Golden State Warriors Midseason Awards: Breakout Player
By Andrew Ites
With the All-Star break coming up in a couple of weeks, it’s time to hand out some midseason hardware. Jordan Bell has been the Warriors breakout player of the year thus far.
Most NBA analysts knew that Jordan Bell would be a perfect fit in Golden State after Chicago decided to sell that draft pick to the Warriors last offseason.
Bell slid down draft boards a bit because he couldn’t shoot and he was a little bit undersized to be an NBA center. The only team where those two weaknesses could be covered up resides in Golden State, and Bell has been a perfect fit on this Warriors team.
One of the biggest surprises during Bell’s rookie season has been his ability to rack up the assists. His passing vision has been on display this year with 4.5 assists per 36 minutes despite not having the ball in his hands very often.
Bell has lived up to expectations as an athletic rim protecter with 1.1 blocks per game in only 14.4 minutes. He’s also creating havoc on the defensive end by creating turnovers with 1.7 steals per 36 minutes.
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The advanced stats also prove Bell’s value this season.
He has a player efficiency rating of 19.5 with an effective field goal percentage of 66.4%. The Warriors’ offensive rating is 4.3 points better when he is on the floor, and their defensive rating is 4.1 points better with Bell.
The Warriors have plenty of established players that we knew were going to be great before the season began, but there was a question mark at the center position. Jordan Bell has helped to answer some of those questions, and he should continue his terrific rookie year once he comes back from this ankle injury.