Sacramento Kings forward Marvin Bagley III suffered a fractured hand in Monday's loss to the Charlotte Hornets, the team announced. Bagley will undergo further evaluation in the coming days. The severity of a hand fracture tends to depend on multiple factors. Bagley fractured the fourth metacarpal in his left hand, but without knowing more details, no timeline can be set for his return.
Bagley, now in his third season out of Duke, has largely been a disappointment as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He missed most of last season due to injury, and this season, he has averaged a career-low 13.9 points per game thus far. Most of his statistics are roughly in line with his career averages aside from an uptick in 3-point shooting. That's somewhat discouraging for a prospect of Bagley's caliber. The Kings selected him No. 2 overall, ahead of Luka Doncic, expecting superstar-caliber production. He has largely remained stagnant as a professional, though.
That has triggered some trade rumors as the Kings retool under new general manager Monte McNair. According to The Athletic's Sam Amick and Jason Jones, Bagley is "up for discussion" in negotiations with other teams, but so far, interest has been minimal.
This injury won't help on that front, and it won't help with Bagley's stalled development. Now the Kings, in 13th place in the Western Conference and four games out of a spot in the play-in round, will have to make do with Nemanja Bjelica and potentially Jabari Parker in bigger roles. Hopefully, Bagley can return in time to turn around his underwhelming season.
