NBA Draft 2019: Best and worst fits for all potential lottery picks

8. Bol Bol, 7-2 C, Oregon

BEST: ???

Finding the right fit for Bol Bol is … difficult. While his offense fits on every single team in the league thanks to his absurdly strong handle, touch, and shooting stroke at his size, his porous defense is something that is very, very difficult to scheme for. Bol’s high block averages (2.7 BPG) seem impressive on the surface, but they lose luster upon contextualization, and, really, blocks (and steals, for that matter) should never be relied upon as the sole indicator of whether or not someone is good at defense or not.

Bol’s length makes him great at blocking jumpers (which is where most of his blocks came from), but his pencil-thin frame and alarming lack of lower-body strength make his potential as a rim-protector and post-defender murky, and that’s before even mentioning his atrocious defensive instincts. Bol possesses poor technique (and awareness) defending the pick-and-roll and often gets blown by consistently, is often lost on rotations and regularly gets caught out of position, and is genuinely helpless out in space — masking these deficiencies is practically an impossible task, but for the sake of his viability on the court, it’s vital that he finds a team that would be able to cover for his defensive woes, even at a marginal rate.

When it comes to finding a fit for Bol Bol, the key is finding a place that would maximize his potential, and of course, that means maximizing his abilities on both ends of the floor. In order for a center in 2019 to be playable in the playoffs, they need to either be insanely lethal offensively, offering astronomically high shooting splits, or they need to be semi-respectable on the defensive end (specifically defending the pick-and-roll). Finding a team that plays a zone-esque setup and/or a drop pick-and-roll coverage would do a great deal to mask some of Bol’s weaknesses, yet, it’s hard to pinpoint just one team.

Miami is one of the only teams in the league that employs a zone defense occasionally, which could help cover for him by sticking him down low. Boston turns to zone at times, too, and has a bevy of perimeter defenders that could help shield him from cutters and drivers; plus, having Al Horford to learn from would be incalculably valuable, since Horford turned into one of the best defensive bigs of the last decade. The Hornets are looking for talent anywhere, and if they can’t find a replacement for Kemba Walker then drafting for talent and upside wouldn’t be a bad idea, even with the glut of (impermanent) bigs currently on the roster.

WORST: Atlanta Hawks

With potentially two top-10 selections in the 2019 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks have a great shot at adding two long-term pieces to a team that already features an offensive core of Trae Young, John Collins, and Kevin Huerter that figures to be pretty, pretty good as the young trio grows together. With those two picks, it’s reasonable to speculate that the front office will be looking at two specific areas of need — another player along the wing and a long-term center.

In the lottery, center options are pretty thin between Jaxson Hayes, Goga Bitadze and Bol Bol. Of the three, the player with the clearest all-star potential is the 7-2 Bol, who feasibly could be the next “unicorn” to grace the NBA hardwood. Bol’s touch on his shooting stroke (13-of-25 from downtown in nine games) is apparent, which is why he’d be the ideal offensive center in today’s three-point-happy league that prioritizes shooting above all else. The Hawks core of Young (32.4 3P% on 6.0 attempts), Collins (34.8 3P% on 2.6 attempts), and Huerter (38.5 3P% on 4.7 attempts) are all capable shooters themselves (with Young and Huerter flashing the potential to be great shooters one day), and adding Bol to the mix would make for a wildly-potent offensive core to build around for years to come.

It sounds great, and would be fun to watch, but let’s not forget about the defense. Mentioned above, his defense requires a team and scheme that would shield him from getting picked on constantly. Without adequate defenders lining up on the perimeter, it’s hard to envision a marriage between Bol and the Hawks that doesn’t result in a historically-bad defense. (E.g., Trae Young and Bol Bol would be put in pick-and-roll actions until the end of time and would get scored on endlessly.) As flashy as the offense would be, there are just too many defensive shortcomings that would only be magnified if Bol were to join the Hawks, making this a rather poor fit, all things considered.