Last but certainly not least comes the Blazers’ chance at buying low on some young talent. It’s to say that Marvin Bagley III’s career has been anything other than a disappointment so far. It’s not entirely his fault as he was drafted roughly four spots too high.
After suffering from some nagging injuries early, Bagley finally seems healthy and at 21 years of age, he still has plenty of time to turn things around.
That likely won’t happen with the Sacramento Kings however as their relationship may have reached its breaking point.
The Kings have been the subject of much scrutiny for drafting Bagley over Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Jaren Jackson Jr. Additionally, the regime who made that mistake is no longer present in Sac-Town, opening the path for a Bagley trade without shame.
Finally, there’s the trade demand stemming from Bagley’s father. While it didn’t come from the Bagley in question, you have to wonder if father and son both want out of Sacramento. Then you have to wonder how his teammates took the outburst.
Either way, a team who’s been a laughing stock as long as the Kings may not have the patience to sort out the relationship. The new leadership could simply find it easier to move on even if they get 75 cents on the dollar.
There’s no guarantee that Bagley becomes a star but he has shown that he can put up numbers in the NBA.
There is certainly a large deal of risk associated with this trade but it could be well worth it in the long-term for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Moving on from Hood and Little is hard enough, trading away another draft pick is even worse but if Bagley continues to improve it could all be worth it.
For those concerned about the past drama between Bagley and Lillard, I’m sure Bagley would love to play for someone of Dame’s caliber while Lillard can’t afford to deny the help.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on to Glenn Robinson III.
The versatile wing would be much more than a throw-in. Robinson provides above average athleticism whose shoot has been off the charts this season (49/53.6/93.8).
His defense metrics are atrocious but the Kings are by far the worst defensive team in the league so it’s tough for anyone to look half decent.
Robinson cannot be traded until after February 28th so it would be quite a while before this deal could be made but if the Portland Trail Blazers are willing to wait, it could be well worth it.
While Robinson would provide quality minutes and a position of need for the Blazers but make no mistake, the big fish is Marvin Bagley.