Should the Atlanta Hawks pass or pursue Sharife Cooper

The Atlanta Hawks had one of those seasons that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. They had injury and illness issues which explained where they finished in the Eastern Conference. The problem is that they also had questions asked of them that still remained unanswered.

One of these is at the point guard position. The starting point guard is Trae Young, there is no question about that. The Hawks have hitched their wagon to the speedy offensive master and this season he gave us all an All-NBA type effort. The problem is, as it has been for the past four years, is the level of production when he sits out of the reserve point guard.

Early in the season, the Hawks struggled to get production out of both Lou Williams and Delon Wright. Both of these experienced players were vying for minutes against each other and it was not working. They worked it out but it did not stop the calls being made for Sharife Cooper to be unleashed on the NBA.

So what do the Atlanta Hawks do with Sharife Cooper?

It is safe to say that the Hawks have a Sharife Cooper problem that the end of the season did nothing to solve. He continued to develop nicely in the G League, putting in tremendous performances including his first triple-double. However, the biggest problem that Cooper had was the College Park Skyhawks responded well to the play of Cat Barber.

This taught Cooper how to play off the ball and this is going to the essential for the second-year man. Cooper will probably never be the starting point guard for the franchise but has a work ethic that is going to help him to become everything that he can be in this league.

It is, for this reason, that the Hawks should pursue Cooper this offseason. He could sign another two-way deal with the club or a full-season deal which will not cost the Hawks much. This is going to be crucial, even though they are willing to go into the tax, Hawks ownership would welcome some smaller deals.