Good News For Marvin Bagley?

Like most rookies, former Duke star Marvin Bagley had an up-and-down season. He came out well in the end, averaging 14.9 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 1.0 apg. He shot 50.4 percent overall, 31.3 percent from three point range and 69.1 percent from the stripe.

Apparently though former coach Dave Joerger didn't really connect with him and Bagley was left not even sure if his coach liked him or not.

That’s a quite a shift from Duke where he was respected and appreciated.

It looks as if the Sacramento culture is about to change and new coach Luke Walton wants to make sure that Bagley is appreciated:

“I told him I think he is going to be a big part of what we do, and we need him to continue to improve, and his versatility, him defending multiple positions will ultimately be a big factor in how much success and how many different defensive schemes we can use. Players like him and Harry (Giles), and some of those bigger versatile guys that we have. I’ll have a clearer picture of those things the more I get to start to working with these guys and see what their strengths and weaknesses are.”

Keep this in mind. Bagley is barely 20. He’s still pretty skinny and yet had a very successful rookie season. He’s thin and raw but Walton is right to be excited: where does he go from here?

That’s a very intriguing thought. There just aren't many guys like that around.