How much ever NBA becomes a league dominated by guards in the coming years, big men are never going to go out of fashion. Victor Wembanyama, getting franchises and fans excited for the 2023-24 season is a testament to that.
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Bol Bol, the 7ft 2’ stretch five of the Orlando Magic, who came into the league in 2019 was another prototype of these hybrid bigs who are swift with their movement and are good at shooting and dribbling the ball as well.
And who better to know about playing against somebody who is around a foot taller than them? The poor guards who fall short on everything those giants do on the basketball court.
Gilbert Arenas and Rashad McCants discuss Bol Bol and Victor Wembanyama
Talking about the next year’s top prospect, Victor Wembanyama, with Gilbert Arenas and Josiah Johnson, former Timberwolves guard Rashad McCants said, “to see another one of Bol Bol,” who he considers “the greatest at his size, coming out of high school,” would be “scary”.
Visibly, 6 teams are in a race to get the #1 prospect to the 2023 Draft until now – Wizards, Magic, Hornets, and Pistons in the East, Spurs, and Rockets in the West. Considering how they are currently built, all six of them can straight up become contenders after acquiring Wembanyama.
Meanwhile, Bol Bol after coming to the Magic (historically, a great landing spot for a young big man) is looking to have turned around his career entirely.
Just imagine if he was playing like this with Nikola Jokic, MPJ, and Jamal Murray in Denver. Good for the rest of the West that the Nuggets couldn’t figure out how to bring the best out of him.
Bol Bol has been reborn with the Magic
From playing a total of 22 NBA games in his first three seasons in the league to playing over 25 minutes and every game (32) to start the 2022-23 season for the Orlando Magic, Bol has found himself a home in this young team.
Playing alongside the #1 pick of 2022 he has been averaging 12.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.7 blocks per game contributing to an 11-21 record thus far.
Keeping in mind that nobody would be criticizing this team if they tank and get the #1 pick again somehow, it would be scary to play Orlando with one Wembanyama coming at them for more than half of the game, and the other (Bol Bol) waiting for his opportunity to unleash from the bench.
And yes, Paolo Banchero will be just behind them playing as the power forward. Yikes!