Chris Bell, John Camden Earn NBA Opportunities As Undrafted Free Agents

Cal forwards Chris Bell and John Camden didn’t hear their names called by commissioner Adam Silver during the 2026 NBA Draft. However, the pair of one-year Golden Bears from the 2025-26 season will have their chance to make a name for themselves in the association.

As undrafted free agents, Bell signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, and Camden agreed to an NBA Summer League deal with the Washington Wizards.

Neither forward is a Jaylon Tyson-type of wing.

But Bell and Camden are legit marksmen with traditional frames, making them worthy of NBA opportunities.

Bell, a Concord native and De La Salle product who transferred from Syracuse, averaged 14.2 points with Cal on a phenomenal 40 percent from deep and 45.9 percent from the field. He had 10 games of 20-plus points and 26 total games of 10-plus points.

In a pre-draft interview with Sacramento Kings media, Bell discussed the type of professional situation he hoped to enter.

“There were 90 NBA call-ups last year,” Bell said, referencing the quantity of players who were promoted from the NBA’s developmental G-League. “So [I’m] obviously trying to get to an organization that believes in their second-round picks and [other] guys. 

“Just trying to make a name for myself, I think that’s the big thing.”

Camden, who transferred from Delaware, posted eerily similar figures. He averaged 13.8 points on a strong 39.5 percent clip from behind the arc and 44.5 percent from the field, with eight games of 20-plus points and 24 games of 10-plus points.

Camden acknowledged four-year Cal head coach Mark Madsen for supporting his game in a pre-draft interview with the Indiana Pacers.

“I think his experience at the next level and his understanding of where I’m trying to go and where his players are ultimately trying to go, I think that plays a big role in his coaching style and how he prepares us to succeed,” Camden said.

Cal fans should get a glimpse of Bell and Camden in their new threads during the 2026 NBA Summer League. 

And while the pair were in Berkeley for just one season, Bell and Camden’s contributions to the best Golden Bears squad since the program’s 2015-16 NCAA Tournament run won’t be forgotten by true Blue-and-Gold loyalists.

“It means a lot to me, especially being from here, just to see Cal basketball back on top and doing the right things,” Bell said during the Bears’ 11-1 start — the program’s best since former head coach Pete Newell's last season in 1959-60 — to the 2025-26 campaign.

“Knowing we're one of the top teams and competing at that level, that's a big thing for us.”

Bell, Camden and the Golden Bears all aim to ride the momentum from what was objectively a fun year of hoops.