OAKLAND–The Warriors want Jordan Bell to learn the importance of hustle and energy from Draymond Green.
In the team’s final preseason tuneup, Bell is on his own.
On Friday morning, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr announced that Green, Kevin Durant and Andre Igoudala would all sit out the team’s contest against the Sacramento Kings. And about 90 minutes before tipoff, Kerr said that Bell would start in Green’s place.
“Jordan Bell will start for Draymond,” Kerr said. “Zaza (Pachulia) Klay (Thompson) and Steph (Curry) will all start. KD is out, Andre is out. Draymond is out. So we kind of have to figure out our wing rotation.”
Bell scored 11 points in seven minutes in the team’s last preseason scrap with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but it’s his other skills that make him such an intriguing prospect.
“I knew what to expect,” Kerr said, when asked about Bell’s talents. “We saw him in summer league, we knew he could pass. I talked to Dana Altman the day after we drafted him and said, ‘What can you tell me?’ and he said he’s a better passer than anybody realizes and we saw that in summer league. He fits us well because we run a lot of our offense from the elbows. He’s a good passer, has a good feel for the game.”
Green and Igoudala are both out on Friday with back issues, while Durant missed shootaround on Friday morning due to an illness that also forced him to skip out on the final part of the team’s practice on Thursday. Kerr was asked if he’d have his regulars in the lineup if Friday were a regular season contest, but he decided to take a pass on that question, and said he didn’t want to entertain the idea because it’s not opening night.
Kerr was also complimentary of the Kings’ roster, and said Sacramento has done a nice job mixing established veterans with young rookies and other talented pieces this offseason as the franchise attempts to work its way up in the Western Conference.