NBL experts weigh in on Kings' Bold-en play

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Andrew Gaze, Simon Mitchell and Liam Santamaria voiced their opinions on Jonah Bolden's return to basketball on The Marketplace Round Table.

Have we ever seen a title-winning side make such wholesale changes as the NBL24 Sydney Kings and still enter the new season as one of the red-hot favourites for the championship?

The answer is almost certainly no, and while that’s a testament to both the recruiting work and the pull of the back-to-back champions, the signing of former Philadelphia 76er Jonah Bolden still raises as many questions as answers.

Bolden, 27, will return to the court following two seasons out of the game, and while he’s an immense athletic talent, the general consensus seems to be it will take time for him to get back up and running at the highest order.

“I don’t have huge expectations on Jonah early in the season,” former South East Melbourne coach Simon Mitchell said on The Marketplace Round Table.

“Even going back to when he was in the Boomers squad, the NBA, and Europe prior to that he was a developing player. Going back to college he was an athlete playing basketball and he was learning the ropes and coming along and maturing, and then he left the game.

“It’s going to take him a little while just to get to that stage, and I don’t think that stage he was ready to come to the NBL and dominate. Athletically, yes, he’s going to be one of the best athletes at his position, but from a skill standpoint, let that come with time.”

Following what he showed with the Philadelphia 76ers prior to his sabbatical away from the game, Bolden may hit the ground running. If he doesn’t? The Kings can cover.

Jordan Hunter and new signing Sam Timmins look likely to back Bolden up at the five spot, and with the former being a proven quantity in the NBL, the Kings know he has the potential to start.

Timmins, as well, is able to provide high-level backup minutes following a successful off-season with the NZNBL’s Otago Nuggets.

“I think another thing that helps to roll the dice on Jonah Bolden and his situation is you’ve got Jordi Hunter who is, arguably, the best backup centre in the league,” NBL analyst Liam Santamaria said.

“When Jo Lual-Acuil Jr is healthy and you’ve got Ariel Hukporti (at Melbourne United) ready to go maybe he gets in that conversation, but the fact Hunter is there and able to, if it takes Bolden a hot little minute – maybe half the season, three quarters of the season – you’ve got a really solid guy in Hunter ready to play big minutes.

“I think you could say that about their whole second unit. Kouat Noi – whether that’s Alex Toohey or Jaylin Galloway at the three spot – Angus Glover, Shaun Bruce, just really solid, a lot of experience and championship winning experience.”

While the majority of discussion is surrounding how long it could take Bolden to return to his top level on-court, NBL legend Andrew Gaze believes the time the centre took away from the game could help him long-term.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A Bolden's back in for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL24?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL24</a> ?<br><br>Former NBA talent Jonah Bolden has come out of retirement to sign for the <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> for the new season ?<br><br>Read more: <a href="https://t.co/Ua8Q8xV8jT">https://t.co/Ua8Q8xV8jT</a> <a href="https://t.co/bzPJ6GG9Ul">pic.twitter.com/bzPJ6GG9Ul</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1670627860346998785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“You go back four years when he was part of the Australian team and perhaps didn’t have a role he was all that comfortable with and decided to leave, there was a maturing process that needed to take place, I think,” Gaze said.

“Whether in that time away from the game he has matured a little bit, understanding it’s a different set of circumstances he’s coming into now in the NBL with the Sydney Kings, the defending champions, all those things make a big question mark.

“This is a tough, tough game to play and when you have that much time away from the game how long it takes for Jonah to get back into it is going to be a big part of the question.

“There is no doubting the man’s talent – he was on an NBA roster, a great athlete, can help a team in so many different ways, but it’s not that easy when you take that much time away from it.”

Sydney’s NBL:24 season will commence on Saturday, September 30 against the Illawarra Hawks, after taking part in the pre-season Blitz.

For more information on the Hungry Jack's NBL Blitz, click here.