As the champions two of the past three years and the perennial NBA powerhouse, the Golden State Warriors would be the least likely team to give any rookie playing time. However, that hasn’t applied to first-year man Jordan Bell, as the big has found a way to carve out some minutes for himself in the crowded Warriors rotation.
Bell was selected early in the second round with the 38th overall pick in the most recent NBA draft, a pick the Warriors didn’t own in the first place. Instead, the Dubs were gifted 38th overall from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for cash considerations. From there Golden State selected Bell and the rest has been history.
With the absence of Draymond Green last night, Bell earned his first NBA start against, you guessed it, the Chicago Bulls. Whether it was done on purpose by head coach Steve Kerr or not, Bell let it be known throughout the evening just what the Bulls gave up.
Bell could be seen on multiple occasions throughout the game celebrating by rubbing his fingers together. When asked about that and the game as a whole by Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area after the game, Bell responded candidly:
“I wanted to see how ‘Cash Considerations’ was playing over there.”
Bell continued, confirming that it was a better feeling than he expected to give the team that missed out on his some revenge:
“I’m not going to lie. It was. Just because of everything that happened. I know I said at first, coming in to the game, that I wasn’t really thinking about it. But then everybody kept reminding me about it today, so it felt pretty good.”
Bell finished the night with a well-rounded stat line of 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 blocks, and 2 steals in 27 minutes of action in the blowout 143-94 victory.
With a disastrous start to the campaign, the Bulls could use every positive possible and that includes rostering Jordan Bell. Though rookie Lauri Markkanen has impressed, you can never have too many skilled bigs to distinguish yourself, especially in a league leaning heavily towards guard talent.
The 22-year-old Bell is posting averages of 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in less than 10 minutes of action per game so far this season.
