The greatest team in NBA history potentially just got a little better last night.
The Warriors set a new record for money spent to acquire the rights to a draft pick by spending $3.5 million to acquire No. 38 pick Oregon forward Jordan’s Bell’s draft rights from the Chicago Bulls.
Warriors paid $3.5 million for the rights to No. 38 pick Jordan Bell
— Marcus Thompson (@ThompsonScribe) June 23, 2017
The Warriors did the same exact thing last season, paying $2.5 million to acquire the rights to the 38th pick in Patrick McCaw in 2016. As we all know McCaw looks like a good investment already and played a role for the Warriors in the 2017 postseason and NBA Finals.
Bell is a complete steal at No. 38 as a first round talent with his elite hustle, shot blocking, pick-and-roll defending and rebounding abilities albeit a little undersized at 6’7″.
Bell is exactly the kind of athletic and springy hustle player and rim protector that the Warriors need and absolutely love on their roster.
He should step in and fill a role with the team right away and in my personal opinion has some Ben Wallace in him without the same level of strength (Ben Wallace was prison strong).
I think a real question to ponder here is whether the NBA should allow a team to use it’s revenue to buy the rights to a 2nd round pick and not have the entire money spent in addition to the contract he signs count against the salary cap. While Bell won’t make $3.5 million this season, the Warriors should have that and his salary count their cap in the name of fairness in my opinion.
