The Denver Nuggets were defeated 102-87 by the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, despite the efforts of second-year player Bol Bol. Falling to 0-2 to start Summer League. It’s been a rocky start in Vegas for Denver, guard Markus Howard was still unable to be cleared for play, and the team has had minimal practice together.
There have been a few silver linings for the Nuggets Summer League team, and Bol Bol’s has been a big part of it. Through two games, he has 47 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks. Doing this in roughly 53 minutes of playtime is a great sign for fans watching and waiting to see the progression of this hybrid player. Here are a few main takeaways from his time in Vegas.
Denver Nuggets: 3 takeaways Bol Bol has shown in the summer league: Improved shooting
The Nuggets came forward this summer and claimed the summer league team would play through Bol Bol, similar to the Nuggets play through Nikola Jokic in the regular season and playoffs. It shows the organization’s confidence in the 21-year-old.
Bol has taken his opportunity well, and his offseason work can be noticed on the court. His footwork in the post has been more efficient and helped create more baskets and opportunities for the big man. He could not connect from deep against the Miami Heat on Sunday but showed resilience knocking down 3/4 on Tuesday Night. With a 7’8″ wingspan, the Nuggets could genuinely have an unblockable shooter at times with Bol Bol on the floor in the future.
Overall, Denver made the right call playing him this summer.
Denver Nuggets: 3 takeaways Bol Bol has shown in the summer league: Foul Drawing
Bol has been able to draw the whistle from the refs through two games and has finished a few highlight-and-one baskets on top of it. He is currently 18/24 from the charity stripe, and the Nuggets rank second in the Summer League with 28 free throw attempts as of Wednesday morning.
For Bol Bol, being consistent on drawing fouls could be one of the many ways to collect more minutes in the regular season under Michael Malone.
Denver Nuggets: 3 takeaways Bol Bol has shown in the summer league: Leadership
Bol Bol’s leadership and energy have been far different from what we have seen in the past. When Malone would sub in Bol Bol at the end of many games during the regular season, an argument could be made that he was unhappy with the amount of playing time he had or his situation. Bol’s shoulders would shrug, and the effort was not there some nights.
His first-half vs. Miami looked to possibly fall down that road again after turning the ball over a few times, but a fire was lit inside Bol, and we have seen it rage on ever since. His effort can be seen in his on-ball screening, hustling to make sure he gets a piece of the defender for his teammate or slipping the screen and finishing a lob from Nuggets rookie Nah’shaon ‘Bones’ Hyland. I’ve noticed that the sophomore unicorn has learned to keep his head up on ugly plays, and his body language is far more positive than what we saw last season.
There is still energy for the Nuggets summer league team through two losses. Hopefully, they can continue practicing and working on beating Phoenix on Thursday at 10:00 PM ET.