Marvin Bagley III is the top basketball prospect in the country. With those accolades come some unique opportunities, including a starring role at the Drew League, the annual summer pro-am hoops extravaganza in Los Angeles. On Sunday, Bagley found himself in the incredibly unique position of lining up alongside Houston stars James Harden and Chris Paul.
In fact, no matter what Bagley accomplishes in college and the professional ranks, he’ll now always go down as one of the first to receive an assist from the combined forces of the Rockets’ new backcourt of Harden and Paul.
James Harden to CP3 to MARVIN BAGLEY
@MB3FIVE @PhxPhamily @DrewLeague pic.twitter.com/FRoQnllFpa
— Overtime (@overtime) July 31, 2017
As you can see in the highlight directly above, Bagley flowed into the free space evacuated after Harden brought the ball up and dished to Paul, who cut into the lane and drew the paint defenders.
Harden and Paul led their Drew League squad, LA United, past a similarly loaded Home Town Favorites, which featured Jordan Bell, Delon Wright and Tim Hardaway Jr., 83-81. Both NBA stars had double-doubles with Harden racking up 27 points and 12 rebounds and Paul adding 13 points and 10 assists.
Still, one of the main takeaways from the event was that Bagley held his own, even excelled with the NBA all-stars. That follows previous summer Drew League forays that included a 30-point outburst against a team helmed by former NBA star Baron Davis and a 32-point effort against a team led by DeMar DeRozan, who embarrassed Bagley by dropping him with a crossover even as Bagley got the last laugh with another 32 points.
As Bagley continues to push toward potential reclassification into the Class of 2017 and immediately NCAA eligibility, it’s worth taking note of his strong performance in Los Angeles against some of the game’s best. Most notably, he’s not out of place, and he’s certainly not afraid to be there.