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Golden State Warriors: 2017 NBA Draft grades

By Brian Sampson

Mar 23, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; Oregon Ducks forward Jordan Bell (1) reacts during the second half of the game against the Michigan Wolverines in the semifinals of the midwest Regional of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Sprint Center. Oregon defeated Michigan 69-68. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 23, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; Oregon Ducks forward Jordan Bell (1) reacts during the second half of the game against the Michigan Wolverines in the semifinals of the midwest Regional of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Sprint Center. Oregon defeated Michigan 69-68. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports /
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The rich got richer and the Golden State Warriors got more gold, working their way into the 2017 NBA Draft to take Oregon’s Jordan Bell.

The Golden State Warriors made an under-the-radar type move that has the rest of the NBA asking themselves, “What happened?” It’s a move similar to what the NFL has grown accustomed to seeing from Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

A year, ago the Warriors selected Patrick McCaw with the 38th pick. This year, they selected Jordan Bell, another potential steal, with the 38th pick. There must be something magical about that number.

Golden State ended up buying the pick from the Chicago Bulls in what can only be considered another gaffe on draft night for Chicago — even if it did cost the Dubs a record $3.5 million for the second-rounder.

Bell will give the Warriors an uber-athletic big man who is a stud defensively. Last year at Oregon, Bell averaged 10.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

Although he stands only 6’9″, he possesses a wingspan of seven feet. This is his major weapon and what makes him so scary to the rest of the NBA. He surely won’t be asked to score much at Golden State, but he will be asked to defend the paint.

The paint isn’t the only thing Bell can defend, however. He is also agile and mobile enough to switch onto wings and guards for short periods of time. This is extremely useful, especially in today’s position-less NBA that depends so much on pick-and-rolls.

On offense, he won’t do much outside of the paint as he doesn’t have any touch from the outside. To give you some perspective, last season he attempted 225 of his 273 shots from right around the basket.

This worked for Bell, however, as he is an excellent finisher around the rim. He shot 67.6 percent on those shots around the rim, which is far better than NCAA average.

Next: 2017 NBA Draft grades for all 30 teams

Before the draft, The Ringer was already calling him Oregon’s version of Draymond Green. Now it appears the Warriors have secured the second coming of Draymond, which should only send shivers down the spines of the rest of the league.

Grade: A

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