Oregon Ducks legend Jordan Bell recalls what it was like playing against Buddy Hield and the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
There have been some heartbreaking endings for Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team over the years, with deep runs in the March Madness NCAA Tournament coming to a close in bitter defeat.
While the 2017 season might have been the toughest, with a Dillon Brooks-led Ducks’ team losing to North Carolina in the Final Four, 77-76, it’s safe to say that the year before that was hard to swallow as well, with Oregon losing to Oklahoma in the Elite Eight, 80-68.
It wasn’t frustrating because of a heartbreaking defeat, but rather the fact that the Ducks went up against a player whom nobody in the nation had much of an answer for.
That player was Buddy Hield, who won the John R. Wooden Award and Naismith Player of the Year Trophy that season. While Hield has gone on to have a very successful NBA career, some Oregon players from that year remember back to 2016 and what it was like to face the unstoppable Oklahoma Sooner.
“We didn’t have a chance,” Jordan Bell said recently on the Locked on Sooners Podcast.
Former Oregon Ducks star Jordan Bell talking about his experience against Sooners great Buddy Hield in the NCAA tournament.
Hield ended up scoring 37 points in the Elite Eight victory for Oklahoma, hitting 8-of-13 three-pointers. The Sooners went on to lose to Villanova, the eventual National Champions, in the Final Four.
That was an impressive tournament run for the Ducks, with Altman leading the squad to a win over Coach Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils in the Sweet 16. Of course, the next season, Oregon would go on to beat Michigan in the Sweet 16 before upsetting Kansas in the Elite Eight. They then lost to North Carolina by just one in the Final Four.
Following a draft day trade for cash considerations with the Chicago Bulls in 2017, the Warriors landed Bell out of Oregon with the 38th pick. Bell spent two seasons with the Warriors, including their run to a championship in 2018 as a rookie.
After his two seasons in Golden State, Bell had stops in Minnesota, Memphis, Washington and Chicago. Bell returned to Golden State at the end of the 2020-21 season for a short stint.
During his NBA run, Bell averaged 3.7 points on 55.2% shooting from the floor with 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 12 minutes per contest.
Payton Pritchard is set to become the fourth former Oregon Ducks player to play in the NBA Finals after the Boston Celtics advanced.
The Oregon Ducks will once again be represented in the NBA Finals after Payton Pritchard and the Boston Celtics advanced past the Miami Heat in a tightly contested Game 7 battle on Sunday.
Pritchard will become the fourth Oregon alumnus — and first since Jordan Bell in 2018 — to play in the NBA Finals when Boston takes on Bell’s old team, Golden State, starting with Game 1 on Thursday.
Bell was the first Duck to appear in the finals in nearly 40 years, a span that included the very successful careers of Terrell Brandon, Luke Ridnour and Blair Rasmussen among others.
Pritchard played a key role for the Celtics off the bench against Miami, averaging 6.5 points and two assists in the seven games. He adds solid defense and outside shooting to a squad that will need a sharp series in both areas to derail the return of the Golden State dynasty led by Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Here are the Oregon alumni who have played in an NBA Finals, and how they (and their squads) did:
Former Oregon Ducks men’s basketball player Jordan Bell has been added to Team USA as they prepare to compete for the World Cup.
The Americans will begin their way towards the World Cup tournament with qualifying games against Puerto Rico Feb. 24 and Mexico Feb. 27 in Washington D.C.
Bell is currently with the Chicago Bulls, his fifth NBA team, including two stints with the Golden State Warriors. Oregon fans will remember Bell as a high-energy player that loves to come out of nowhere to block shots. This is no doubt an attribute Team USA is looking for. He is the only member of Team USA that has an NBA championship ring as Bell was part of the 2018 Warriors.
A total of 80 national teams from FIBA’s four regions will compete in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers over 15 months, looking to earn a qualifying berth into the 32-team FIBA World Cup competition that will be held Aug. 25-Sept. 10, 2023, in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup marks the first time multiple countries will host the event.
