Bol Bol out to 'prove everyone wrong' after falling to No 44 in NBA Draft
Friday 21 June 2019 14:12, UK
Projected first-round pick Bol Bol has vowed to "prove everyone wrong" after falling to No 44 in the 2019 NBA Draft.
The talented 7ft 2ins center was acquired in a trade by the Denver Nuggets after being selected midway through the second round by the Miami Heat.
Bol, who had been projected by many as a top-five pick at the start of last season, was limited to just nine games for Oregon due to a stress fracture in his left foot, but averaged 21 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks when he did take to the court.
"I just want to prove everyone wrong and just come out and be the best player I can be," Bol said.
"My foot is 100 per cent healed. I just recently started to get back on the court about a month ago."
Although the Nuggets did not have a pick in the draft, they tried to enter into the draft at various points throughout the evening. Each time, the price was too steep. But Bol was a player they could not pass up.
He is the son of the late Manute Bol, who played 10 seasons for the Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and the Heat.
"We're not concerned as to why he fell. We feel very fortunate that he fell," Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. "We were fortunate to add another young piece, a guy that we thought pretty highly of."
The Nuggets are coming off a 54-28 season in which they earned the No 2 seed in the West. They made it to the conference semifinals before losing to Portland in Game 7.
Denver have a young nucleus that includes Michael Porter Jr, the No 14 selection last June who sat out the 2018/19 season. Porter was considered a top-five selection before a back injury limited him to three games at Missouri in 2017/18. The 6ft 10ins Porter slid to the Nuggets, who felt his talent was worth the risk. A year ago, Porter underwent a second back surgery that sidelined him again.
He is making big strides and expected to play in the Summer League next month.
"Fantastic," Connelly said when asked how Porter is progressing. "We want to temper expectations but he looks healthier than he's been in a long, long time."
Porter's rebound from his back injury is a reason why the Nuggets felt so confident in taking a gamble on Bol.
"It made us more comfortable," Connelly said. "When you get a guy with the tools like Bol Bol, it's hard not to be excited."
