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Grizzlies Trade Draft Rights to 13th & 27th Overall Selections to the Celtics for BC’s Troy Bell and Duke’s Dahntay Jones
Dahntay Jones and Troy Bell are suited up and ready for action.
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“We wanted to address injury concerns in the backcourt, and our trade of picks tonight is a really good step in that direction,” said West. “Both players had impressive workouts for us in Memphis (on June 13), and they are individuals we coveted for our team.”
Bell, a 6-2 guard, was named Second Team All-America by the Associated Press as a senior and as a sophomore and also named to the All-Big East First Team for the last three seasons. He completed his four-year collegiate career as BC’s all-time leading scorer with 2,632 points and was named the Big East Player of the Year as a senior and co-Player of the Year as a sophomore. As a senior, Bell ranked fifth in the nation in scoring (25.2 ppg); and he averaged 27.8 points in Big East games, tops in conference history. He averaged 3.7 apg, 4.6 rpg, and 2.3 spg in his senior season.
“We are certainly pleased with our selection of Troy Bell,” said West. “He is arguably the best athlete in the draft at any position and has shown the ability to score against any size guard. Troy (Bell) had a very successful college career and has played effectively at point guard or shooting guard positions.
Jones, a 6-6 guard/forward, was named Honorable Mention All-America by the Associated Press as a senior and also named All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team as a senior. He made All-ACC Defensive Team both seasons at Duke after starting his career at Rutgers. As a senior, he led Duke in scoring with 17.7 ppg (5th in ACC) and 5.5 rpg. He averaged 24.7 ppg in three NCAA tournament games, including a career-high 28 points vs. Central Michigan.
“We felt that Dahntay’s (Jones) best attributes are his outstanding athleticism followed closely by his defense,” said West. “He is also one of the better athletes in this Draft who we saw during our review of candidates.”