What is Bol Bol’s Ceiling?

This past Wednesday, the Denver Nuggets were one of eight teams to make their long-awaited Orlando bubble site debut in form of a scrimmage against the Washington Wizards.

With Jamal Murray at the barbershop, Will Barton dealing with knee soreness and Gary Harris and Torrey Craig just recently clearing the NBA’s quarantine protocol, the Nuggets were short-handed heading into their first game. But these limitations made way for one of the tallest starting lineups in NBA history.

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The average height of the Nuggets’ lineup was 82.4 inches, or 6-feet-10.4-inches, which surpassed the previous record set by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks just last season.

For the most part, the scrimmage was a chance for Denver’s regular front court rotation to get back into game shape. But for one player, it was an opportunity to showcase to the world his unconventional mixture of size and skill.

Nuggets’ rookie Bol Bol, son of former Washington Bullet Manute Bol, made his debut with the team Wednesday and recorded a double-double, scoring 16 points, corralling 10 rebounds and swatting six shots.

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Bol is the only rookie in the last 20 years to record at least 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in a preseason game.

While the circumstances of this “preseason game” are immensely different than what players are accustomed to, and despite the fact that the Nuggets played an Ish Smith-lead Wizards team, the feat remains encouraging for everyone in the Nuggets’ organization.

Bol played just nine games during his freshman year at Oregon and averaged 21.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks before injuring his left foot.

Despite injury concerns, many scouts believed Bol’s size (stands 7-foot-2 with a 7-foot-9 wingspan) and skill set would warrant him a lottery selection.

On draft night though, Bol did more waiting than any other prospect in the NBA’s Green Room, as he was drafted 44th overall by the Miami Heat, 13 picks after fellow Green Room invitee Nic Claxton.

Not long after being drafted, the Nuggets traded a future second round pick and cash considerations for the Sudanese center. This was seen as Denver’s second consecutive “low-risk, high-reward” draft day move, as the Nuggets were one year removed from selecting Michael Porter Jr. 14th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Bol signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets in September of 2019, and since the Nuggets do not have a G League affiliate, Bol played eight games with the Windy City Bulls this year.

In those eight games, Bol averaged 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 59 percent from the field.

We’ll likely never see the “tall-ball” lineup ever again, but with Paul Millsap and Mason Plumlee set to become free agents this summer, there could be a spot in the Nuggets’ rotation for Bol next season.

During both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, Jokic played 100 percent of his minutes at center. And although Jokic has the skill set of a guard, he did not become an All-NBA center until the Nuggets traded fellow center Jusuf Nurkic to the Portland Trailblazers during the 2016-17 season.

The games Jokic played with Nurkic during the 2016-17 season, he averaged 16.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists. In the games Nurkic was not there, Jokic upped his averages to 19.5 points, 11.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.

A major story line that came during the NBA’s hiatus though was that Jokic reportedly lost a lot weight during the quarantine period.

No one knows exactly how much weight Jokic lost, but his body transformation could grant him the ability to play a position other than center.

Just this year, LeBron James transitioned from playing primarily small and power forward to playing 57 percent of his minutes at point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Denver’s offense already runs through Jokic, as he leads the Nuggets in both Usage Percentage as well as Points Generated by Assists and Field Goal Shooting. Evidently, it may not be too detrimental for the Nuggets to try Jokic at other positions.

As for Bol, he showed off a nice shooting touch in the scrimmage and a great ability to run the floor for someone his size.

Don’t expect Bol to be a grab-and-go player like Antetokounmpo yet, because his ball control needs more work. But playing alongside a stretch big in Jokic who can run the fast break and distribute the ball probably does not sound so bad to Bol.

Defensively, the Nuggets played a lot of zone defense during the scrimmage, but as mentioned before, the Nuggets were missing Gary Harris, Jamal Murray, Will Barton and Torrey Craig.

When the Nuggets get those guys back, Jokic can utilize his newfound speed to defend quicker, smaller big men while Bol locks down the middle.

Bol could also play the four and allow Jokic to play his natural position. 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis played 69 percent of his minutes at power forward for the Dallas Mavericks this year, while Bol is comparable in size and skill and the Nuggets could have success playing Jokic and Bol together.

Bol will likely need to put on more weight to deal with the physicality of the league, but there are countless examples of players bulking up in short periods of time.

Porzingis was said to have put on 16 pounds during this past offseason, Orlando Magic center Mo Bamba said he gained 28 pounds during the NBA’s hiatus and since entering the league in 2014, Antetokounmpo has gained a ridiculous 51 pounds of muscle.

Bol’s ceiling can only be described with one word: unknown. Whether he hones his craft with the Nuggets, another team or at all is still up in the air. But the potential is clearly there.

During his draft night interview, Bol said he wanted to prove all his doubters wrong, maybe this marks the beginning of that journey.