Welcome to Atlanta, Sharife Cooper

[HawkingAwesome]

Hope to see the rookies do well 

[MarylandHawk]

He is really mature for his age. Seems to be very level headed. 

[ATLHawks3]

Finished with 11 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds on 5/11 shooting. 

[AHF]

On 8/6/2021 at 4:40 PM, JayBirdHawk said:

The Hawks can convert and extend his contract into a 3 or 4 year NBA deal - See Lu Dort's contract.

They can replace a contract with a longer one.  Can’t convert it.  Needs his consent to get bird rights unlike converting.

[marco102]

The Athletic's Q&A with Sharife Cooper

https://theathletic.com/2772494/2021/08/16/sharife-cooper-qa-on-falling-to-hawks-in-the-draft-playmaking-competing-with-trae-young/

Quote

LAS VEGAS — Sharife Cooper threw his head back and smiled before I finished asking him about falling past the midpoint of the second round on draft night. He can’t wait to showcase how wrong every team was for passing on him.

The this season for Cooper is going to be challenging, though. He likely finds himself fourth on the depth chart entering training camp behind Trae Young, Delon Wright and Lou Williams. Plus, Cooper currently is on a two-way contract, which means a good portion of his minutes in his rookie season likely will be with the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ G League affiliate. There’s a bit of a change this season regarding two-way players; they’ll be eligible to be active for up to 50 of the 82 regular-season games and receive flat salaries of $462,629, half of the rookie minimum.

Let’s talk about the draft. I think I can safely assume that you didn’t expect to be drafted as late as you did. I mean, I definitely thought you were going to be selected in the first round. What was going through your mind as the picks continued to get announced and your name still hadn’t been called? 

I didn’t know what was going on or what to expect or what to think. It was surprising, for sure. I wasn’t going to let it affect my attitude or let it make me feel any type of way, because I believe in who I am as a player. I already knew that wherever you get drafted, you still have to go out there and play, and that’s whether (or not) you get drafted No. 1. You can be out of the league in three or four years. No matter where I got picked or where I got drafted, it really didn’t matter to me. All I was really thinking about that night was where I was going to be so I can get started immediately.

How motivating is it for yourself to think that every team, including the Hawks, passed on you in the first round? 

It’s extremely motivating. I’ve been pushed to the back all of my life, honestly, and that’s no matter what I’ve done. I was named the National Player of the Year (in high school by USA Today and MaxPreps). When it’s all said and done, I still get pushed to the back. It’s nothing new to me. It’s something that has driven me all of my life. I don’t want to take away from the fact that the Hawks did choose me. I’m still extremely grateful to them for the opportunity.

How do you view this situation you’re in? The Hawks obviously have a star point guard who you play similarly to in that you’re both smaller and high-level creators who have a good handle. Is that ideal for you to learn from someone who is similar to you? 

Oh, for sure. He’s played in the league for three years already. He has a good amount of experience. He’s kind of the same build and same stature as me. I look forward to watching him work and watching him play. I can learn a lot from him, and I’m looking forward to competing every day. I feel like that’s what’s going to help me a lot in my future.

Trae is obviously the star of the team. You play the same position as him. There are other veterans ahead of you. How do you think you’ll handle the fact that minutes might be difficult to come by?

Well, Trae is my teammate and I never want to look like I’m trying to just take something from him. I’m definitely going to compete when we get on that court. You don’t have to worry about that. None of the other stuff matters, but with him as my teammate, I also want to empower him and see him do the best he can possibly do. It’s going to be a competition, for sure, but I’m also not trying to bully him out of his job. It’s a business, and he’s a great player in his own right. I feel like we’ll both be able to strive together.

 

Have you thought about how challenging it might be for yourself being on a two-way contract? Because one night you might be with College Park, the next night with Atlanta and then back to the G League. 

