Sacramento Picks Up 2020-21 Options On Fox And Bagley; Decline Options On Giles And Swanigan
Oct 31, 2019, 4:07 PM | Updated: Nov 1, 2019, 10:05 am
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Harry Giles III and Caleb Swanigan will enter unrestricted free-agency at the end of the season
The Sacramento Kings exercised their 2020-21 season options on guard De’Aaron Fox and forward Marvin Bagley III on Thursday afternoon.
Fox’s fourth-year option for $8.1 million was picked up while Bagley’s third-year option for $8.9 million was also selected by Sacramento right before Thursday’s rookie-scale option deadline.
Fox, 21, enjoyed a breakout season last year as he averaged 17.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. Bagley, 20, earned All-Rookie first team honors last season with per game averages of 14.9 points and 7.6 rebounds.
Bagley is currently nursing a fractured right thumb and is expected to be out three-to-five weeks.
While the Kings picked up options on their former top draft picks, they declined 2020-21 options on forwards Harry Giles III and Caleb Swanigan.
Giles, 21, missed his rookie season in 2017-18 due to rehabbing his knees and made his debut last season. In 58 games, the rookie posted 7.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Swanigan, 22, holds career averages of 2.1 points and 2.4 rebounds over 51 games.
Both will become unrestricted free-agents at the end of this season.
The decision on declining Giles’ option may come as somewhat of a shock to Kings fans after the rookie showed flashes of interior scoring and flashy passing during his 2018-19 campaign. So far this season, Giles has been held out of the team’s first five games under murky circumstances with Sacramento claiming that his surgically repaired knees have not been re-injured.
According to James Ham of NBC Sports, a league source stated that the team still supports Giles and that this decision does not mean that he can’t be apart of the Kings’ future. The health status of Giles has reportedly improved over recent days as he has been upgraded from “out” to “questionable” for the team’s past two contests.
He is considered questionable for Friday’s game against Utah as the Kings are still searching for their first win of the season after a rocky 0-5 start.
