Breaking down Jordan Bell’s role with the Minnesota Timberwolves
By Jack Borman
After a volatile first two seasons in the Bay, Jordan Bell spurned playoff mainstays to join a young group that shares his hunger to prove themselves and get the Minnesota Timberwolves back to the playoffs.
As a sparsely used player for the perennial championship-contending Golden State Warriors, Jordan Bell was a firecracker off the bench ready to explode for an emphatic soul-snatching throwdown or a confidence-shattering block in transition.
Despite his on-court highlights, there’s no denying that Bell and head coach Steve Kerr had an up-and-down relationship as a result of his inconsistent on-court performance and sporadic off-court maturity issues. Now, he’ll bring his pros and cons to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The former 2016-17 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year flashed all sorts of intriguing upside during his two-year tenure in Golden State.
As a rookie in 2017-18, Bell turned in a very well-balanced stat line of 4.6 points, 3.6 rebounds (1.1 offensive), 1.8 assists, 1.0 blocks, 0.6 steals, and shot a tremendous 62.7 percent in 14.2 minutes per game for a the Finals champs. He also shot 68.2 percent from the line, which isn’t terrible considering he can’t shoot the ball with touch from outside the lane.
After a hot start to his career, however, he regressed in every aforementioned statistic this past season. Jordan averaged 3.3 points, 2.7 rebounds (0.8 offensive), 1.1 assists, 0.8 blocks, 0.3 steals, and shot 52.1 percent in 11.6 minutes per game, while converting on just 52.1 percent of his tries from the charity stripe.
Bell will see significant uptick in his playing time this year, because the Wolves are in dire need of defensive versatility and rebounding, which happen to be two of Jordan’s best attributes.
He stands 6-foot-9, 225 pounds, and has a 7-foot wingspan to go along with rare athleticism for a player of his size, which solidifies him as a very moldable project for defensive coordinator David Vanterpool.
Career Highs (per RealGM)
- Points: 20
- Rebounds: 13
- Offensive Rebounds: 6
- Assists: 8
- Steals: 3
- Blocks: 6
- 3s: Made: 9
- Free Throws Made: 6
Fast Facts
- Three-year player at Oregon
- 2x Pac-12 All Defense (2014-15, 2016-17)
- 2016-17 All-Pac12 2nd Team
- 2014-15 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team
- 2016-17 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year
- 2017 NCAA Tournament All-Region Team
- 2016-17 Pac-12 Rebounding Leader
- 2014-15, 2016-16 Pac-12 Blocks Leader
- 5th in Pac-12 Career Blocks (234)
- 2015-16 (91.9), 2016-17 (89.1) Leader in Defensive Rating
- #100 ranked prospect in the Class of 2013, per 247 Sports.
Let’s talk through his strengths.