Denver Nuggets rookie Bol Bol believes that there are similarities between his game and that of Dallas Mavericks' Kristaps Porzingis.
In an interview with HoopsHype's Bryan Kalbrosky, Bol said that although Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James is his favorite players growing up, Porzingis was one of the guys he watched the most because he often studied the Latvian star's game.
Actually, LeBron was my favorite player growing up. Kevin Durant is changing basketball with the way he plays. I’m a fan of Kristaps Porzingis. I also love Kyrie Irving. Those are the people I watch the most.
That’s the main reason I watch so much of him. I try to take pieces from his game. I take a little bit from his game and a little bit from KD, too. I try to watch a lot of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis. But yeah, I’d say Porzingis and I have a pretty similar game.
Bol, the 44th pick in this year's NBA Draft, only played nine games for Oregon in the last NCAA season. He did have a good showing, averaging 21.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists. He also shot the ball pretty well with a 56 percent clip from the field, including 52 percent from the 3-point area. Although he's a seven-footer, Bol is quick and can run in transition. That is the main reason why he's been drawing comparisons to Porzingis.
Still, being a second-round pick is an indication that he needs to work on his game. One of the biggest reasons why he wasn't as high as he's supposed to be is because of his defense in the post. Although he averaged 2.7 blocks per game in college, there were times when opposing bigs were able to score against him with ease.
He also needs to gain some weight.
Bol is an interesting prospect that when developed properly, can become one of the most versatile bigs in the NBA. Having the chance to grow with the Nuggets' young core will definitely help him a lot. It will now depend on how hard he'll work moving forward.