Tristan Thompson allegedly grew an inch after he was drafted, and with a standing reach at least 4 inches better at draft time and wingspan 1.5 better, plus he got about 20 pounds heavier than Bell before he really started heavy minutes at the 5.
I'm not hating on Bell when I refer to him as small or compare him positively to 3/4 defensive guys who have long careers. I trust my eyes and think he's smaller than Thompson, enough that it stands out to me. But I'm also the guy insisting Dangubic isn't 6-8, not legit anyway.
I like Bell. I would like the Spurs to draft him. I have posted before and stand by it, that they should be aggressive in going by after the right guy. So they should even trade up to make sure they get him. As long as it's not 29+future first as they might need that first to dump out if a contract. But a second, or Anderson, or rights to Dangubic, whatever. Just go get him.
I still think he's small. But I don't mind the difficulties that might present with defending bigger guys, which DX concurs with, because I agree a lot with this that DX wrote:
I think he can be even more useful there than as a switching small 5.. A creative coaching staff might try and use him as a stopper on go-to scorers who are bigger wing players or combo forward types, and he appears to have the quickness to hold his own here.
BTW, I've been binging on many, many NBA podcasts and just about everybody loves Bell. And everyone who has a pick in the twenties I think I've heard their fans or bloggers talk up Bell as the choice. That's just adding to why I'd be nervous about him being there at 29