The future of basketball is coming soon to an arena near you. Well, maybe not that soon.
When ESPN.com's team of college basketball scouts (Paul Biancardi, Reggie Rankin, Adam Finkelstein, John Stovall, Joel Francisco) was tasked with devising a list of the current high school stars whom we'd still be talking about a decade from now, the consensus top choice was Marvin Bagley III -- a 16-year-old who just started his sophomore year at Hillcrest Academy in Phoenix.
Bagley, a 6-10 phenom with guard skills who is the grandson of former NBA and Arizona State star Joe Caldwell, won't play college basketball until the 2018-19 season and is unlikely to be eligible for the NBA draft until 2019, but his is a name you should remember.
"Most at his height and grade try to overpower the opponent with size and strength," Biancardi wrote of Bagley as part of last week's Class of 2018 update: "He does so with length, finesse and skill, much of which comes naturally to him. He is an instinctive shot-blocker with timing, a lob finisher, a rebound-and-push-it type of forward in the open floor, and he can finish the break by either scoring or facilitating. Gaining strength will be vital to his development and success, but Bagley's future looks extremely bright -- he's special."
Bagley was named ahead of 2016 No. 1 Harry Giles on all five of our scouts' ballots, and only Biancardi (who ranked him at No. 2 behind 2017 center DeAndre Ayton) opted not to place him at No. 1. Giles edged Ayton, the No. 1 player in the 2017 class, for the No. 2 spot.
The complete Future 25 is listed below (* indicates a player who was named on all five of our scouts' ballots):
*1. Marvin Bagley III (2018), PF, 6-10, 185, Hillcrest Academy/Phoenix
We'll be talking about Bagley a decade from now because ...
He is the total package. Length, athleticism and perimeter skill that includes the ability to knock down open jumpers with range. Bagley simply shoots over smaller defenders and is a true matchup nightmare. -- Reggie Rankin
The player Bagley most reminds us of: Kevin Durant