July 11: Bagley has officially signed with the Wizards, per the transaction log at NBA.com.
July 10: The Wizards are signing free agent big man Marvin Bagley III to a one-year deal, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
On paper, it makes sense for the Wizards to target a veteran big man in free agency given the fact they traded away Kelly Olynyk this week. Washington only has one player on its standard roster taller than 6’9″ — second-year center Alex Sarr.
However, it’s an interesting move given that the Wizards just traded Bagley away at the deadline to the Grizzlies. Washington originally acquired the former No. 2 overall pick ahead of the 2024 trade deadline alongside Isaiah Livers and a second-round pick. This year, the Wizards sent Bagley out in a multi-team deal that landed them Marcus Smart and a first-round pick, which they used to trade down and select Will Riley.
Bagley appeared in 43 games (16 starts) with Washington across parts of 2023/24 and ’24/25, averaging 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest.
Despite the move making positional sense, it remains to be seen whether Bagley will actually stick on an already-crowded roster. The Wizards have 15 players on official, standard contracts. They also have Richaun Holmes and Justin Champagnie on standard deals, but Holmes’s $13.28MM contract is only guaranteed for $250K and Champagnie is non-guaranteed.
If Bagley’s deal is non-guaranteed, it would seem like a cut-and-dry situation to let go of him, Holmes and Champagnie to solve the roster crunch. However, Champagnie being cut would be somewhat surprising despite his non-guaranteed status, given that he started 31 games last season and averaged 8.8 points while shooting 51.1% from the field and 38.3% from three.
If Washington opts to keep Champagnie, it would mean trading or cutting a player with a guaranteed contract. If Bagley is guaranteed, that means two players on Washington’s roster could potentially be let go despite having guaranteed deals.
In any scenario in which Bagley and/or Holmes doesn’t make the opening-night roster, that would mean Washington would be entering the season with 6’8″ Kyshawn George and Bilal Coulibaly as the tallest players on the 15-man squad outside of Sarr.
After the Grizzlies acquired Bagley last season, he only appeared in 12 games and averaged 3.6 PPG. He holds career averages of 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in 238 games.
Holmes is so close to that free bag , this is a sweat for him tho – Find another tall guy now and his bag might be in jeopardy
I think if he isn’t traded he’s waived. I can’t see the wizards letting that salary go guaranteed unless it’s to facilitate a trade.
Typically I’d agree but they don’t have a C to date – Bagley Sarr more 4
I don’t know if they’d push it that far , my thought was always Holmes gets waived but just maybe he makes it thru . They super tight on spots currently
I assume a C makes it , be it Thomas Bryant tier min or perhaps Holmes as deadline cash to parcel as match . They have plenty of tax space currently even w Holmes salary
Why? SMH Bagley is so overrated! I feel teams keep giving him second chances because he went to Duke.
No, because of his draft pedigree.
It’s because he was the no. 2 pick. If he was in the 20s, he would be where he belongs, China.
Still can’t believe my Kings picked this clown.
If it’s on a vet min, why not? He’s a center these day, not a forward. He rebounds pretty well on the offensive glass, he can finish around the rim, he moves well. That’s already better than some vet min Cs out there.
He’s poor inside his own paint and in p&r, but hey, you get what you pay for.
This signing is not ‘we believe in your potential from pre-draft’, this is about filling a need at the position with what’s available out there. Also, he was with the team last year, and was quite liked.
And he’s another small contract that can be packaged into a bigger contract in a trade later on.
Also, Bagley is till only 26 years old. It’s not unreasonable to expect continued improvement into a serviceable rotation player
For perspective, Quentin Post and Trace Jackson-Davis are 25 years old.
In theory, yes, but he was not improving during his time with the team. He’s found a small role for himself and looks comfortable in it.
And he can’t stay on the court. Looked really out of shape, some of the injuries I’d attribute to that. Got extra weight and poor muscle definition compared to his earlier days.
Also, he’s a music creator, and it looks like he enjoys it more than basketball. Reminded me of when Dinwiddie was with the team. He was into cryptocurrencies and NFTs, and was super engaged about that in interviews and on his streams. But was going through the motions on the court.
I wish Bagley would change his attitude, but I don’t see it happening.
Peter- it’s an interesting discussion…sometimes players are shaped by the losing teams they play on.
By came out of Duke with the reputation of playing hard, which helped him being the 2nd overall pick…but he was drafted by the Kings, and after a nice rookie season, got lost in the dysfunction, and then onto (losing) Detroit, and then (tanking) Washington.
He’s ultimately responsible for his career, of course, but it’ll be 6 coaches in 7 years, and most of the NBA games he’s played in have been “non-competitive” (i.e., tanking). At some point, the fire stops burning.
He does play hard. That’s why he’s good on the offensive glass.
It is an interesting conversation. Some players get into good teams and struggle for playtime, others get into bad teams and get bogged down in the issues those teams have, others struggle due to a coach having a vision they don’t fit in etc. I guess each case is different when it comes to players not living up to expectations.
I’m by no means of a school that if the player didn’t pan out, it’s because he never had it in him. Not at all. The outcome is always a result of opportunity and circumstances. I will forever maintain that Simmons was by far the most talented player in his year, and had it not been for injuries, or had he landed somewhere else, his story would have been different. He still goes No.1 in a fictional redraft, without a shadow of a doubt.
I’m not American and don’t pay attention to the college system, but I trust the evaluations. People who make them are good at their jobs. So I believe there was a good prospect there.
At this point in his career, there’s probably not a team out there he’ll get more playing time on than Washington. And he was genuinely liked, that’s why they wanted to resign him, I imagine. So hopefully there’s some kind of a plan for him. I’ve seen him play good games and have good moments in a Wizards shirt. But I’m also realistic. The NBA is cruel, and there aren’t many fairy tale stories of players in his situation.
And I wish he gets into shape. He looked really soft around the shoulders in Memphis.
Holmes is listed as 6’10”
Most sites besides Basketball-Reference list him at 6’9″.
Holmes is 6’10 only in shoes. Barefoot, he’s probably 6’9, maybe even half an inch less than that.
“…Washington would be entering the season with 6’8″ Kyshawn George and Bilal Coulibaly as its tallest players outside of Sarr” Vukcevic is 6’10
That should refer to players on their standard roster (I tweaked the wording in the article). Would imagine Vukcevic will play a regular role, but until he’s promoted, he can’t appear in more than 50 games.
I wanted the Sixers to sign him
Only team that he is worthy to play for….
Bagley just seems like he doesn’t want it bad enough. He got the big first contract. Then his confidence was killed like Bens. And he did just enough to stick around. He doesn’t move like he did in college. Players always should progress from that. He should be way better than this. Just on effort alone. We all know people who come to work to get out of work. An athlete can always improve just by working out harder. Bagley has learned to get paid just by showing up to work. He shouldn’t be in the L….