Forgotten Sun has revenge game at perfect time to boost stock

The Phoenix Suns are rolling through their preseason slate of games with a level of looseness and fun that was sorely lacking last season. A lot of this can be attributed to head coach Mike Budenholzer, who already looks like he has connected with this group in a way that previous leading man Frank Vogel could not.

Devin Booker might have ankle soreness - an obvious concern heading into the regular season - but the involvement of rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro has been another obvious high. Dunn in particular already making the case for more minutes once the real games begin, with fans in The Valley enamoured with both.

But don't forget about the enigma that is Bol Bol.

It was no surprise to see Bol return to Phoenix this offseason for his second year there, as he found a role and a home with the Suns last season. Despite coach Vogel preaching defensive play - and Bol being among the worst defenders in the entire league - he still found a niche for himself after Christmas, coming off the bench in spot minutes to confuse opponents.

He would generally hang around the perimeter so as not to get hammered inside by more physical bigs, using his long limbs to annoy third and fourth scoring options. On the other end he could be found occupying the same spaces, which led to him shooting 42.3 percent from deep on 1.2 attempts per game.

Then the playoffs came around, and Bol was buried to the bench as everybody expected. The path to having even the same role as last season this time round looked difficult - as not only did the Suns go and get Dunn and Ighodaro - Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Josh Okogie and Mason Plumlee are all going to require minutes too.

To make matters worse, the Dallas Mavericks went and got Jamarion Sharp - undrafted this summer - who looks to be the defensive version of Bol, only better. Clearly then his chances of playing a meaningful role in Phoenix were on the ropes - and with that his hopes of staying in the league - until he came up against his former employer in the Denver Nuggets.

In the preseason meeting between the two on Sunday - a 118-114 win for the Suns despite their top six guys not playing - Bol had a revenge game against the team that drafted him. In 28 minutes he had 14 points, went 4-for-6 from deep and finished the contest as a +14. Exactly what the 24-year-old needed to do to remind the Suns why they brought him back.

Bol is still going to struggle for a consistent role with this group once the regular season starts, but he once again did his stock no harm in taking his opportunity. Just as he did last season, and really his inability to play when it really matter in the playoffs looked to be fear of it going badly wrong more than anything else.

Bol is not a good defender - he never will be - but coach Budenholzer's offensive sets could breathe new life into his career in the NBA. Playing alongside a rookie with great defensive upside in Dunn also helped, while Plumlee starting the game alongside him ensured he wasn't asked to shoulder the brunt of the work inside the paint.

This is really the only way to use Bol effectively - treat him as a guard/wing offensively and hide him outside the paint on the other end - and that was also the case last season. In having a good outing against a full strength Nuggets team, there's reason to believe Bol will be given more chances to impress this coming season, even if Dunn and Ighodaro continue to steal the preseason headlines.