The Detroit Pistons have officially announced that the team has made a deal: the Pistons sent McGrud and a 2022 second-round pick (from the Nets) to get Pol Ball from the Nuggets. I'm afraid many fans didn't pay attention to the deal, they are both role players: Ball has averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 boards per game this season, and McGrud has averaged 2.5 points and 1.6 boards per game.
Pol Bohr is the 44th pick of 2019, he was born on November 16, 1999, and is only 22 years old this year. Ball has had little chance at the Nuggets, playing just seven games in his rookie season, averaging 12.4 minutes per game and averaging 5.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.9 blocks. He shot 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range.
In the second year of his career, in the 2020-21 season, he played in 32 games for the Nuggets, averaging 5 minutes per game, with 2.2 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 0.3 blocks. He shot 43 percent from the field and 38 percent from three-point range. Judging by the data, it seems that he has not adapted to the NBA until now...
Bohr is 2 meters 18 meters tall, with an arm span of 2 meters 31 meters, and stands about 2 meters 9 meters tall. His father, former NBA blocker Manute Ball, is 2.31 meters tall and has had 4.96 blocks in a single season. Pol inherited his father's static talent, but his weight has always been a problem, less than 100 kilograms, too thin!
Ball grew to 2.08 meters at the age of 14 and stood out among players of his own age. In his final year of high school, he averaged 20.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, not only being named a five-star high school student, but also considered a top five high school student in the class of 2018. Although Ball is not as dazzling as Zion, he is also the star player of the same year.
In the summer of 2018, several NCAA universities extended invitations to Bohr, including UCLA, Kentucky and Kansas, and he finally chose the University of Oregon. In his NCAA debut, Ball played just 23 minutes and cut 12 points, 12 boards and 3 blocks. In his first nine games, he averaged 21 points, 9.6 boards and 2.7 blocks per game, shooting 56.1% from the field and 52% from three-point range.
At that time, Bol had unlimited scenery and was predicted by the media to be in the top five of the 2019 draft. Unexpectedly, on January 4, 2019, Ball had a stress fracture in his left foot and was reimbursed for the season. This is the nightmare of all interior players, and Yao Ming also retired early because of this injury. Ball played only 9 games in the NCAA and was over.
Ball's draft price plummeted, and although he was invited into the Little Green House (usually in the top 20), he was not selected by the Nuggets until the 44th pick. Ball is not a traditional interior lineman, he can run and shoot, a bit like a skinny version of Durant. Ball has a wealth of offensive skills, with 30% of his shots coming from back-to-back singles and 16% from fixed-point jumpers.
Jokic was the 41st pick in the 2014 draft, so the Nuggets also hope that Ball will play like Joshua. Why didn't Ball play in the NBA? There are subjective reasons as well as objective reasons. Playing the fifth position is too thin, playing the third and fourth positions, the lateral movement speed can not keep up.
Coupled with the Nuggets' front line with Porter Jr., he is also the team's key young player to cultivate, Ball naturally does not get any chances. The fact that Pistons ken paid a player + a second-round pick also represents their belief that Ball can do something. Pistons coach Casey said: "Ball is only 22 years old, he came to the Pistons is a chance to get playing time! ”
Is there a saying that you are optimistic about Pol's prospects at the Pistons?