Atlanta Hawks: Skylar Mays and Sharife Cooper left off All Summer League Teams
Atlanta Hawks rookie forward Jalen Johnson was named to the All-Summer League First Team. It’s a nice honor for the 20th-overall pick who used his time in Las Vegas to show why the 19 teams that passed on him made a mistake. But he wasn’t alone in showcasing what he can bring to the Hawks.
48th-overall pick Sharife Cooper also made great strides in allaying concerns over his size being a hindrance. 2020 second-rounder Skylar Mays prove he can impact the game in a multitude of ways.
Unfortunately for Cooper and Mays, their performances weren’t enough to warrant All-Summer League Team honors.
Atlanta Hawks Cooper and Mays both had strong cases for All-Summer League Teams
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Joining Johnson on the First Team were Davion Mitchell of the Kings and Payton Pritchard of the Celtics, the two of whom played for the Summer League title on Tuesday.
Also included were Trey Murphy III of the Pelicans, the Nets Cam Thomas, Jalen Smith from the Suns, and Obi Toppin of the Hawks Christmas day opponent, the Knicks.
That’s a tough group of guards to crack. Thomas led in points per game, Pritchard in assists per game, and Mitchell lived up to his nickname of “Off Night”.
So much so that Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green, the first and second-overall picks, respectively, were both relegated to Second-Team honors.
Still, both Hawks had solid Summer League performances worth acknowledging.
Cooper finished the session averaging 14.8 points and 7.3 assists per game on 46.3 percent shooting (33.3 percent from outside). But a poor final game in which he put up a disappointing 6/2/2 line and shot 27.3 percent from the floor.
Before that he was averaging 17.7 points per game and led with 9.3 assists per game.
There’s a possibility he would have still been left off even if he had continued the trend he was on before that last contest — he scored 21 points in back to back games before missing the game against the Heat in health and safety protocols. But obviously his chances of making it would have been better if he had.
Mays finished averaging 18.8/2.5/3.8 with a .463/.333/1.000 slash line. He joined Johnson as a spectator for the final game. But in the game prior, he dropped 26 points, nine assist, and four rebounds.
Atlanta Hawks: 3 legends for Sharife Cooper to study. dark. Next
He likely would have had a better shot with greater opportunity. But his impact was among the tops in Vegas.