Bol Bol Was Injured After All

Bol Bol #10 of the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter at Staples Center on October 04, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. — (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The hits just keep coming for young NBA forward Bol Bol.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the 22-year-old big man was traded from the Denver Nuggets to the Detroit Pistons.

However, that deal was quickly voided after the Pistons announced that they had an issue with Bol’s physical.

They didn’t get into details at the time but there were obviously some physical problems with Bol that caused the Nuggets to go back on the trade package.

And although he has now found a new home with the Boston Celtics, there are still serious concerns about his health.

Now we know more about what’s going on with Bol, but his future in the NBA remains murky.

Something’s Afoot

It was reported on Tuesday that Bol will undergo surgery on his foot and will not be able to play basketball for at least eight-to-twelve weeks.

Denver Nuggets forward Bol Bol has decided to undergo surgery on his foot and will be sidelined for 8-to-12 weeks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Bol’s trade to Detroit was voided last week because of issue with physical exam.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 18, 2022

So we now have a much better idea of why Detroit scoffed at the results of Bol’s exam: his foot is obviously in bad shape.

The news of a foot problem plaguing Bol isn’t that shocking, considering he previously underwent foot surgery during his single season playing at Oregon, which prohibited him from playing in all but nine games.

His limited time playing in college hurt his draft positioning: for a while, some considered Bol a top ten pick in the 2019 NBA Draft but he ended up being the 44th selection, partly due to hesitation by teams because of his injury and finite time on the court.

But the Nuggets took a chance on Bol, hoping the 7-foot-2 player would be able to produce a lot of unstoppable defense for the team.

However, while his average is 15.6 points and two blocks per 36 minutes in his career, there were many times when it seemed like Bol wasn’t playing to his full potential.

He didn’t move with aggressiveness or fearlessness and was sometimes steamrolled by smaller players in the league.

Therefore, it wasn’t shocking to hear the Nuggets were looking to unload Bol.

However, the news of his trade deal being rejected was surprising.

What’s Next?

It has been reported that Bol is headed to Boston in a new package deal, which gives his NBA career a second chance.

Denver, Boston and San Antonio are making a three-way trade that includes Juancho Hernangomez to Spurs, Bryn Forbes to Denver, Bol Bol and PJ Dozier to Celtics, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 19, 2022

But his future is still up in the air, even with Boston taking a chance on him.

He obviously needs to recover from this injury and really prove that he’s in the best physical form possible or else the Celtics will drop him as soon as possible.

No team will want to work with Bol if he continues to play as he was before, with little belief in himself and seemingly afraid of getting physical in the paint.

But if Bol consistently plays as he has in his short moments of basketball brilliance, his move to Boston could be permanent and his career could be revived.