What To Expect From Bol Bol
Bol Bol is about as intriguing as basketball prospects come.
At 7-2 and with a 7-7 wingspan, the 22-year old big man has elite length. He's also extremely skilled for a young 7-footer and has shown that he can step out and shoot the three. He's obviously a natural shot blocker because of that height and length and he's pretty smart in terms of moving without the ball on offense and in rotation on defense.
He sometimes gets knocked for his effort and intensity but obviously those things can improve and should as he joins a scrappy team who expects more out of him than the Denver Nuggets did.
On offense, Bol is rare. Despite being so tall and long, he's actually very good at putting the ball on the floor and attacking. Even with elite size, he's not a back-to-the-basket player at all. Instead, he's more of an attacking wing in a 7-2 body. He's also got a step-back three in his game, which you also don't usually see from a player that tall.
He's obviously very thin at just 220 pounds, but he actually absorbs contact pretty well and can still make tough, contested shots because of his length. If you think about how his dad Manute was built at 7-7, it's clear that bulking up is never going to be in the cards for Bol. As long as he's not asked to bang and play an extremely physical brand of basketball, he should be fine. He has dealt with some injuries already in his young career, as did his father, but he's got the kind of game that can last if his role is defined and clear.
Defensively he also has a lot of natural abilities because of his length. He's a natural shot blocker and actually does a pretty good job staying down in a stance as well. His length creates problems for smaller players off the dribble and obviously when contesting shots as well.
It's going to be really interesting to see how Bol is utilized in Detroit. With the current roster makeup, he likely won't start, but he could be a key contributor off the bench. If Jerami Grant is dealt as the trade deadline approaches, that would shake up the starting lineup quite a bit and Bol could be inserted. If that happens, a starting five of Killian Hayes, Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey, Bol Bol and Isaiah Stewart is pretty intriguing. There's obviously a bunch of size and length in that lineup, along with positional versatility. Does Bol's game work though? It might. Is he a long term piece of Detroit's roster? Perhaps. If he's not, the Pistons barely had to give up anything for him. He's got so much raw talent and ability that if he continues to develop, it will be a very worthwhile move.
I like the move for Detroit a lot. All they gave up was 30-year old Rodney McGruder and a second-round draft pick from the Brooklyn Nets that will likely end up being in 50s. I'm not saying for one second that Bol is the next Giannis Antetokounmpo, but just think about how much The Greek Freak developed from years one and two to years five and six. If Bol can improve even 25-50% of what Giannis did, he'll be a steal.
When the Nuggets picked him at No. 44 overall two years ago, he was viewed as one of the steals of the draft. Now he's a Piston. If he can reach any of the potential that had him labeled as a diamond in the rough when he came out of Oregon, he'll be a piece that Detroit can build with moving forward.
