Suns' Bol Bol emerges as a trade target for rebuilding team

If there is on player who has failed to really click for the Phoenix Suns this year, it is big man Bol Bol. Signed this offseason on a one-year deal that raised some eyebrows in that it came out of nowhere, the 24-year-old was rightly seen as a low-risk, high-reward acquisition by the franchise.

That reward has failed to materialize to this point, but that doesn't mean that going after Bol was the wrong thing to do in that moment. There was a stretch of games when he was with the Orlando Magic last season, where Bol was handling the ball, dribbling up the court and knocking down 3-pointers.

It was always going to be difficult to be given that level of freedom on a contender like the Suns - the Magic were rebuilding and decimated by injuries when Bol was at his peak there - and it was telling that when the Magic got some players back, Bol swiftly returned to the bench. The place he has spent most of this season as well, appearing in only six contests, at 2.5 minutes per game.

But with Bol now eligible to be traded, a potential suitor has emerged that could trade for the player, and in doing so work out a situation where everybody benefits.

The interested team are the San Antonio Spurs, at least according to Sam Amico of Hoopswire. This makes sense for a lot of reasons, with the main one being the fact that - like the Magic last season - the Spurs are not a good team, are rebuilding, and could give Bol plenty of opportunities to prove himself. They're losing anyway, so why not lose while seeing if Bol can be anything for them?

It would also give the Spurs the intriguing opportunity to pair Bol and rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama together on the court. They have similar body types, and if nothing else the Spurs would become TikTok sensations if they had these two running plays on the court next to one another. A pick-and-roll featuring these two would break people's minds.

This seems like a win for the Suns as well, because they got Bol for next to nothing, but could now turn him into some kind of asset down the road. With even fringe role players like Chimezie Metu having their moment while Bol remains glued to the bench, it is clear that the roster has moved on without him.

Even if that was just a second round pick, this could be used in another deal in future. On the other hand, the Suns used a second rounder to draft Toumani Camara this offseason - and while he was dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers in the Deandre Ayton trade - he looks like he could be a player in this league for a number of years.

Getting another young, cheap and defensive-minded player through the draft in the second round is an intriguing proposition for an organization like the Suns. Even more so when you consider that the new CBA is really going to kick in next season, making it harder for the front office to make trades or add buyout players around Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.

Looking at this from another angle, and the Suns could just trade Bol straight up for Blake Wesley, the rarely used second year guard who like Bol has only appeared in six games this season. At 4.3 minutes per game, he too is not going to get much of a look in with the Spurs. Not that it would be much easier in The Valley, but the Suns' guard depth is thinner than many rosters.

Finally, this would be a good move for Bol. He comes across as a likeable guy who just wants to play basketball, even if he's not yet entirely sure where on the court that is. Head coach Frank Vogel might still be publically backing the player, but his path to more minutes is surely on a rebuilding group like the Spurs under the legendary Gregg Popovich.