The Golden State Warriors acquired Jordan Bell with the 38th overall pick in Thursday's 2017 NBA Draft.
For the second consecutive year, the Warriors traded into the second round of the NBA Draft and snagged a player with the 38th overall pick. Last year, it was Patrick McCaw. This time, it’s Jordan Bell, a forward out of the University of Oregon.
Bell, a three-year player at Oregon, is the school’s career leader in blocks (235) and field goal percentage (61.0 percent), and ranks fifth and ninth in those categories, respectively, in Pac-12 history. As a junior, Bell became Oregon’s first-ever Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year before being named the Midwest Regional Most Outstanding Player during the NCAA Tournament. He also made the All-Midwest Region Team and had five-straight NCAA Tournament games with at least 12 rebounds.
“We’re thrilled,” said Bob Myers at his post-Draft press conference. “Everybody we talked to had a lot of good things to say about him. He’s one of the few guys that we looked at and really wanted to see if we could get. I actually was not optimistic we would be able to get him, but somehow it came to fruition.”
In 2016-17, Bell ranked 25th in the NCAA in blocks (2.1 per game). He ranked second in the Pac-12 in blocks (2.3 per game), led the league in field goal percentage (63.6 percent), ranked sixth in rebounding (8.8 per game) and 13th in steals (1.3 per game). He was named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team and All-Defensive Team, and was a USBWA District 9 choice.
“We love his ability to defend,” Myers continued. “He can probably defend most positions. And in the NBA, that’s huge…To be able to switch pick-and-rolls, rebound, blocks shots, finish. It’s a lot of boxes he checks.”
“We just like the way he plays basketball, and we’ll find a place for him.”
He will wear No. 2 for Golden State.