Former Oregon standout Bol Bol parlayed a career season with the Orlando Magic to a deal with arguably the NBA’s most exciting team, with Bol agreeing to a contract with the Phoenix Suns, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The two sides came together on a one-year deal worth $9 million.
A 7-foot-2 center with a unique skill set and the son of former NBA player Manute Bol, Bol Bol ranked as the No. 1 center and No. 4 overall player in the 2018 class. And he chose to move from Nevada-based powerhouse Findlay Prep to Oregon, a major get for Dana Altman and co. He looked every bit the five-star prospect in the first nine games of the season, averaging 21.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 52% from 3, but suffered a season-ending foot injury after just nine games.
That dented Bol’s draft stock — few things scare NBA decision-makers more than tall players with foot problems — and Bol went from a projected lottery selection to a second-rounder, taken at No. 44 overall by the Miami Heat and traded to the Denver Nuggets. He played a minor role for the Nuggets over his three seasons with the team, playing in 53 games over three seasons and averaging 6.2 minutes and 2.7 points per contest. An attempt to trade Bol to the Detroit Pistons fell through when he failed his physical fitness exam, with Bol undergoing surgery on his right foot afterward, then getting traded to the Boston Celtics, and about a month later to the Orlando Magic.
After he was ruled out for the rest of the season, Bol re-signed with the Magic and put together his best (and healthiest) season, logging 70 games with 33 starts, playing 21.5 minutes per game and averaging 9.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. That made him a high-value free agent, with Bol eventually picking the Suns.
The Suns made headlines when they traded for Kevin Durant in March, with Phoenix adding another piece this offseason, dealing aging point guard Chris Paul to the Washington Wizards for All-Star Bradley Beal. When added to returnees Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton — all of whom are slated to earn at least $30 million this season — those acquisitions led to questions about how the Suns would find financial room to fill out the roster around those big contracts.
But with Bol joining up, the Suns have fared well there, too, bringing in Eric Gordon, Drew Eubanks, Keita Bates-Diop, Yuta Watanabe, Jordan Goodwin and Chimezie Metu.
Bol makes for an interesting fit with that group because he’s shown flashes of being able to knock down outside shots, though he made just 26.5% of his long-range attempts last year, he took 113 of them, and he made 37.8% of his outside shots in his three years at Denver. With other players drawing more attention on offense, Bol could find himself getting cleaner looks, and his percentage could jump—he made almost 76% of his free throws last year..
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