NBA.com rolled out their Rookie Survey for 2019-20, with the Denver Nuggets making a strong appearance due to their intriguing activity on draft night.
The Denver Nuggets were mostly quiet on draft night but did snag Oregon center Bol Bol with the 44th overall pick in the 2019 draft. To acquire the rights to Bol, the Nuggets gave up $1.2 million along with a future second-round pick via the Sixers or Heat. The trade was a low-risk move from Denver that could end up paying big dividends down the line and it would certainly appear that the latest rookie class agrees.
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Bol Bol made two appearances on the Rookie Survey, the first being in the ‘Biggest Steal’ category. Bol took home ‘Biggest Steal’ with a whopping 19 percent of the vote (second place had 5 percent). The Nuggets are no strangers to this category, with Michael Porter Jr. coming in second place (10 percent of the vote) in this category in the 2018 Rookie Survey. Porter, of course, played not a single minute in his rookie season, so Bol will be off to a better start in his career if he could at least suit up for a game in 2020.
Bol is the only center in the top seven players listed in the “biggest steal” category, helping further showcase the immense amount of ability he possesses despite the many red flags.
The ridiculous ability to step out to the three-point line with confidence at 7-foot-2 is the main draw of Bol at the NBA level but his defense is what will likely keep him on the floor if he ever becomes a rotation player and the Rookie survey reflected that belief as well. Despite Philadelphia’s Matisse Thybulle dominating this category, Bol did receive some votes for the best defender.
Like Thybulle, Bol’s finish in the best defender category was no doubt helped along by the rookies out of the Pac-12. Bol Bol didn’t play enough to qualify for anything but over nine games he averaged 0.8 steals and 2.7 blocks per game. Unless he plays in the NBA G League next season–something we will discuss at Nugg Love soon–we won’t get to see Bol show off any growth on the defensive side of the floor. His incredible length was the reason for 90 percent of his blocks at the college level and he has a looooong way to go in terms of play recognition to be a prolific shot-blocker in the NBA.
But the 2019 rookie class certainly believes Bol Bol was a big-time steal by the Nuggets. Even it takes a considerable amount of time for his skill level to catch up to his talent, expect to see Bol in headlines in the future, hopefully for learning to put it all together and salvage what was a tough start to a wonderful career with the Nuggets.