I haven’t thought about it too much yet. I’m just going to roll with whatever comes my way. Whether that’s the G League, it doesn’t matter to me. Basketball games are basketball games. I’m definitely going to go out there and play my best, wherever it is. I know everything will turn out how I expect it to because I work extremely hard. I’m ready to be the best version of myself.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by marco102

[sturt]

On 8/8/2021 at 1:07 PM, MarylandHawk said:

He is really mature for his age. Seems to be very level headed. 

 

Love that he and Trae and others have had such solid grounding from their dads. Everyone should be so fortunate... literally.

[sturt]

On 8/8/2021 at 10:59 PM, AHF said:

Needs his consent to get bird rights

Believe that goes with the territory regardless assuming the contract is 3 yrs or more. And no one mentions it, but I'm unaware of any reason the contract couldn't even be as much as 5 years... it's the same in principle as what JC just went through as an RFA.

[RedDawg#8]

There are a lot worse situations than having to bounce between practicing in Brookhaven, playing in Atlanta proper and being sent to play in College Park, and vice versa. Especially for a guy who is from Cobb County.

Having a vet at your position who is also from the city will go a long way in helping him balance things too.

 

[AHF]

14 minutes ago, sturt said:

Believe that goes with the territory regardless assuming the contract is 3 yrs or more. And no one mentions it, but I'm unaware of any reason the contract couldn't even be as much as 5 years... it's the same in principle as what JC just went through as an RFA.

As long as he is willing to sign a contract for that length of time, it does go with the territory.  There is no guarantee he will be willing to do so if he views himself as a blossoming star whose upside earnings are capped playing behind Trae.  There is a non-zero chance if he breaks out that he could view a short path to being an UFA as the preferred route to a future starting job and much higher earnings.

Again, I'm fine with TS going this path and many of my initial concerns about a two-way deal have been mitigated by the fact that we can ensure he is a RFA at the end of that time even if we can't guarantee we'll have bird rights.  If we end up offering him a multi-year deal, it is more likely he takes it but we can't force it on him is all I was saying.

[sturt]

45 minutes ago, AHF said:

There is a non-zero chance if he breaks out that he could view a short path to being an UFA as the preferred route to a future starting job and much higher earnings.

"Worst case" contract scenario from a team perspective is that he breaks out this season, next off-season gets a 1-year standard contract offer from another team at some insane amount, we match, and he's a UFA as-of summer 2023.... and/but there is also a non-zero chance that if the player is still tearing it up during the 2022 season, Schlenk listens to trade offers, and turns the breakout PG into something of significantly higher value than a #48 pick.

Pragmatically, the more likely evolution is that--again, assuming he breaks out which many of us accept is the quintessential cart before the horse conversation--the player follows a path that looks a lot like this one...

 

[AHF]

26 minutes ago, sturt said:

"Worst case" contract scenario from a team perspective is that he breaks out this season, next off-season gets a 1-year standard contract offer from another team at some insane amount, we match, and he's a UFA as-of summer 2023.... and/but there is also a non-zero chance that if the player is still tearing it up during the 2022 season, Schlenk listens to trade offers, and turns the breakout PG into something of significantly higher value than a #48 pick.

Pragmatically, the more likely evolution is that--again, assuming he breaks out which many of us accept is the quintessential cart before the horse conversation--the player follows a path that looks a lot like this one...

 

If we have to trade a blossoming star next year because he will be an UFA the following offseason that we won't have bird rights to so as to allow us to retain him, we should definitely get something significantly higher than the #48 pick (which has a very low value) but something much less than the value that player would provide under a 4 year deal (with a TO in the 4th year) followed by RFA from the outset.

For the Heat, a four year deal out of the gate would have saved them maybe $14M in 2021-22 and would have allowed them to let him shop as a RFA in 2022-23.  By way of contrast, the Heat will pay Duncan Robinson >$11M more next year than the Hawks will pay Kevin Huerter even though both were drafted the same season and are pretty similar players career to date (despite KH being 4 years younger).

