Kendrick Perkins makes outrageous claim about Suns’ role player

Not for the first time this offseason, the Phoenix Suns are currently the talk of the entire league. Whereas early in the summer they were being applauded for somehow landing Bradley Beal, there is less good sentiment surrounding Deandre Ayton being sent to the Portland Trail Blazers.

There was no doubt that the former first overall pick had to go, his malaise on the court and apparent unwillingness to gel with this group off of it leading to the front office deciding enough was enough. It is just that the return for the 25-year-old is still leaving a lot of people cold.

But it is another Suns big man who is still on the roster who is now making headlines, thanks to the comments of former player, Kendrick Perkins.

Speaking on ESPN’s NBA Today show, and with the rest of the league firmly entrenched in the Ayton, Damian Lillard Jrue Holiday trade, Perkins had this to say about Bol Bol when asked if the Suns are still the team to beat heading into this season.

That is… quite something, and there is a lot wrong with what Perkins has said here as well, so let’s break it down. Beginning with the obvious, Bol is in no way, shape or form going to start for this group. Even with Ayton no longer around, the depth chart at center has Drew Eubanks and Chimezie Metu ahead of him.

If you’re coming off the bench, you can’t actually qualify to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. Even if you could, there are going to be defensive-minded big men who actually start most games and give their team 30 hard minutes a night on that end.

Bol has started 35 games in his entire career, and before playing 21.5 minutes per night in 70 games with the Orlando Magic last season (33 starts), he had a career average of 6.2 minutes per game in three seasons with the Denver Nuggets. We’ve heard of players breaking out before, but Bol winning Defensive Player of the Year would be the most impressive feat in league history.

Next on the list of why this can’t actually happen — Bol is a terrible defender. He can absolutely alter some shots from time-to-time but… he’s not doing much else on that end. So bad is Bol, that last season once the Magic got healthy, they benched the player while they flirted with making the play-in. Defending is not something he does well, and he never has.

In fact Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley deserves a lot of credit for surrounding Bol with the right kinds of players (such as Wendell Carter Jr.) so that 18th ranked defense (113.7) held firm when Bol was on the court (112.0). Don’t let the numbers fool you though, Bol is out there to be an unique offensive threat.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there is no guarantee Bol is even going to be on this roster once the season begins. The Ayton deal netted them four players in Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson, and the Suns already had 17 roster spots filled. With rookie Toumani Camara also leaving town, the Suns will need to cut two players.

Obviously this may not be Bol, but the needs of the Suns are constantly evolving. Before he felt like a quirk to throw out there for 10 minutes per game just to see if he could be anything in this league. But the health concerns over Nurkic mean that the need to have more reliable big men backup on the defensive end in Ayton’s absence could quickly increase.

None of this is designed to be a dig at Bol either, who still has a place on this roster if given the chance. He can handle the ball, shoots the 3-pointer really well for a player of his size, and can put up 10 points in a hurry before vanishing off to the bench for the rest of the game again. In a long regular season, a player like Bol can be invaluable.

But to say he can win be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, is like saying Deandre Jordan could reinvent himself as a 40 percent 3-point shooter. It isn’t going to happen, and that’s ok because Bol can do plenty of other things on the offensive end, while still altering some shots every now and again.