The Atlanta Hawks are a team in crisis at the moment. They have had a horrible run of being able to keep players on the court. As a result, the Hawks have not had the season they would have expected, leaving them four games under .500 on the season.
Given that the hype at the start of the season was that the Hawks could potentially repeat their run of getting to the Eastern Conference Finals, and possibly go even further. Then they played the first game of the season against the Dallas Mavericks and looked like a team that could win the NBA championship.
Unfortunately, the Hawks have had to overcome chemistry issues, injury issues, and then incredible issues with Covid. This led them to sign a plethora of 10 days contracts as well as call up their G League assignee Jalen Johnson and their two-way players Skylar Mays and Sharife Cooper.
The Atlanta Hawks need to unleash Sharife Cooper on the NBA
The Hawks have been using Sharife Cooper for junk time minutes in the NBA. He has also been developing into the G League, playing some big minutes for the College Park Skyhawks. He has shown a tremendous connection with Johnson when the two are on the court together.
The Hawks may be looking to improve the backup point guard position via trade, or they may continue to try with the current incumbent in the position, Delon Wright. Either option is risky given the time of the season, given that they will have to integrate the new player into the lineup or hope that Wright comes good.
If the Hawks decide to unleash Cooper on the NBA then they will make a lot of Hawks fans very happy. His connection with Johson is reminiscent of the connection between Trae Young and John Collins. If he can replicate that in the varsity squad with the established stars of the team, he could become a very important member of the team.