Former Duke basketball big man and ACC Player of the Year Marvin Bagley III is heading to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of an trade that sends Marcus Smart to the Washington Wizards, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Thursday.
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The 25-year-old Bagley will become a Memphis teammate to another NBA Blue Devil in guard Luke Kennard, who is shooting 47.7 percent beyond the arc this season and on track to post the league’s highest 3-point percentage for the third time in the past four years. And Bagley goes from being on the team with the worst record in the NBA to the No. 2 squad in the Western Conference standings.
Bagley, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2018 following his prolific one-and-done campaign in Durham, is averaging a career-low 4.9 points and 2.9 rebounds across 19 outings this season, his second with the Wizards. However, for his career, spanning three franchises in the Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and Sacramento Kings, the 6-foot-10, 235-pound lefty has posted 12.4 points and 6.7 boards per game.
He’s been out of commission since late December due to a knee injury.
As for Kennard, the 2015-17 Duke basketball sharpshooter has seen action in 38 contests this season, averaging 9.7 points, 2.9 boards, and 3.4 assists in 22.2 minutes per game.
Memphis (35-16), riding a four-game winning streak, is now preparing to host the Oklahoma City Thunder (40-9), the only team sitting above the Grizzlies in the West, at 8 p.m. ET Saturday.
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