After the preseason finale, the Warriors waived four players, keeping their final roster spot open.
After wrapping up the preseason with another win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Golden State Warriors had to make some adjustments to their roster before the start of the regular season.
Following their 119-97 win over Portland, the Warriors waived four players. Golden State waived all four players in competition for their 15th roster spot, including veteran Avery Bradley and former Warriors Gary Payton II, Mychal Mulder and Jordan Bell.
Bradley was looked at as a favorite to land the final roster spot. However, the Warriors will now enter the regular season with some flexibility at the end of their roster.
In four preseason games, Bradley averaged 4.2 points on 38.9% shooting from the floor in 12.7 minutes per game. The 11-year-veteran will now become a free agent.
Payton II’s time in the preseason was limited to only one game due to a hernia injury. On Friday, the Oregon State product played 11 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers, scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. Payton II was ruled out against the Blazers on Tuesday with the same hernia injury.
After spending the 2020-21 season with the Warriors, Mulder could be a candidate to return to the Bay Area on a two-way deal. Chris Chiozza is currently the only player on Golden State’s roster on a two-way contract with the Santa Cruz Warriors. The Warriors currently have one open two-way slot for the 2020-21 season.
Jordan Bell played in four preseason games with the Warriors, averaging three points and 1.5 rebounds in 8.2 minutes.
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Jordan Bell recently joined Ben Simmons, Ja Morant, Aaron Gordon and others at a star-powered offseason workout.
Following a stint in the Las Vegas Summer League, the former Golden State Warriors big man Jordan Bell has been in the gym. Bell joined a star-studded cast at a recent workout with basketball trainer Chris Johnson.
Alongside Bell on the court was Ben Simmons, Ja Morant, Aaron Gordon, Jaren Jackson Jr., Tyrese Maxey, Trey Lyles, Darius Bazely, rookie Brandon Boston and more.
Johnson shared a clip filled with highlights from the workout, including a must-see dunk from Morant.
During the final stretch of the 2020-21 season, the Warriors re-signed the former second-round pick to a two-way contract. Over his quick reunion with the Warriors, Bell played in just one game, registering one point, five rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes off the bench.
Prior to joining the Warriors, Bell spent time with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards. The Oregon Ducks product played in the 2021 Las Vegas Summer League with the Atlanta Hawks. Bell is currently a free agent.
Top prospects like Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green are competing against NBA veterans like Jeremy Lin.
The 2021 NBA G League season, featuring big names like Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green, kicked off Wednesday afternoon.
Even before the pandemic, this season was going to look and feel different than any other because it was the debut of the G League Ignite squad. This is the inaugural campaign for the team, an alternative to the NCAA that offers a pathway to the NBA for top prospects.
But this season is also different than normal because, just like the NBA did to finish out the 2019-20 season, the league is playing in a bubble location at the ESPN Wide World of Sport Complex in Florida.
The seventeen teams that opted into playing will have a condensed schedule of fifteen games between Feb. 10-March 6. Single-elimination playoffs begin on March 8 and the NBA G League Finals is on March 11.
Below are some of the most interesting players worth tracking as the games continue over the next few weeks.
Before the NBA’s transaction window closed, former Golden State Warriors big man Jordan Bell found a home with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Before the NBA continues the stretch run of the season in Orlando, a former member of the Golden State Warriors found a new home.
After bouncing around from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Memphis Grizzlies and the G League, Jordan Bell has agreed to a two-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
In early February, Bell was traded from the Timberwolves to the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster 12-player deal. The Rockets then moved Bell to the Grizzlies for Bruno Caboclo and a pick swap. The Grizzlies waived Bell after two games. The former Golden State Warriors big man joined the Washington Wizards G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go.
Bell was selected No. 38 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls then traded the Oregon Ducks standout to the Warriors for $3.5 million in cash considerations. In his rookie season with Golden State, Bell averaged 4.6 points on 62.7% shooting from the field, with 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and a block per game. During his rookie campaign, Bell started 13 games with the Warriors.
