JULY 7: The Magic have officially re-signed Bol, per a team press release.
JULY 1: Bol Bol has agreed to a two-year deal with the Magic, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel.
Orlando traded for Bol in February, but he was still recovering from foot surgery and hasn’t played for the team. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman indicated after the season ended that the team was still interested in the 22-year-old big man and hoped to re-sign him.
Bol appeared in 14 games last season, all with the Nuggets, averaging 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.8 minutes per night. He played just 53 combined games during his two-plus years in Denver.
A second-round draft pick in 2019, Bol was an intriguing prospect because of his perimeter skills mixed with a lean 7’2″ frame. He showed flashes of talent in the G League and Summer League, but hasn’t been able to translate that into a consistent role in the NBA.
Like Mohamed Bamba, Bol is reportedly returning to the Magic despite the club not issuing him a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent earlier this week.
BOL BOL!!!
Which of these young forward trios will have the most nba success, (Magic) Bol/Franz/Paolo, (Rockets) KJ Martin/Usman Garuba/Jabari, (Hawks) AJ Griffin/Jalen Johnson/Dre Hunter, (Grizzlies) Ziaire/Jaren/David Roddy, (Thunder) Poku/Bazley/Ousmane Dieng? Rank if possible…
I’m curious to know why you wouldn’t list Chet Holmgren as a forward but did list Bol Bol? Aren’t they both Centers?
They both play more like wings offensively tbh. Defensively they’re both probably best at guarding opposing 4s rn until they get stronger/thicker. Plus I’m already very aware of how this crowd feels about Chet lol a large majority of yall are rooting for him in a huge way which I dig bc I am too but I’d rather see if anyone here is capable of formulating an opinion on guys like Dieng, Poku & esp Bazley
Ok I definitely understand your thinking. I think Chet and Bol are pretty similar players. To answer your question though I’d say Magic/Thunder/Rockets/Grizz/Hawks.
It’s basically impossible to form an informed opinion on Dieng. He looks and moves the part so we will see. He has to be better than Poku because Poku is so bad on defense. Poku is still a scrub for a few years but I do see the passing and shooting traits. Now Bazely is interesting. He could play some extremely mobile stretch 5. Most would hate Bazely but I’m high on him. He really improved last year, he also improved has better BBIQ. You can tell watching him he understands the game better now.
I don’t know about most success but I prefer Tre Mann, Jalen Williams and my boy Kenny Hustle Kenrich Williams as my random weird trio.
I feel like for guys like Bazely most fans will sour on you if you enter the League before your ready and can’t compete. I don’t let that cloud my judgment of guys and there to look deeper. Darius Bazely is the same age as Agbaji and my Cavs picked him 14th in the NBA Draft for some reason. But Cavs fans a have you believe Bazely is washed but somehow Agbaji playing against JV guys is a great pick.
It’s very possible to form an informed opinion about Dieng. He played in the NBL last season, there’s alot of available tape of him on YouTube & elsewhere on the internet. To me Poku is actually much better defensively than he is offensively rn. He has potential but still looks like an extremely young player which to be fair is exactly what he is… This is gonna be a very important season for Poku & Bazley fr. Bazley has an extra yr on Poku & seems much more like a nba level guy. But he seems more like a future 3rd forward than a future starter for a playoff team. He seems way small to play 5 anytime soon too, maybe when he’s in his late 20s he’ll have the strength to play more 5 tho. I like him but he’s so inconsistent & I just dk if he has starter level talent in the 1st place. But yea lol Bazley was already unliked by alot of fans before he even got to the league bc of how he pulled out of his commitment to Syracuse & went against the system by working for new balance instead… interesting to compare Agbaji & Bazley. Easy to imagine Bazley being ACC POY this past season if he would done 4yrs at Cuse. But he’d still have the same issues as far as eventually becoming a starter level 4 in the NBA. We just know more about him as a pro bc we’ve seen it for 3yrs already. Agbaji is newer & Cavs fans are rightfully excited about him but tbh I see both of those guys becoming useful rotation guys/borderline starters for the next 5-10yrs in the league
1. Paolo and Franz because that’s the 2 best 2 man group. Jaren and Zaire a close 2nd.
2. Jaren and Zaire, JJJ right now may be the best of the whole list. Zaire has surprised me and has the makings of an archetypal 3 and D guy. Zaire also has the organizations best efforts. He was playing meaningful minutes even when he wasn’t quite up to par. Having that backing helps the development curve.
It gets weird after that. Hawks have guys I think will all get good and Hunter’s talents are being suppressed there. He needs some minutes at the 4 and let’s say in Cleveland instead of Lauri, playing next to Mobley and Allen he would be looking great. OKC has super upside in Dieng and if u had Jalen Williams vs Poku they might make my favorite. The way he moves and passes makes me picture the fat version of Harden. I think the best players are Paolo, Jaren and Jabari with Jaren and Jabari interchangeable. So I like the Hawks also as I think that K Mart 2 is being under utilized by not playing with any real pure point guards. Garuba is also a good prospect and could be the next Capela. I know Ujiri can’t wait to steal him somehow.
I feel like Ziaire was up to par basically right from the beginning of the season tbh. He sorta surprised me too tbh… as far as Dre Hunter think the departures of Huerter & Gallo will give him way more touches & shots. Both of those guys are gunners. We’re basically replacing Kev with a pg & we’re replacing Gallo in large part with just more pt for Dre himself. He’s much much better at the 3 than the 4 tho. Overall I agree with most of what you say tho
Jonathan Isaac and Chuma Okeke are ahead of Bol Bol in that “Magic Forward Trio” conversation.
A healthy Isaac was DPOY tier player. Of course that’s a big IF post-ACL…but he should be ready to go by start of the season. Weltman said his shot looks a lot better and that his body has filled out and is now a lot stronger, so we’ll see.
Okeke had a rough start to his 2nd season, but turned it around in late December and played well after that.
For Bol to be ahead of both, Isaac would have to be a shell of himself post-injury and Okeke would have to regress quite a bit.