Jordan Bell

And-Ones: NBA Media Rights, Bell, 2024 Draft, Sheppard

The exclusive media rights negotiating window between the NBA and current partners Disney and Turner is open until April 22, and sources recently told Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal they believe the parties entered those negotiations roughly three-quarters of the way toward an agreement based on their preliminary talks in recent months.

According to Friend, those sources also expect the in-season tournament – now known as the Emirates NBA Cup – to be part of the Disney and Turner packages rather than going to a streaming service such as Apple or Netflix.

Once the current exclusive negotiating window closes on April 22, Amazon and Apple are expected to talk to the NBA, with Amazon considered the favorite for the league’s national streaming rights and Apple viewed as likelier to pursue a smaller “singular” event, such as perhaps the play-in tournament, says Friend. The SBJ report also suggests that NBC is a candidate to regain some broadcast rights.

NBA team executives think the overall media rights deal will end up being worth about $60-72 billion, with negotiations potentially concluding in June or July, Friend reports. The league’s previous media rights deal was worth $24 billion over nine years.

  • Former NBA big man Jordan Bell is leaving the Indiana Mad Ants – the Pacers‘ G League affiliate – with a few weeks remaining in the NBAGL season. According to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files, Bell agreed to a buyout with the Mad Ants and is pursuing an international opportunity. Bell’s destination isn’t yet known, but Agness believes he’s likely headed back to the Chinese Basketball Association, where he played in 2022/23.
  • In an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo preview this week’s NCAA conference tournaments, posing 15 burning questions to be answered, including what version of UConn’s Stephon Castle will show up in the Big East tournament and whether Isaiah Collier‘s stock, which has bounced back since he returned from a hand injury in February, will continue to rise in the Pac-12 tourney.
  • Kentucky freshman Reed Sheppard ranks second overall on the newest 2024 big board from Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer and is the No. 1 pick in O’Connor’s mock draft (to San Antonio).
  • Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at how all 30 NBA teams have adjusted their rotations and depth charts since the start of the season.

USA Basketball Announces February AmeriCup Qualifying Roster

USA Basketball has announced its 12-man roster for a pair of AmeriCup qualifying games that will be played later this month, according to a press release written by Michael Terry. The Americans will host Cuba in Kissimmee, Florida, on February 22, then will travel to Cuba for a second game on Feb. 25.

The roster is as follows:

Ten of the 12 players have at least some level of NBA experience, with Davis and Jayce Johnson the only exceptions. Carter-Williams, Stanley Johnson, and Payton are all former lottery picks. None of those 10 players are currently on NBA rosters, however, with Hurt being the most recent to play in the league (with Memphis on a 10-day hardship contract).

As previously reported, Jerome Allen will be the head coach for this round of qualifying games, with Melvin Hunt, Sydney Johnson and Bill Bayno serving as assistants. Bayno will also be a scout, per the release. Allen, Hunt and Bayno are all former NBA assistant coaches.

As Terry writes, the two qualifying games this month are the first of three qualifying windows ahead of the 2025 AmeriCup. In the other two qualifying windows, held Nov. 2024 and Feb. 2025, the U.S. will face Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, respectively.

Per the release, qualifying rounds consist of 16 teams distributed into four, four-team groups. Each team will play each opponent in their group twice, once at home and once away. The top three teams in each group (12 total) will advance to next year’s AmeriCup, which will occur Aug. 23-31, 2025, in Managua, Nicaragua.

Team USA has won the AmeriCup seven times, according to Terry, with the last victory coming in 2017. The Americans won bronze in 2022, which was the last time the tournament was held.

Pacers Sign, Waive Elfrid Payton, Jordan Bell

SEPTEMBER 30: The Pacers have waived both Payton and Jordan Bell, per a press release. Bell was also signed to an Exhibit 10 contract. Indiana now has 18 players on its roster.


SEPTEMBER 29: The Pacers have signed free agent point guard Elfrid Payton, the team announced in a press release.

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets that the deal was designed for Payton to return to the Mad Ants, Indiana’s NBA G League affiliate. That strongly suggests Payton received an Exhibit 10 contract, which would entitle him to a bonus worth up to $75K if he’s waived before the season starts and spends at least 60 days with the Mad Ants.

A former lottery pick (10th overall in 2014), Payton appeared in 500 regular season games over eight seasons with the Magic, Suns (twice), Pelicans and Knicks. His last NBA stint came back in 2021/22 with Phoenix, when he averaged a career-low 11.0 minutes over 50 games with the Suns.

Last season, Payton had a brief stint playing professionally in Puerto Rico before joining the Mad Ants to finish out the campaign. In 10 regular season games (20.5 minutes) with the Mad Ants, the 29-year-old averaged 7.9 points, 6.0 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals, with a subpar .424/.286/.333 shooting line.

Payton reportedly had workouts with the Hornets and Timberwolves this offseason, but was unable to find an NBA contract. Instead, he’ll reportedly be heading back to the Mad Ants to open ’23/24.

