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Marvin Bagley III’s Duke pick up game highlights showcase his potential

By Chris Stone

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 05: Marvin Bagley, Jr., the top high school recruit in the class of 2018, celebrates a basket during a Drew League game at Los Angeles Southwest College on August 5th, 2017. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 05: Marvin Bagley, Jr., the top high school recruit in the class of 2018, celebrates a basket during a Drew League game at Los Angeles Southwest College on August 5th, 2017. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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We got an early glimpse of what Marvin Bagley III will look like playing for Duke

Last week, the top high school basketball player in the country, Marvin Bagley III, announced his plans to reclassify into the Class of 2017 and play for the Duke Blue Devils this season.

Usually, we would have to wait until the team starts practice or playing preseason games to see Bagley take the floor with future teammates like Grayson Allen and Trevon Duval, but his family’s Twitter account gave us an early preview. On Sunday, the account tweeted out a short highlight video of a no coaches allowed scrimmage featuring Bagley playing alongside Allen, Duval and others during his official visit:

The video starts with a rather uninteresting and tame highlight of Allen dumping the ball to Bagley in the post and the 6-foot-11 big man knocking down a mid-range jumper, but it picks up quickly.

Perhaps the most impressive play and the best example of why Bagley is leaping up 2018 NBA Draft big boards comes next. The 18-year old rips through his defender using a quick first step to get a past him then beats another defender off the bounce before finishing with a reverse layup.

The short highlight package shows the versatility that Bagley will bring to the Blue Devils’ offense next season and should assuage some of the concerns that fans have regarding how the team will handle playing the No. 1 ranked prospect alongside another big man. Bagley isn’t an elite jump shooter yet, but he has the potential to be a serviceable one who can draw opposing big men out to the perimeter and attack off the dribble.

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He’ll also give Duke another weapon in transition because of his ability to run the floor, which should be incredible dangerous given that Duval is one of the Class of 2017’s best ball-handlers. Duke isn’t yet the prohibitive favorite to be the country’s preseason No. 1 team, but they’re one of just a handful of teams with an argument. Bagley’s highlights show us why.