Player 1 – Leandro Bolmaro
Coming into the 2020 NBA Draft, Leandro Bolmaro was a very intriguing prospect. For the average NBA fan, not a lot was known about him. He played overseas and wasn’t even going to play in the 2020-21 NBA season. He was a draft-and-stash player, so he still had another season overseas that he had to play.
I won’t lie. I was really high on Bolmaro, I thought he was really talented. He really didn’t do much in his rookie season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the 2021-22 NBA season, he averaged 1.4 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game. His shooting splits were horrendous, but to be fair, he only played 6.9 minutes per game in a total of 35 contests that season, so it’s not like he had a lot of time to get a groove in his games.
His second season wasn’t much better for the Utah Jazz, when he was traded in a deal that brought Rudy Gobert to Minnesota. He averaged 0.4 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game in only 4.9 minutes per game in 14 contests. Like his first year, his shooting splits were not good. His career high in points is 11, which isn’t amazing.
I know what the stats look like; they’re not pretty. He looks really unpolished. He has ways to go to become a solid NBA player, and I know that. However, he is still only 22 years old and has a lot of untapped potential.
Looking at his overseas stats, he has averaged 13.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per-36 minutes in three years. His shooting splits are solid, too. 44.5 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from distance, and 82.1 percent from the free-throw line look fine and show that he isn’t as bad as his stats were in the NBA.
If he were to be signed by the Cavaliers, I’m not sure if he would get a lot of minutes, just like his first two NBA seasons. However, maybe if he plays well in the G-League, or shows enough promise in practices, then he might be able to carve out some minutes for himself. I still do believe the potential is there, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him on an NBA roster again.