After the Atlanta Hawks took Sharife Cooper with the 48th pick in the 2021 NBA draft, they then made the trade for Delon Wright. What Wright brings to this team is a good level of versatility which is going to be huge for this team next season.
It opened the question of why the Hawks drafted a point guard and then traded for another one a very short time afterward? The Hawks made a tremendous call with this move because they have strengthened their bench with a point guard who could have taken over after Trae Young was hurt during the Eastern Conference Finals.
What this means for the Hawks roster is that it takes the pressure off the Hawks ability to re-sign Lou Williams. The three-time Sixth Man of the Year has hinted that he wants to come back and thanks to reaching out to Sharife Cooper indicates that he is invested with this team.
The Atlanta Hawks have to decide which second-round guard to keep
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The Hawks may decide to pursue Brandon Goodwin in free agency and this would be a wise move. He has shown a tremendous ability to produce as a starter so he now needs to produce more consistently off the bench in order to carve out some more minutes on the court.
This means that the Hawks need to work out both Skylar Mays and Cooper in the summer league to see which one they keep. Mays was hamstrung last season by the G-League only having a short bubble season. What was worse was that the Hawks did not field a team.
Cooper is really well known for his work ethic and this will be something that impresses his head coach Nate McMillan. He was also seen as a steal where he was in the draft meaning that we may see some tremendous numbers coming out of summer league.
One thing that is for sure is that the Hawks are looking to have the best guard rotation this season that they have had since they traded for Young back in 2018. Wright is a key part of this and itr means that the Hawks have the opportunity to watch a battle between Cooper and Mays to see which player makes the roster.