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Why Marvin Bagley III deserves to Join the Ayton-Doncic debate

By Sean Humpherys

OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: Marvin Bagley III #35 of the Duke Blue Devils moves the ball against Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk #10 of the Kansas Jayhawks during the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional Final at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: Marvin Bagley III #35 of the Duke Blue Devils moves the ball against Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk #10 of the Kansas Jayhawks during the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional Final at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 17: Stanford Robinson
PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 17: Stanford Robinson /

Skillset

Ayton may become the best post player in the draft but Bagley is no slouch himself. Bagley has a multitude of post moves and great touch at the hoop. Joe Boozell at NCAA.com ranked Marvin Bagley ahead of DeAndre Ayton as a post player. 

Bagley won’t become the brute force that Ayton is down low, but he is skilled enough to bang with other NBA giants. If Bagley can put on more weight and mature physically then he projects to be similar to Karl-Anthony Towns or Chris Bosh as a post player who is so skilled he doesn’t need to bulldoze the defender like Ayton does.

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Bagley is much more than a post player though.

Marvin has shown the ability to put the ball on the floor and drive past bigger players with his quickness, finishing over smaller players with his size.

Bagley’s jumpshot is also steadily improving, going from 31% from 3 in January wth Duke to 39.7% by the end of the season.

Because of his dribbling abilities and his jumpshot Bagley will be able to do more than hunker down low, waiting for a post touch or a lob. Bagley will be able to stretch the floor if his jumpshot continues to improve. A big will not be able to contest his 3-point shot and stay in front of him if he decides to take it to the rack. A smaller guy will also struggle to guard him as Bagley will be able to finish over him or post him up.

The NBA is a perimeter oriented game these days, and because of rule changes and better 3-point shooters it is uncertain if it will cycle back. Bagley can thrive on the perimeter and provide scoring inside if he improves his three point shot.

**Note: Marvin Bagley reclassified from the class of 2019. In other words he should have gone to senior prom instead of March Madness this March. For a should-be high school senior to have his skillset is phenomenal!

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