{"id":624689,"date":"2026-02-25T20:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T20:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/624689\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T20:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T20:18:14","slug":"jason-kidd-praises-former-top-draft-pick-finding-his-way-with-mavericks-after-surprise-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/624689\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Kidd praises former top draft pick finding his way with Mavericks after surprise trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jason Kidd praises former top draft pick finding his way with Mavericks after surprise trade<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Marvin Bagley was an afterthought in the discourse surrounding the <\/a>Dallas Mavericks<\/a>\u2019 trade return for Anthony Davis. However, the former No. 2 pick has made an impact for the Mavericks during his first games following the blockbuster deal.<\/p>\n

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Bagley turned in his most efficient performance of the season during Tuesday\u2019s 123-124 win over the Brooklyn Nets. The 6-foot-10 big man posted a team-high 22 points and five rebounds on 10-of-13 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a really good player,\u201d Jason Kidd<\/a> said of Bagley\u2019s performance. Talking to him, he\u2019s a grown up and he understands the NBA game a little bit. Sometimes it takes time. We all want it to happen overnight. But I think the coaching staff, the media, everyone that\u2019s been on this road trip with him has made him comfortable, and you can see the way he\u2019s playing. If it\u2019s not in the post, it\u2019s an offensive rebound, and then playing defense for us. So the trust with everybody is high, and he\u2019s brand new, and that just shows how talented he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bagley has been unable to find an NBA home after the Sacramento Kings<\/a> selected him No. 2 overall in 2018, directly ahead of Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Trae Young.<\/p>\n

Mavericks Bagley turns heads during first games with Mavs after Anthony Davis trade\"Wendell<\/p>\n

Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The former Duke star has changed teams six times during his eight-year NBA career. After spending his first three seasons with the Kings, he saw stints with the Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards<\/a> before landing in Dallas at this year\u2019s trade deadline.<\/p>\n

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While Bagley\u2019s career has been disappointing<\/a>, he\u2019s making the most of his new opportunity with the rebuilding Mavericks. With Derek Lively sidelined, the 26-year-old has averaged 13.0 points and 8.2 rebounds on 64.3 percent shooting across five appearances with the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust keep building,\u201d Bagley said of his mindset following Tuesday\u2019s win. \u201cIt\u2019s continuing to learn each other, at least for myself and the new guys. Just continuing to gel with the guys that have been here, learning the system, and just every day putting your best foot forward and giving it your all. That\u2019s my mindset, and it looks like that\u2019s the rest of the guy\u2019s mindset here as well. I love to be a part of this, and I\u2019m just happy that I have teammates like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bagley is on an expiring minimum contract<\/a> and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.<\/p>\n

Related: Mavericks\u2019 Khris Middleton leaves Nets clash with shoulder injury<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Cooper Flagg\u2019s Jimmy Fallon appearance halted by New York storms<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jason Kidd praises former top draft pick finding his way with Mavericks after surprise trade appeared first on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[495,7,247,686,149,4057,188,496,3716,368,1022,166,177,6,477,494,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-624689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-anthony-davis","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-mavericks","13":"tag-dallasmavericks","14":"tag-detroit-pistons","15":"tag-jaren-jackson-jr","16":"tag-jason-kidd","17":"tag-luka-doncic","18":"tag-marvin-bagley","19":"tag-mavericks","20":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","21":"tag-nba","22":"tag-sacramento-kings","23":"tag-trae-young","24":"tag-washington-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116133128411408435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}