Duncan Robinson is actually a pretty effective demonstration of how failing to sign a player up front to a long-term deal is much worse for the team than signing them to a 4 year minimum or near minimum deal right out of the gate.  Of course, most players selected at this point in the draft will never be worth anywhere close to these numbers which is why teams are content to let things play out with a minimal commitment from their side.

(As an aside, it seems to me the Heat overpaid him as I don't see him having Kevin's long-term upside for more improvement but he is an important piece for a team that wants to win now and they needed to avoid another team swooping in to tie up their cap space by signing him to an offer early in FA this year.)

[sturt]

14 minutes ago, AHF said:

Duncan Robinson is actually a pretty effective demonstration of how failing to sign a player up front to a long-term deal is much worse for the team than signing them to a 4 year minimum or near minimum deal right out of the gate.  Of course, most players selected at this point in the draft will never be worth anywhere close to these numbers which is why teams are content to let things play out with a minimal commitment from their side.

Hindsight being 20/20, I'll grant that. But on the front end, where there remains good reason to consider the risk/reward profile and hindsight just isn't a thing, seems to almost go without saying... more wisdom in getting significantly farther down the road before pursuing it with Cooper.

"How far" is a worthy of discussion... but  "whether to wait" at all (ie, after a few summer league games)... not so much.

 

[JayBirdHawk]

If a team is signing a typical RFA, it has to be at least for 3 years, I would assume the same applies for a RFA coming off a two-way?

[AHF]

39 minutes ago, sturt said:

Hindsight being 20/20, I'll grant that. But on the front end, where there remains good reason to consider the risk/reward profile and hindsight just isn't a thing, seems to almost go without saying... more wisdom in getting significantly farther down the road before pursuing it with Cooper.

"How far" is a worthy of discussion... but  "whether to wait" at all (ie, after a few summer league games)... not so much.

 

I totally agree with the risk/reward profile.  As  you know, I've been very high on Cooper and so see that profile weighted much more towards the high reward side than I do with the average second round pick.  I do trust that TS can make that evaluation better than I can, though.

[MarylandHawk]

Deuce Coop is in a tough predicament. He is fourth on the depth chart behind point gaurds on a contending team. He also has a nongaraunteed contract. I think now that the team has had a close up look at him, they believe in him more. If he continues his great play in the Gleague, I can see Nate giving him a shot in the regular season to see hiw he performs. If he performs well enough he might be able to steal some minutes from Wright and Lou. If he does that well, then when the trade dealine comes around Travis may make some room for him to get more minutes. If that goes well, he may earn a garaunteed contract. That is a lot of ifs. It is more likely that Duece Coop earns a contract from another team if he does well in the Gleauge. Here’s to hoping he can earn the back up spot to Trae by mid season. 

[JayBirdHawk]

2 minutes ago, MarylandHawk said:

He also has a nongaraunteed contract.

Coop's two-way contract in guaranteed.

[JayBirdHawk]

3 minutes ago, MarylandHawk said:

Coop earns a contract from another team if he does well in the Gleauge.

Another team cannot just sign him out from under the Hawks. His rights belong to the Hawks.

[MarylandHawk]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Coop's two-way contract in guaranteed.

Is that for two years or just this year. 

[JayBirdHawk]

5 minutes ago, MarylandHawk said:

Is that for two years or just this year. 

I don't know without looking it up, but I would suspect the 2nd year is unguaranteed. In any case, the Hawks would issue him a qualifying offer at the end of year 1 making him a restricted free agent so they can match any offer he receives from another team.

[AHF]

18 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I don't know without looking it up, but I would suspect the 2nd year is unguaranteed. In any case, the Hawks would issue him a qualifying offer at the end of year 1 making him a restricted free agent so they can match any offer he receives from another team.

If it is a two-year deal, they won't need to make the qualifying offer until after year 2, right?