In building the Warriors’ championship roster, general manager Bob Myers has come to master the art of a bargain.
It helps that Golden State’s recent success prompted the likes of Zaza Pachulia and David West to take pay cuts in pursuit of rings. But to surround the Warriors’ All-Stars with a capable supporting cast, Myers has excelled at identifying players whose market values didn’t match their abilities.
During a two-week span this past summer, Myers rounded out the roster with three players — Jordan Bell, Omri Casspi and Nick Young — many front offices had decided weren’t worth relatively minor investments. Now, as Golden State continues to cruise with Stephen Curry sidelined by a sprained right ankle, Bell, Casspi and Young are emerging as vital role players.
Without Curry, Pachulia (left shoulder soreness) and Draymond Green (right shoulder soreness) for Monday night’s 111-104 win over Portland, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr inserted Bell and Casspi into the starting lineup. Bell had 11 points on only six shots to go with six rebounds, two assists and a chase-down block on Damian Lillard. In 25 minutes, Casspi nearly posted a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Young only needed 13 minutes off the bench to chip in 12 points. Klay Thompson later asserted that, had Young not left in the third quarter with a concussion, he would’ve scored at least 20 points and made “maybe like four or five threes.”
It all reinforced that Golden State’s big summer wasn’t limited to re-signing Curry, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. In a league loaded with underachieving players on exorbitant contracts, Bell ($815,615 this season), Casspi ($2.1 million) and Young ($5.2 million) have been low-cost upgrades.
James Michael McAdoo, who became extraneous when the Warriors bought Bell’s draft-night rights from the Bulls, is on a two-way deal with Philadelphia and averaging 8.8 points through 13 G League games. Young effectively took the spot of Ian Clark, who is shooting 37.2 percent from the field coming off New Orleans’ bench. Matt Barnes, whose chances of re-signing with Golden State ended when Casspi inked a veteran-minimum deal with the club in July, announced his retirement Monday from the NBA at age 37.
“They’ve all been really good,” Kerr said of Bell, Casspi and Young. “They’re fun to have on the team, and they’re all contributing.”
Myers has a track record of finding overlooked players who fit Golden State’s system.
A month after he was promoted to GM, Myers selected a pudgy, undersized power forward from Michigan State named Green with the No. 35 pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. In 2016, Myers bought the draft rights to Patrick McCaw — a gangly swingman out of UNLV who fell to the No. 38 pick — from Milwaukee for $2.3 million. Three months later, Myers signed blooper-prone center JaVale McGee to a non-guaranteed training camp deal.
Green is now a two-time All-Star and reigning Defensive Player of the Year. A rookie revelation last season, McCaw already looks poised for a long NBA career. McGee, whose career was on life support when he joined Golden State, has blossomed as an instant-energy big man off the bench.
It was Bell’s similarities to Green that compelled the Warriors to pay Chicago $3.5 million in June for the No. 38 pick’s draft rights. Now a third of the way through his rookie season, Bell is carving out a regular spot in Kerr’s rotation. Like Green, Bell is an undersized power forward who can fill in at center and guard all five positions.
There wasn’t much of a free-agency market for Casspi this past summer. Though not long removed from a breakout 2015-16 season with Sacramento, he was fresh off an injury-plagued campaign in which he appeared on three teams.
The Warriors have found in Casspi the ideal cutter for Kerr’s movement-heavy offense. Free to rely on drives to the rim and wide-open jumpers, Casspi is shooting 58.5 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from three-point range. His ability to consistently contribute despite infrequent playing time has earned him praise from coaches and teammates.
Young was best known for his goofy hijinks, matador defense and much-publicized relationship with rapper Iggy Azalea when he signed with Golden State in July. These days, he is settling in as a reliable bench scorer and surprisingly decent defender.
“It’s just about the confidence we have in those guys,” Durant said. “When we walk into the door at the practice facility, every game the coaches are always telling us what we need to do better, but also letting us know what we do really good. So, those guys came in and gave us a huge spark.”
Though a shrewd talent-evaluator, Myers realizes that the success of his bargain signings is largely a result of the egalitarian ethos Kerr has fostered. The floor is open to players at halftime to voice how they think the game plan should be corrected. During card games on team flights, coaches and players are more likely to debate gun reform than whether LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan.
“They won’t bring a— h— to this locker room and they shouldn’t,” Casspi said. “Guys are very sophisticated, smart, unique. The guys have been together for a few years now, and us trying to come in and find our role within the team, we’ve always got to be positive, smart, play the right way.”
Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @Con_Chron