didn’t do that.
Does that mean Bagley wants to be traded? Maybe it does. Or maybe he’s just a young man, already under enormous pressure at 21 years old, who didn’t want to publicly repudiate his father after being put in a very uncomfortable position.
What is Marvin Bagley III’s trade value?
@stevencheng01 asks: What’s the realistic return for Marvin Bagley III today? Are there upsides to waiting a little longer to trade him since his game is pretty well known to the league at this point?
Waiting is the best thing the Kings can do. There won’t be much of a market for Bagley until he shows he can stay healthy and productive over an extended period of time.
Bagley missed 20 games as a rookie and was limited to 13 games due to thumb and foot injuries last season. Kings general manager Monte McNair might be able to find a few teams willing to roll the dice, but he probably couldn’t get more than a collection of second-round picks or, perhaps, a late first-round pick in return.
Despite the setbacks, Bagley has posted career averages of 14.5 points and 7.7 rebounds, and he is shooting 35% from 3-point range so far this season. A healthy and productive Bagley would be worth far more to the Kings than the pu pu platter they would receive if they were to sell low right now.
What is Marvin Bagley III’s future?
@Jim38576775 asks: In two years, will Marvin Bagley III be a high-value player for the Kings or will he be playing for another team?
The Magic 8-Ball says: “Ask again later.”
Basketball dads
@Starkfaced asks: Can all the dads have a roundtable and discuss each other’s adult children’s basketball abilities? I would tune in.
Sure, but only if Team Mom Lydecia Holmes is available to oversee the proceedings. Her son, Richaun Holmes, didn’t have his best game in Monday’s loss to the Warriors, finishing with four points and three rebounds in 19 minutes.
Holmes’ mother took to Twitter that night, not to blast the coach or complain about playing time, but to praise Hassan Whiteside, her son’s backup, who had eight points in 12 first-half minutes.
“Whiteside need to be in!” she tweeted. “He was having a good game!”
Where is Hassan Whiteside?
@barrysacks1 asks: What is the real story on Hassan Whiteside?
The honest answer is we don’t know.
Whiteside averaged 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 14 minutes per game over the first four games of the season. In the past four games, Whiteside played a total of 15 minutes, and he didn’t play at all in two of the last three games.
Kings coach Luke Walton has been asked about Whiteside a couple of times over the last week or so. The first time he said Whiteside was still getting into shape after missing part of the preseason with a calf injury. The second time, Walton said he had spoken to Whiteside about his role, explaining that he tried different strategies against the Rockets but the Kings would need Whiteside over the course of the season.
