The Cavaliers have signed free agent Sharife Cooper to a 10-day contract, according to NBA.com’s official transactions log (hat tip to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype).
Cooper, 22, was the 48th overall pick of the 2021 draft after spending one season at Auburn. He spent his rookie season — 2021/22 — on a two-way deal with Atlanta, making 13 brief NBA appearances for 39 total minutes.
A 6’0″ point guard, Cooper signed a two-way deal in the summer of 2022 to return to the Hawks, but they released him a few days later. Prior to each of the past two seasons, Cooper has signed Exhibit 10 training camp deals with the Cavs and then was waived to receive a bonus for playing for the Cleveland Charge, the team’s NBA G League affiliate.
In 34 games with the Charge in 2023/24, Cooper has averaged 18.2 PPG, 7.1 APG, 4.0 RPG and 1.6 SPG on .448/.313/.809 shooting in 32.4 MPG. He averaged 22.8 PPG, 7.0 APG, 3.6 RPG and 1.0 SPG on .453/.356/.841 shooting in 43 games at the NBAGL level last season (33.7 MPG).
Since the Cavs have an open spot on their standard roster, they didn’t have to waive anyone to sign Cooper. As a one-year veteran, he will earn $103,550 over the course of his 10-day contract.
Ash Kash
They have his stats wrong here. He has actually been shooting .357 from deep this season..316 was his average for 2022-2023. Anyway the kid has potential. He is a solid point guard who can both score and distribute the ball. He is behind a number of talented players and probably won’t see the floor much.
The stats are accurate. You’re citing regular season stats only. The ones I cited are Showcase Cup and regular season combined.
Fair point. That Said Showcase cup games are not played against Teams from the G-League. It’s a bit like comparing Apples with Oranges. Showcase cup opponents have a much wider variation in skill level. From Teams that would own the G-League to Teams that are inferior to the worst team in it. In either case his shooting was better in the regular season than against Showcase cup opponents. That and the Showcase cup is treated like preseason by the G-League teams. I suppose that G-League player’s should be looking to impress at all times but they have to test things sometime.
The Showcase Cup in 2023/24 featured the exact same 31 teams that are part of the G League regular season. It’s essentially just an extension of the season.
That said, it’s a positive that his shooting has been better over the last two months than it was over the previous two.
That may be true this year. I just know that last year they played international teams, college teams and industrial teams like Marathon oil. I had not heard they had stopped playing those teams.