NBA Draft 2017: Warriors Shell Out $3.5M To Bulls For Second-Round Pick Jordan Bell
The 2017 NBA Finals Champion Golden State Warriors managed to acquire a new addition to their team by paying the Chicago Bulls for the rights to a second-round pick.
In a tweet by Marcus Thompson, Mercury News sports columnist, it was revealed that the Warriors shelled out $3.5 million to the Bulls for the rights to the No. 38 overall pick in the draft, Oregon power forward Jordan Bell.
Apparently, the reigning NBA champion didn’t have a pick in the first or second round in the 2017 NBA Draft, thus, prompting them to make a deal with the Bulls. Although unconfirmed, the Warriors’ $3.5 million deal with the Bulls is believed to be the biggest cash outlay for any pick in history.
It was also revealed that $3.5 million is the maximum amount that an NBA team could pay another team in any trades for the entire season.
In a report by Fox Sports, it was reiterated that in the NBA a team can buy second-round draft picks for straight cash. This is deemed useful, especially to teams with no pick in the draft.
In fact, this is not the first time that the Warriors bought rights for a draft pick. It can be recalled that last year, the Warriors bought pick No. 38 from the Milwaukee Bucks and acquired Patrick McCraw.
Jordan Bell is known to be the all-time leading shot-blocker of the Oregon Ducks. The star player reportedly averaged more than two per game and double-digit rebounds in all three college seasons.
At six-foot-nine, Bell is expected to play power forward or even small-ball center for the Golden State Warriors.
Bell has always been very vocal about his admiration for Warriors power forward Draymond Green. The aspiring NBA star is reportedly trying to emulate Green’s game, which many believed he has done successfully.
On Friday, Bell took a flight from Los Angeles to Oakland for his introductory press conference. In his interview, Bell shared that Green was the first to welcome him to the team thru FaceTime.
According to Bell, amid his celebration with family and friends, he got a random FaceTime call from an unknown number, which he did not pick up. He texted it back instead, asking who it was but got no response. Eventually, he decided to call it back and was surprised by the person on the other end of the line.
“I was like, ‘Who is this?’ He didn’t reply so I called the number and said, ‘Who is this?’ Then he was like, ‘Yo, I FaceTimed you, hang up right now and FaceTime me right back, don’t call me.’ I FaceTimed him and he didn’t answer. I was like, all right. I waited like five seconds and I called him back FaceTime and he answered … and we started talking about it.”
Bell also added, “He was like, ‘Enjoy this night, celebrate, it only happens once, but after this time we have to get back to work, we’re trying to get rings over here.'”
Although Bell has not met his teammates yet, it was revealed that he already has a locker in the Warriors’ practice facility. Interestingly, his locker sits right next to Green’s, which made things even more exciting for the young player.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-B9506GfrE
[Featured Image by Jeff Chiu/AP Images]