The Pacers now have 20 players under contract, including 15 on guaranteed standard deals and all three two-way slots filled.

Pacers Waive Pedro Bradshaw, Craig Sword; Sign Jordan Bell

The Pacers have waived Pedro Bradshaw and Craig Sword and signed Jordan Bell, the team announced in a press release.

All three players received Exhibit 10 deals, which means they’ll each be eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with the Indiana Mad Ants, the Pacers’ NBA G League affiliate. Based on previous reporting, Bell will almost certainly be waived in the coming days as well.

A 6’8″ big man, Bell has by far the most NBA experience of the group, appearing in 161 regular season games with the Warriors, Wolves, Grizzlies, Wizards and Bulls from 2017-22. He holds career averages of 3.7 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 12.0 MPG. The 28-year-old played in China last season but spent most of 2021/22 with the Mad Ants.

Bradshaw, who went undrafted out of Bellarmine in 2021, averaged 9.2 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 29 regular season games (19.2 MPG) with the Mad Ants in ’22/23. He posted a .509/.419/.776 shooting line.

Sword was a member of the Capital City Go-Go last season who had his rights acquired earlier this month by the Mad Ants. An NBAGL veteran who has appeared in more than 200 games at that level, the 29-year-old averaged 7.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 22.2 minutes per game last season in 43 appearances for the Go-Go, with a shooting line of .566/.387/.725.

The Pacers now have 19 players under contract, including 15 on guaranteed standard deals and all three two-way slots filled.

Jordan Bell To Sign Exhibit 10 Deal With Pacers

Free agent big man Jordan Bell is signing an Exhibit 10 deal with the Pacers, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link).

Bell, 28, won an NBA championship with the Warriors in 2017/18 and has 161 games of NBA experience across five seasons with Golden State, Minnesota, Memphis, Washington and Chicago. The former Oregon big man holds career averages of 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per night.

The 6’8″ forward/center began his career in Golden State after being drafted with the No. 38 overall pick in the 2017 draft and spent the subsequent two seasons with the Warriors. Bell bounced around the league over the next few years, with his last NBA appearance coming with the Bulls in ’21/22 on a 10-day contract. He then played with the Guangzhou Loong Lions in China last season, appearing in 44 games, averaging 10.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks.

Scotto adds that Bell “will be a veteran leader” for the Indiana Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate. Bell has 39 games of G League experience in the regular season and Showcase Cup, and he averaged 13.5 points with the Mad Ants last season.

If Scotto’s phrasing wasn’t enough indication that Bell is almost certainly headed to the G League, the Pacers also have what looks to be a set regular season roster. Barring a potential Buddy Hield trade, the Pacers have 15 players on standard, guaranteed contracts, as well as three players on two-way contracts. Indiana is also reportedly bringing Darius McGhee to training camp.

Bell’s Exhibit 10 deal will make him eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K if he’s waived by the Pacers and spends at least 60 days with the Mad Ants.

Jordan Bell Signs With Guangzhou Loong Lions

Another NBA veteran has signed with the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who reports (via Twitter) that big man Jordan Bell is joining the club.

Word broke earlier this week that point guard Jeremy Lin has also signed with Guangzhou.

The 38th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Bell has appeared in a total of 161 games for five NBA teams across five seasons, including 126 for the Warriors. He hasn’t been able to stick on an NBA roster in recent years, appearing in six games for the Wizards and Warriors in 2020/21 and just one game for the Bulls in ’21/22.

Bell holds career averages of 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 12.0 minutes per game. His best season came as a rookie, when he appeared in 57 contests and averaged a career-high 14.2 MPG for the Warriors, who won a title that season.

This will be Bell’s first time playing overseas. When he hasn’t been in the NBA in recent years, the former Oregon standout has played in the G League, spending time with the Santa Cruz Warriors, Erie BayHawks, and Fort Wayne Mad Ants. He has also represented Team USA in some World Cup qualifying matches.

Joe Johnson, Langston Galloway Among Team USA Players For World Cup Qualifiers

USA Basketball has announced its 12-man roster for the next two qualifying games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The team, coached by Jim Boylen, will be made up of G League players and current free agents. Here’s the roster:

With the exception of Ryan, all of the players on Team USA have some NBA experience, though some are certainly more accomplished than others. Johnson has earned seven All-Star berths and has appeared in 1,277 career regular season games. Bell, Black, and Galloway have also each played in more than 160 career regular season contests.

The 2023 World Cup will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia next August and September. Teams play 12 qualifying games before then — those contests take place across six windows, with World Cup hopefuls playing twice during each window.

Team USA went 1-1 in its first two qualifying games in November, defeating Cuba but losing to Mexico. Boylen coached that team and Bowen played for it, but the other 11 roster spots have since been turned over, with Isaiah Thomas among the players who aren’t back this time around. The new-look squad will face Puerto Rico on February 24 and Mexico again on February 27.

