He talks about his own accurate shooting, Bol Bol’s development, and more.
Bol Bol, a former forward for Oregon, is a captivating representation of stark contrasts going into this week’s NBA selection. At 7 feet 2 inches in shoes, he is so tall that he can almost dunk without using his feet. At 208 pounds, he weighs just one pound more than 5-foot-10 waif Kyler Murray, who was selected first overall in the NFL draft. He was so good that in college, he made 52% of his 3-pointers, which is a remarkable percentage for a player of any kind.
Bol Bol is one of the most interesting NBA draft prospects we have ever seen, and he has enormous potential, but there is a warning sign attached to his package. Bol dives into the draft with more questions than a SAT study guide. Endowed with a lofty ceiling and unflappable by.
You question the body, you question the injury, you question the work ethic and you question the love of the game,” an NBA scout told Yahoo Sports. “You question what he’s about, but he does have the potential to be a star. But there’s a lot of things holding him back.”
Bol has become the NBA draft’s most variable player, with the possibility to be selected anywhere from the lottery to the first round’s final choice. For the past year, Bol’s NBA teams have been analyzing him to see if he can be as dominant as Kristaps Porzingis or if he will eventually burn out and become an overgrown tease like Hasheem Thabeet.
Another NBA scout told Yahoo Sports that “we don’t have a comp for him,” which implies that there isn’t a comparable NBA player, making Bol the prospect difficult to evaluate.
His weight of 208 pounds is far less than the 235 pounds Oregon reported he weighed while there, so naturally, the debates start with his physical appearance. After just nine games, Bol suffered a fracture to his left foot, ending his season there. (NBA executives often get anxious about foot injuries, especially when they involve large men.)
Bol is not like his well-known father, the storied 7-foot-7 center Manute Bol. Bol Bol is less of a traditional center/shot stopper and more of a wing shooter. In his final season at Oregon, he scored 21.0 points, grabbed 9.6 rebounds, and made 13 of his 25 3-pointers. Given that he is more of a wing player than a post player and that his small physique makes him vulnerable defensively, it is unclear where in the NBA he will play.
Bol primarily competed against Oregon’s non-conference schedule’s buy-game jets and flotsam. However, he excelled in the face of the greatest opposition, putting on impressive performances against Syracuse at Madison Square Garden (26 points) and during the boisterous opening of Houston’s new arena (23 points).
