Suns Player Preview: Bol Bol brings his upside and potential to Phoenix

The Phoenix Suns had plenty of depth issues last season which is why GM James Jones looked to bolster it this offseason. Wings, guard, bigs; Jones added plenty of players. One of those players has a name that is recognizable and an upside that the team hopefully can unleash.

Bol Bol

Power forward, 7’2”, 220 pounds, 23-years old

He’s here! Bol Bol is now a Phoenix Sun! The anticipation and the mystery to his game is what makes you wonder what will be. The addition is fun and that might be the best and easiest way to describe our feelings for this gigantic addition to the Suns roster.

It’s already exciting enough that the Suns are championship contenders. By adding Bol Bol, you won’t know what you get till you see it on the court. He is a bit of flavor added to this already stacked team.

Who knows what to expect? That’s what makes this addition…fun!

Recap

Bol Bol through 123 games has averaged 6.3 PTS, 3.8 TRB, and 0.7 AST, with a FG% of 53.3% in his young career,

Last year — a career year — he averaged 9.1. PTS and 3.8 REBS with the Orlando Magic in 70 games played. The stats won’t blow you away, but the most important part is that 70 games played.

With his size, Bol Bol did not suffer an injury last year. The young power forward gained more minutes last year averaging 21.5 minutes-per-game while starting the total of 33 games.

It’s easy to look at his size, wingspan, and athletic ability and discredit him after three years played. The reason being, it’s because he has not grasped the game yet. This is what we do, we throw players away early and move on to the next exciting thing coming.

After becoming a top six player in 2018 in recruiting ranks, he was drafted in the second round for the Miami Heat with the 14th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

There are expectations for him, but for a player selected in the second round, last year seemed like a positive in the box score. His game is yet to be determined.

Contract

Bol Bol is headed into a one year deal this upcoming season worth just over $2 million.

Strengths

In the video shown below, you can see Bol Bol has the opportunity to showcase talent, running a break and using his link to finish. His size and wingspan is insurmountable for opposing players trying to play his position. But the position he wants to play might be point guard, although his is in a centers body.

That is where the issues comes in.

You can also see that he is fearless when going to the rim and will try to finish over any defender.

Weaknesses

His weaknesses, at times, remind me of the once starting center of the Suns, Alex Len. Like Len, you can see that Bol Bol is hesitant at times to push towards the basket with shots and to draw contact.

He slouches and becomes small when bodied up in the paint. Improving on this detriment to his game will take minutes and confidence to use more force in power when driving in backing down bigs.

One Key Factor

Finding what he’s good at. You can see that he has an all-around game with glimpses of potential.

He will settle for the three then at times try to the rim after pump fake. If he can use his size as an advantage on any part of the floor with a jump shot over a defender or using the glass with a better angle against a defender in the paint, he will earn decent minutes and the Sun’s rotation.

Prediction

I’m sure you’re with me on this one, Bol Bol will see a lot of garbage minutes. Like a lot of the additions on the Suns, he has a possibility to play himself into a few of the lineups.

But in reality, I don’t see too many minutes earned.

This Suns team has a few veterans who may be able to help grow his game and to help him maintain focus on the court, and do what he does best. What is that? I’m not too sure till we really see it.

If he can gain some minutes and show his true potential, maybe he’ll earn a real spot on the roster heading into the playoffs.