[moochieeParticipant]

I have been watching a lot of Jonah Bolden footage recently and it has left me scratching my head as to why he wasn’t a clear cut first rounder.

He’s a very long 6’10 and possesses great athleticism and mobility. There appears to be a lot of upside as a multi positional defender with his combination of size, length and foot speed. On top of that, he already has solid shot mechanics and a pure stroke on his jumper. He looks to have very real potential as a stretch four, shooting over 40% from three on the season while taking over 4 attempts per game (he went 7-7 from deep in a recent game). Moreover, his ball skills are quite promising at this point in his career. He’s not a reliable go to option at this stage, but he shows flashes of impressive ability to create his own shot off of the bounce. His face up game also shows potential as he’s quick enough to drive by his defender and finish well above the rim or face up and shoot the midrange. That part of his game may never materialize, but even just as a versatile defender, stretch four I believe he’s worth a first rounder in this draft.

I’m seeing way too much potential in Bolden for him to be merely a consensus 2^nd rounder. I’d love to hear some feedback if you’ve got a different take.

Here are his season highlights: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywvvz3GaK1E&t=182s

 

 

[ChoppyParticipant]

 I’m not sure that leaving UCLA and playing overseas has helped his cause. Made him seem a bit petulant, like "you won’t play me in the position I want so I’m leaving" sort of thing. And playing in Europe is not always the best path to getting drafted high.

I agree, he has first round talent, but plenty of people with first round talent drop to the second round for many reasons. I can’t see him going first round. I’d like to be wrong though. 

[ChoppyParticipant]

 It would’ve been interesting if that video had a break down of his weaknesses too, kinda like what the ‘other’ site does. Like, how does he fare against players with a similar athleticism/skill set? FT at 58% is not too great either, but probably will improve as he seems to be a very good 3pt shooter. I would also like to know what is the quality of the competition he was up against. Is it a top flight comp in Europe or one of the lower tiers? 

[moochieeParticipant]

Thanks for your input. I knew that Bolden had spent some time at UCLA, but wasn’t totally aware of the circumstances of his departure. You’re right, that is a pretty bad look to leave the program in that way. As much as I think he’s got a lot of talent, he’s kidding himself if he thinks his NBA position is going to be on the wing. On the bright side, it looks like he’s embraced the power forward position during his time in Europe. 

Good call, a weakness breakdown would be really helpful. From the positive footage I’ve seen I like his upside enough to put him comfortably in my top 30 though. From what I know the league he plays in isn’t considered one of the top European leagues, but it’s quite respectable competition. Nikola Jokic, Timothe Luwawu, Ante Zizic, Ivica Zubac and Rade Zagorac were all drafted out of the league in recent years. It’s a tough league with a lot of Euro vets and a handful of good former college players, but Bolden probably does not face many with his athletic ability.

 

[llperez]

 as a ucla fan, i can comment on what i saw of him at ucla but have not watched any development since then over last year.

He was a jack of all trades type combo forward. About 6-10 in length, but by no means a bruiser. More of a sf skill set but wasnt really elite in any of the perimter areas either. Decent shooter but needed improvement. Could take slower guys off the dribble but you would never ask him to create against actual perimiter qucik guys. His best attribute was on the dfensive end where he could gaurd both forward spots depeneding on the matchup. 

My guess is if he had returned to ucla, he would have come off bench and got around 18-20 minutes a game primarily at the sf position. But i just have hard time imagining him as a first rounder, he would have had to improved a ton over last 12 months for me to feel that way about him. 

 

 

 

[ChoppyParticipant]

 Did you watch the video? I know it’s a highlights package and only the good points are shown, but how does he look compared to UCLA? I don’t remember him being a 41% shooter from 3 then. 

[Anton123Participant]

Have you watched actual games of Jonah Bolden? I’m asking because I haven’t, I’m not even sure where you can find games by ABA league bottom-feeders. 

Looking at his game logs: 

http://basketball.realgm.com/player/Jonah-Bolden/GameLogs/42067/International/2017/18

He had an alarming number of single digit games considering the fact he was supposed to be the team’s leader. He isn’t as young and his free throw percentage is horrible (59% on 69 tries) which is always alarming for a guy who is considered a shooter at the next level.

However, I believe some guys do see him as a potential first rounder this year, the facts that he didn’t dominate against bad competition, struggled to be effective when his shot wasn’t falling, was a very bad free throw shooter, and couldn’t become a regular rotation player for UCLA — are the reasons why he isn’t a first round lock. 

 

[tblazer_NZParticipant]

 The size and tools of James Johnson, who has done well in the past few years in Toronto and now Miami.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Kind of a weak arguement.

As far as the single digit scoring goes 6 of his single digit scoring games were in the first 8 games in the season when his minutes were inconsistent, the rest of the season he only had 2 more single digit scoring games. That would also dismiss the "didnt get minutes at UCLA" arguement. He has proven to perform at a high per minute rate. 

 These arent highschool mixtapes that just show senseless dunks and threes but they arent full game highlights either. The video serves its purpose to showcase his strengths. 

Two things he has shown is he can rebound and he can shoot three pointers. Those skills are always translatable to the NBA. Usually a guy that can shoot threes can improve his free throw shooting. He is also athletic and has a strong and long body. That alone should make NBA scouts extremely interested. Id say he goes 1st round. 

 

 

 

[kobyzParticipant]

 I’m not beliver in him timberwolves Payne type player…

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