Since leaving Golden State over the offseason, the Oregon product averaged 3.2 points on 52.2% from the field, with 2.8 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per contest. In his lone G League appearance, Bell tallied 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field with six rebounds, five assists and a block.
With the NBA’s extended transaction window closing on Tuesday, the Cavaliers were able to sign Bell to one of their open roster spots. Bell will compete for a depth role behind Cleveland’s All-Star big man Andre Drummond.
The NBA will allow teams to sign a replacement player if there’s an injury, a positive COVID-19 test or a player who chooses to sit out.
As the NBA prepares to resume the 2019-20 season in July, more details about the league’s plan are coming to light. In the event of an injury or a positive COVID-19 test during training camp or the regular season, teams will be able to sign replacement players from the free-agent pool.
The NBA will allow each team to bring 17 players (including their two-way guys) to Disney’s Wide World of Sports. There won’t be a limit on how many replacement players a team can sign, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Once the playoffs start on August 17, teams won’t be able to add any replacement players.
Every night, players will be tested for COVID-19; if a player tests positive, they must self-quarantine for 10-14 days while their team continues playing.
Not only will replacement players be necessary in the event of positive tests, they also could be called upon if a player is injured. Most teams will arrive in Orlando healthier than usual at this point in the season thanks to the four-month break, but a number of trainers and players have expressed concern that there could be more injuries than usual when the season resumes. After all, players have been working out on their own since mid-March and it’s hard to mimic game movements and intensity while training alone. Ramping back up slowly with a training camp (and potentially two or three exhibition games) should help, but there’s still increased injury risk.
Because this is an unprecedented situation, people around the NBA have no idea how teams will approach this transaction window and how many replacement players will be signed.
“I’m not sure if teams will rush to sign guys,” an agent said. “NBA rosters are already the biggest of any major sport in terms of the ratio of players on the roster to players on the court/field,” the agent explained. “In the NBA, it’s 15:5 (or 3:1) whereas it’s 25:9 (or 2.8:1) in MLB and 53:22 (or 2.4:1) in the NFL. And that doesn’t even include two-way players. I’m sure every team is aware of all the available G League guys and free agents. But in the playoffs, most rotations shrink to nine or 10 guys anyway. So, if you have 15 players, you should have five extra guys.”
“I’m curious to see if teams will sign free agents,” one Western Conference executive added. “I have no idea what will happen. At the end of the day, we’re just talking about a 15th man most likely, right?”
One Eastern Conference general manager pointed out that some teams may not consider signing replacement players at all, even if there is an injury or a positive COVID-19 test. Since a replacement player would have to quarantine for 10-14 days before playing, the team’s injured or sick player may be close to returning by the time the replacement player is finally able to take the court.
“I think as long as a team doesn’t have multiple players who get sick at the same time, they won’t sign anyone,” the general manager said. “I think most teams will just wait for their sick player to return.”
Some NBA teams with an open roster spot may decide to sign a free agent prior to arriving in Orlando rather than waiting until an injury or positive test occurs to address their depth. Technically, this player wouldn’t be a “replacement player,” but he’d be stashed on their roster in case of emergency. This would allow the player to go through training camp with the team as well as the initial quarantine period in Orlando. Then, if there is an injury or positive test, he would be able to play right away rather than having to quarantine for 10-14 days upon arrival like a replacement player would have to do.
Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion about how some players may choose not to play when the season resumes in Orlando. In recent weeks, a number of executives brought up this possibility and openly wondered what would happen if their players sit out because they didn’t want to be in the bubble for months and risk their health. Now, some players are also concerned that resuming play would shift the public’s focus away from the Black Lives Matter movement.
While it’s possible that enough NBA players speaking up would force the NBPA to back out of the plan to resume play, it seems more likely that the NBA will just allow each player to make their own decision when it comes to participating. If a player chooses to sit out, their team will resume play without them. These players wouldn’t face any consequences (aside from not being paid) and NBA teams would be allowed to sign a replacement player to take their place, according to a recent article by Wojnarowski.
