If he sticks with Cavs, Jordan Bell should help offensive rebounding efforts

It’s difficult to say at this point if Jordan Bell will stick around with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

During the NBA’s transaction window, the Cleveland Cavaliers signed then-free agent Jordan Bell. During the 2019-20 campaign, Bell spent most of his time with the Minnesota Timberwolves, was then eventually traded to the Houston Rockets and then was dealt shortly thereafter to the Memphis Grizzles.

Following that, Memphis waived Bell after just two games, and then quickly following that point, the NBA season went into a novel coronavirus-induced hiatus. From there, again, Cleveland would eventually pick up Bell.

But in relation to next season, Bell will be on a non-guaranteed deal. And it’s difficult to say with certainty whether he will make the roster for the next campaign, let alone stick around.

Cleveland should have Andre Drummond back, for one, as he is reportedly highly likely to pick up his $28.8 million player option for next season. From there, Cleveland could potentially bring back the expiring Tristan Thompson, of which, per one source of Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor in a report (subscription required), is a ’50-50” chance, seemingly via one-year deal.

Cleveland could also maybe in the upcoming draft select a big such as USC’s Onyeka Okongwu, for instance, who could fill in as Drummond’s primary backup at the 5, and I’d assume for Thompson.

However, Bell, either way, could still maybe stick around and provide the Cavs with some energy minutes at times, perhaps in some instances with Kevin Love at the 4 and him at the 5, or Larry Nance Jr. at the 4. Nance has made considerable strides with his three-point shooting off-the-catch, and hit 35.2 percent of his deep attempts in 2019-20.

In Bell’s case, he is somewhat switchable if that’s needed at times for Cleveland, and though he isn’t an ideal sized rotational 5 at 6-foot-8, 215 pounds, he has very good team defensive feel as a rotator/shot blocker. Last season with Minnesota, he averaged 1.5 blocks per-36 minutes.

Plus, although the squad around him in his first two seasons was admittedly star-studded with the Golden State Warriors, Bell still did make his presence felt defensively when he was in there. In those two years, he had 1.2 steals and 2.4 blocks per-36 minutes.

Albeit on the offensive end of the floor, Bell is not a player that’s going to provide much scoring pop, and should be mostly a screener on and off-ball if he makes the team/sticks around. Bell, who is mostly a non-shooter outside of an occasional mid-range face-up look, has only averaged 3.8 points per outing in his 154 career games, in which he’s played 12.0 minutes per contest.

That said, along with screening prowess, Bell, if he does stick around, could help the Cavs in another area offensively if/when he’s on the floor in spurts.

Bell could help the Cleveland Cavaliers’ offensive rebounding efforts.

If Bell does get in there for the Wine and Gold in spurts/potential stretches depending on matchups, he could aid Cleveland’s offensive rebounding efforts. Bell has put up a healthy 2.8 offensive boards per-36 for his career, and he could give the squad some energy minutes in that realm if he gets the opportunities.

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For comparison’s sake, the aforementioned Nance, who is an especially active offensive rebounder, has averaged 3.2 offensive boards per-36 minutes for his career thus far. So, that’s not been too shabby from Bell, who don’t get me wrong, is also always makes his presence felt in a big way on the defensive glass, too.

And though he’s not a player that’s going to be a key scoring threat if/when he’s out there, Bell is a bouncy athlete that can get putbacks here and there and can hit hooks at times.

In some spot minutes, that sort of thing could give the Cleveland Cavaliers some energy and perhaps produce a bit on the interior in some instances with Drummond getting a breather.

Playing off that, Jordan Bell, who is a heady passer for a big, could realistically hit the likes of Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr. and/or Dylan Windler for a kick-out perimeter shot after an offensive rebound.

Granted, the Cavs wouldn’t want Bell to do too much in those situations. But if Bell can create extra possessions and/or possibly some relocation/hand-off opportunities for KPJ/Windler in some bench spot minutes, that could help the Wine and Gold in spurts, provided he’s productive at the other end.

Nonetheless, Bell will seemingly have to make a good impression in upcoming Cavs in-market bubble team workouts to help his case and/or have likely have a good minicamp/preseason.

If he does end up being a reserve 5 for the Cleveland Cavaliers, though, expect the currently-25-year-old Bell to help Cleveland’s efforts on the offensive glass, most notably. To reiterate, his defensive rebounding is a key strength, too, though.

But the lack of shooting threat, even for a reserve/spot minute guy, could hurt Bell’s chances of sticking around, even more if TT is back or Cleveland drafts Okongwu, for example. So we’ll have to see.