After this month’s games, the remaining four qualifying windows are scheduled for June, August, November, and next February. While the next two windows fall outside of the NBA season, the expectation is that USA Basketball will continue using G-Leaguers for the qualifiers before recruiting NBA stars for the event itself next summer.

As our JD Shaw reports (via Twitter), forward DaQuan Jeffries had been expected to be part of Team USA’s roster for this month’s qualifiers, but had to de-commit due to an injury.

And-Ones: Giddey, Cunningham, Fitch, Bell, More

Thunder guard Josh Giddey has been named January’s Rookie of the Month for the Western Conference, while Pistons guard Cade Cunningham earned the honors for the Eastern Conference, the NBA announced on Wednesday (Twitter link). The other nominees can be found here.

With most of this season’s top rookies in the East, Giddey won the Western award for a third straight time. He averaged 13.3 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 6.1 APG on 14 games (33.2 MPG) for the Thunder in January, posting a shooting line of .443/.284/.786.

Cunningham is a first-time Rookie of the Month, joining Evan Mobley and Franz Wagner as the East’s award winners so far in 2021/22. The rising Pistons star got off to a slow start, but began to flash more potential in January, averaging 17.3 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 4.2 RPG on .420/.365/.879 shooting in 15 games (32.3 MPG).

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The Suns‘ 13-1 performance in January earned head coach Monty Williams his second Coach of the Month nod of 2021/22, the NBA announced on Wednesday (via Twitter). Williams was also named the Western Conference’s Coach of the Month for October/November. J.B. Bickerstaff, whose Cavaliers had an 11-4 month, was the East’s Coach of the Month for January.
  • Hall-of-Famer Bill Fitch, a two-time Coach of the Year, has passed away at age 89, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link). Fitch coached the Cavaliers, Celtics, Rockets, Nets, and Clippers from 1970-98, winning a title with Boston in 1981.
  • Veteran NBA big man Jordan Bell was acquired this week by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers‘ G League affiliate, per a press release. The Mad Ants made a trade with the Santa Cruz Warriors – Golden State’s affiliate – to secure Bell’s NBAGL rights.
  • In an in-depth story for The Athletic, Joe Vardon details the series of logistical nightmares the Nigerian national team experienced en route to competing at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. As Vardon outlines, several assistant coaches who flew to Japan never made it into the Olympics and Nigeria nearly wasn’t able to play its first game after almost missing a necessary round of COVID-19 testing. The team entered the Olympics with medal aspirations, but lost all three of its round-robin games and was quickly eliminated.

Bulls Sign Jordan Bell To 10-Day Contract

DECEMBER 30: Bell’s 10-day deal with the Bulls is now official, according to the transactions log at NBA.com. It will run through January 8, covering Chicago’s next four games.


DECEMBER 29: The Bulls plan to sign big man Jordan Bell to a 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the team will use a hardship exception to complete the move.

Bell technically was a Bull once before, having been drafted by the team with the 38th overall pick in 2017 — his rights were quickly dealt to the Warriors on draft night in exchange for cash.

Since 2017, Bell has appeared in a total of 160 regular season games for Golden State, Minnesota, Memphis, and Washington, averaging 3.7 PPG and 3.1 RPG on 12.1 minutes per contest. He also played in 32 postseason games with the Warriors and won a title in 2018. The 26-year-old had been playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League this season, averaging 10.8 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.6 BPG in nine games (28.6 MPG).

Perhaps no team has been hit harder in the last month by COVID-19 than the Bulls, who placed power forward Marko Simonovic in the health and safety protocols earlier today, per Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link).

Although Chicago only has five players in the protocols for the time being, nearly all the team’s players have been affected by COVID-19 at some point this month. As K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets, Alex Caruso and Tyler Cook are the only players on the team’s standard 17-man roster who haven’t been in the protocols this season.

Jordan Bell, Shaq Harrison Among Team USA Players For World Cup Qualifiers

USA Basketball has announced its roster for a pair of upcoming qualifying games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The squad, which will be coached by former Bulls head coach Jim Boylen, is comprised of G-Leaguers, nearly all of whom have prior NBA experience. Here’s the list:

Of the 12 players on the roster, 11 have appeared in at least one NBA regular season game, led by Harrison (173 career games) and Bell (160 games). Simpson is the only player without any NBA experience under his belt.

The 2023 World Cup will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia two years from now, while the first qualifying matches will take place later this month. The U.S. team will face Cuba on November 28 and Mexico on November 29. After November’s games, the next round of qualifiers will take place in February.

Although NBA players make up Team USA’s roster in the World Cup itself, the qualifiers take place during the NBA season, so USA Basketball generally opts to build a roster made up of G League veterans. A group led by Jeff Van Gundy put up a 10-2 record in qualifying games for the 2019 World Cup from 2017-19. Mason and Randle participated in a handful of those contests.