Sacramento Kings big man Marvin Bagley III is a nice player, but he’s not exactly one of the NBA’s most hyped young guys.
However, former Kings center Olden Polynice feels that Bagley not only has a chance to be a great player but become better than Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo or even Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“If he’s healthy, to me, he’s along the lines of Giannis,” Polynice said while on the “The Carmichael Dave Show with JayMarzz.” “Because he can handle the ball, he can shoot–he’s a better shooter than Giannis. He has right-shoulder, left-shoulder moves. He runs the floor extremely well. He jumps really high. He really is a generational talent. He can transcend the game. He is not Luka Doncic, no. No one is. But he can be Marvin Bagley and he can be really, really good.
“If those things (health) happen, I kid you not, he’s on that level of a Giannis, guys like that. Bam Adebayo, we have seen his development. He can be as good–if not better than guys like that.”
Bagley is still a ways away from becoming whatever the best version of himself is. In his first two seasons in the league, he’s averaged 14.8 points and 7.6 rebounds in 25.3 minutes a game while hitting only 28.8 percent of his 3-point attempts.
He attended Sierra Canyon School, the same school that Bronny James, the son of former Miami Heat superstar LeBron James, currently goes to.
Adebayo, of course, is a unique talent in his own right who’s only getting better. He made his first NBA All-Star team last season and still has tremendous room for growth.
Comparing a young player like Bagley to a two-time MVP like Antetokounmpo, or even a rising star like Adebayo, is certainly high praise, but it’s also a lofty statement that will be very tough for him to live up to.
