When a rookie has a field goal percentage above 50%, I am 50% more likely to be a fan of that rookie over other rookies who don’t shoot as well from the field. That’s because I’m a simpleton who likes stats that are direct analogues to real-world occurrences (with the exception being win-shares; win-shares don’t represent actual wins, but somehow my brain has latched onto the win-shares concept as being understandable and logical). Marvin Bagley is one such rookie. Jaren Jackson and Deandre Ayton are the other two big-name rookies that are achieving the feat, but I feel like Bagley has the most varied offensive arsenal of the three. That’s why he’s my favorite.
It’s too bad that the Kings aren’t going to the playoffs this season. I would have loved to watch him go toe-to-toe with Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. He’d probably get destroyed (both by Green’s defense and Durant’s unbelievable scoring ability [I wanna make Durant highlights but I can’t for some reason]) but if he had even one good game against them, it would be like a shimmering beacon of hope for a Kings franchise that has been lost in the fog for a decade. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a beacon of hope, but showing out in the playoffs would go a long way to proving the haters wrong (and butthurting all the Warriors bandwagon fans who reside in the Sacramento area).