Warriors ‘Duck’ into the NBA Draft at last minute

No draft picks? No problem.

The Golden State Warriors – who traded away both picks in the 2017 NBA Draft four years ago – paid the Chicago Bulls $3.5 million for the rights to Oregon’s Jordan Bell, the No. 38^th overall selection Thursday night.

Bell, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound junior who has a wingspan that’s a quarter-inch shy of 7 feet, was the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year and is Oregon’s all-time leader in blocks.

“We’d been kind of watching him, like everybody else did, all year long and he kind of grew on us,” said Warriors general manager Bob Myers. “He’s excited, and he gets to learn under a pretty good group of veterans, so we’re thrilled.

“He’s one of the few guys 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.”

Myers went on to say that Bell is athletic, finishes well at the rim and is “kind of a screen-and-roll guy” who is always active.

Sounds a little like Draymond Green, doesn’t he? Bell, who averaged 11 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks per game for the 32-6 Ducks, has drawn numerous comparisons to Green.

Bell wasn’t the only member of the Ducks’ 2017 Final Four team to find his way from the Beaver State to the Golden State.

Multiple sources are reporting that the Warriors and Oregon’s undrafted Chris Boucher have agreed to a deal.

The 6-10, 200 pound senior fell off NBA draft boards after tearing the ACL in his left knee during the Pac-12 Tournament in March.

Boucher, a two-time member of the Pac-12’s all-defensive team, has a massive 7-foot, 4-inch wingspan. He averaged nearly 12 points, six rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game for the Ducks, who lost to eventual champion 77-76 in the national semifinals in Phoenix.

This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 8:10 AM with the headline "Warriors ‘Duck’ into the NBA Draft at last minute."