The Bulls received a lot of criticism for trading the second-round pick that became Jordan Bell for straight-up cash. Remember when the Nets (of New Jersey) traded Kyle Korver for a copy machine? This is like that, except with the 3.5 million that the Bulls got, they could buy many, many thousands of copy machines. And they did. What else are you going to spend that money on?
I haven’t noticed that the criticism has increased now that Bell has kicked the butt of his “former” team. Probably because it has turned out that Bell just isn’t that good. Not terrible, but not as good as his hype from last year would seem to indicate. He still exists more as an agglomeration of athleticism and potential than as an actual basketball player that you actually want on the court while you’re trying to win games.
His minutes have been limited lately, in the single digits after starting the season playing a consistent 15-ish minutes per game. But tonight, against a horrible tanking team, the Warriors got to give him a whole bunch of pressure-free, do-whatever-you-want minutes. Nothing like playing against a semi-G-League opponent to boost one’s confidence. And Bell was confident indeed, hitting jumper after jumper as Cristiano Felicio wondered what the heck was going on.