The Denver Nuggets may be scratching the lottery again. In the three warm-up games that have ended, Nuggets rookie PolPol ushered in his debut, three games, Polpol scored 16 points and 10 rebounds, 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 10 points and 6 rebounds, he can not only single on the inside, but also shoot three points on the outside, and even hold the ball for halfway, for a rookie who has not played for more than a year, such a performance is absolutely amazing.
Polpol's father was Manute Pol, who inherited his father's advantage, reaching 2 meters 18 meters tall, with an even more terrifying arm span, reaching 2 meters 31, and when he graduated from high school, he was still a five-star high school student in the United States. However, such a talented big man was only selected with the 44th pick in last year's draft.
Before the draft, Polpol was invited to the "Little Green House" - only the promising rookies were eligible to enter the "Little Green House", and as a result, PolPol did not hear his name until the 44th pick, and he also became the lowest pick in the history of the "Little Green House".
So back to last year's draft, why did Polpol fall to the 44th pick before being selected? What did the scouts think of him at the time? What are his strengths and weaknesses? Turning to Polpol's draft report, perhaps we can find the answer from it.
Starting with Polpol's college days, as a five-star high school student, Polpol was invited by many prestigious universities, and finally he decided to join the University of Oregon. However, Polpol suffered major injuries and played only nine games, averaging 21.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 2.7 blocks per game.
In a draft report at the time, Polpol's advantages were evaluated like this: Bol was 2 meters 18 meters tall and had an arm span of 2 meters 31, which was also very high for an interior line; he could shoot on the outside and shoot a lot, which made him different; he was good at moving, very agile, and could play converted offense; had the potential to become an elite level at both ends of the attack and defense; had the potential to become an excellent frame protector; had the ability to grab the board and finish under the basket, and had good lateral movement speed and large hands.
Polpol is generally the tallest player on the court, he is very good at using his height on the inside; for such a big man, the possession ability is very good, the ball sense is also good; can track his shots very well, and grab the rebound in the front court, the second offensive ability is excellent; is a natural offensive hand, can throw and fast attack, can also use fake action; can shoot on the outside, averaging 2.8 three-point shots per game, shooting 52%; averaging 21.0 points per game, shooting 75.7% from the free throw range, Defending well on the inside, averaging 2.7 blocks per game.
In terms of disadvantages, Polpol's evaluation is: although he played well in his freshman year, he only played 9 games because of the stress fracture of his left foot, there may be injury hazards in the NBA, no matter which team chooses him, there is a certain risk; his body is relatively thin, he needs a lot of training, whether he can gain weight will be a problem; shooting choices are not good; he is still thinking about how to maximize his advantages.
Passing needs to get better against the bag, averaging 1 assist and 2 turnovers per game; although he has the ability to play the conversion offense, but the confrontation ability is not strong, he needs to learn to fight on the inside; there is still a lot to learn after entering the NBA, considering his physical fitness, it may take a few years to grow into an influential player; his game attitude is not particularly good, and his concentration and competitiveness in high school have been questioned.
You can see that this draft report is still more optimistic about PolPol, and the fact is that Polpol's body score has reached 10 points, defense, jump shot, potential are all 9 points, and the overall rating has reached 92 points. At the time, Polpol's predicted pick was 18 to 22, and it was no surprise that he was invited into the Little Green House.
Polpol's template is considered to be Sam Perkins and Porzingis, of which Porzingis is closer to his figure and plays in a similar way - Porzingis is also the direction of Pol's development, but Porzingis's mobility is even better than Pol Pol,and it is not a simple task to reach all-star level.
As for why Polpol dropped to the 44th pick, it is not difficult to understand after reading the draft report, mainly because of the hidden dangers of injuries, and Polpol's attitude to play in high school has also been questioned. Considering the development of Manutepol's career, whether Polpol can gain weight will also be a question - the warm-up match is just the beginning, and I hope that Polpol can successfully play back in the face.