There’s also some concern that players on fringe playoff teams will opt to play, but then want to leave the bubble or sit out as soon as their team is mathematically eliminated from the postseason. Players won’t want to put their health at risk and stay in the bubble if they aren’t playing for something. Some players (such as Damian Lillard) have already said that they wouldn’t risk their health to participate in meaningless games, and who could blame them?
“I feel like the eighth seed and the ninth seed could partially be determined by whose schedule sets them up against teams who are ‘tanking’ at the end,” said one Western Conference executive.
DeMarcus Cousins is one of the free agents who’s eligible to be signed. (Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)
Interestingly, not all free agents are eligible to be signed as replacement players.
In order to be eligible, a player had to be on an NBA or G League roster this season or last season. Players who were overseas as of March 11, 2020 (when the NBA season was suspended) are not eligible to be signed, which rules out some notable free agents such as Lance Stephenson, Donatas Motiejunas, Greg Monroe and Miles Plumlee. If a player started the season overseas but got a FIBA clearance before March 11, they are eligible to be signed as long as they were on an NBA or G League roster in 2019-20 or 2018-19 (like Willie Reed, for example, who was in Greece to start the season but then got his FIBA clearance and signed with a G League team).
There are plenty of of notable free agents and former G League players who are eligible to be signed including DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Darren Collison, Jamal Crawford, Iman Shumpert, JR Smith, Nik Stauskas, Kenneth Faried, Tyler Zeller, Jerian Grant, Corey Brewer, Tyler Johnson, Jodie Meeks, Michael Beasley, Nick Young, Trey Burke, Allen Crabbe, Jordan Bell, Justin Anderson, Tim Frazier, Tyrone Wallace, Ivan Rabb, Jarrod Uthoff, Amile Jefferson, Jonah Bolden, Tyler Ennis, Josh Magette, JP Macura, Ryan Broekhoff and Yante Maten among others.
While it’ll be interesting to see how the 22 NBA teams in the bubble utilize the replacement players, the eight teams who aren’t resuming play will be allowed to sign players during this transaction window too. Don’t be surprised if some of these teams take advantage of this opportunity to add a free agent and acquire their Bird rights.
“I would be on the lookout for a smart non-bubble team to add someone during the transaction window,” one NBA agent said. “Any team can sign guys from that same pool of talent and, I assume, pay guys the same pro-rated amount.”
In Wojnarowski’s article about replacement players, he confirmed that “the eight teams left out of the Orlando resumption are allowed to waive or sign players during the transaction window,” although “they cannot sign a player to a two-way contract.”
It’s worth noting that a lot of these details are still being worked out and nothing is official as of yet. Several agents and executives pointed out that they’re receiving these updates through social media, just like the rest of us, and awaiting further instruction from the league or NBPA.
The 76ers will be without their two best players tonight as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.
The 76ers will be without their two best players tonight as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons will both be inactive in tonight’s matchup. This should be an interesting game being that the 76ers played very well against the Clippers without Embiid.
In their first meeting on January 25th, Simmons scored 28 points in a 108-91 victory. This will be tough to replicate against a stacked Lakers team that has been playing very well with only one loss in their last nine games.
In their first meeting on January 25th, Simmons scored 28 points in a 108-91 victory. This will be tough to replicate against a stacked Lakers team that has been playing very well with only one loss in their last nine games. They continue to extend their Western Conference lead over the Nuggets by 5.5 games.
Los Angeles Lakers Starting Lineup
PG Avery Bradley
SG Danny Green
SF LeBron James
PF Anthony Davis GTD
C JaVale McGee
Philadelphia 76ers Starting Lineup
PG Shake Milton
SG Alec Burks
SF G. Robinson
PF Tobias Harris
C Al Horford
Prediction: With Simmons and Embiid out of this game it is going to be tough for the Sixers to come out with a road victory. They played well against the Clippers the other night covering their number and can see that happening tonight as well. 12 points is a lot to lay out to any team in the NBA especially with how they kept the Clippers game close. 76ers (+12)
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