The defending champion Golden State Warriors entered Thursday’s NBA Draft without any selections. Both their first and second-round picks were moved in the Andre Iguodala trade a few years back.
Despite this, Golden State found a way to get back into the draft. It sent $3.5 million in cold hard cash to the Chicago Bulls for the 38th selection, which was used on former Oregon big man Jordan Bell.
The Dubs acquired @1jordanbell, @OregonMBB's first-ever @Pac12 Defensive Player of the Year 💪🏽 #NBADraft https://t.co/tlxvJUhDNH
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) June 23, 2017
This was pretty much the news of the second round.
In talking about his team’s decision to pay out of pocket for a prospect, Warriors owner Joe Lacob had a pretty awesome take.
“Easy. We want to always be incredibly aggressive and get better. We only have a few players under contract, as Bob (Myers) pointed out,” Lacob answered, via CSN Bay Area. “We just think that it’s money well spent if you just do the math.”
Why would Chicago help Golden State add the reigning Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year to an already loaded roster? Why would the Bulls do this knowing full well they are going into rebuild mode following the trade of Jimmy Butler?
This is the second consecutive draft that Golden State has purchased a draft pick. Remember, the Warriors bought the rights to Patrick McCaw from the Milwaukee Bucks last year. All McCaw did was play a huge role in Golden State’s run to the championship.
Until teams stop helping the Warriors out, they are going to continue dominating the landscape of the NBA. Chicago is just the latest example of that.