3 things Jordan Bell could bring to the Houston Rockets

2. Defense

Jordan Bell is a defensive-minded player, which means his contributions don’t always show up on the stat sheet. Bell was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team during two of his three seasons with the Oregon Ducks, and won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year during his final collegiate season.

Bell continued his defensive tenacity upon joining the Warriors also, as he had a defensive box plus minus of 3.7 as a rookie, which ranked first on the Dubs fourth-best in the league. On top of that, the Warriors allowed only 103 points per 100 possessions with Bell on the floor during his rookie season, which tied with JaVale McGee for the best defensive rating on the team. Bell averaged 2.5 blocks and 1.6 steals per 36 minutes during that same season, and immediately became one of the Dubs best defenders.

Bell followed that up with a stellar second-year as well, as he averaged 2.3 blocks per 36 minutes, which was the best on the Dubs. On top of that, Bell had a defensive box plus minus of 2.8, which ranked top-20 in the league. During the playoffs, Bell averaged 2.4 blocks per 36 minutes that year, which were the most on the Warriors.

Bell’s 6-foot-8 frame allows him to defend multiple positions on the floor, and allows him to contest and block shots as well. The Houston Rockets are getting a quality defender in Bell, which is obviously something they need. This need is partly what caused them to give up so much to land Covington in the first place.

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