Los Angeles Lakers: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
Signed Quinn Cook
We spoke earlier of the overblown concept of “championship pedigree” but Quinn Cook certainly stresses our disbelief. Cook started on a Duke Blue Devils that won the title, then was MVP of the NBA D League before signing with the Golden State Warriors and winning a title in 2018.
He is the only player in the past decade to win a title at both levels.
Cook is cool under pressure, comfortable handling the ball or spotting up to hit shots. He is a
Career 41.8 3-point shooter, hitting 127 3-pointers the last two seasons with the Warriors despite playing a minor bench role. He is not a strong defensive player, but he can shoot.
Is it worth it to the Lakers to gain Cook’s shooting while paying him $3 million per season?
Cook likely chose the Lakers over other options because they offered more than the minimum, but the Lakers could have used that small amount of cap space elsewhere. Were there better options available?
The answer is probably not, as the league market is wise to the fact that 48 minutes of solid point guard play is vital to sustaining an offense. Backup point guards league-wide were paid substantial amounts even on non-contenders.
With the Lakers’ cap space squeezed, the contract they gave Cook was about what they could offer, and he was a reasonable choice among the available options.