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2015 NBA Summer League: Does Quinn Cook Have a Legit Shot at Making the Oklahoma City Thunder Roster?

By James Fitzgerald

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When some Undrafted Free Agents are selected to their respective Summer League teams they are merely filler for their teams’ roster with slim to no chance of breaking through into the main roster for the NBA regular season.

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Other players are selected with the opportunity to make the regular season because they were selected as a potential fit for a need that the regular season roster is lacking.

The latter is the case for former Duke standout guard Quinn Cook, who is going to be playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Orlando Summer League starting on July 4th.

The 6-foot-2, 185 pound guard could be auditioning for a spot on the main roster that the Thunder have a need for at backup point guard.

True, the Thunder did draft Murray State star point guard Cameron Payne with the 14th pick of the 2015 NBA Draft. But it has never hurt to have a few options on the table.

The fact of the matter is that OKC is in need of some extra guard help. Of course, no one is going to take away Russell Westbrook’s spot at the point. He is, after all, arguably one of the top five players in the world.

D.J. Augustin was decent but not spectacular as a backup to Westbrook averaging 7.3 points on 37.1% shooting in his 28 games with the club, but that is where the depth chart pretty much ended.

Jeremy Brevard, USA TODAY Sports

Since Reggie Jackson was traded to the Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City has had a slight drop off at the point with their second unit.

That is why a player like Quinn Cook  has a good opportunity to get a chance with OKC’s regular season roster.

Experience is not an issue with Cook at all. He played four seasons under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, averaging 33 minutes per game when you combine his minutes per game over the last three seasons, and he was second in the nation in minutes played last season with 1396 minutes spent on the court.

His 15.3 points on 45.3% shooting from the floor and 39.5% shooting from three-point range was integral in helping the Duke Blue Devils earn a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament which they parlayed into a National Championship this past season.

The fact that Cook has four years of college basketball experience is going to bode well for him as he tries to impress OKC as well as other NBA teams going forward in the Summer League.

It is going to be a tough transition for Quinn Cook to the NBA game since he was utilized as a two-guard at Duke last season and has not played the point since his junior year.

He will need to work on his ball-handling and decision making in order to make it on the next level.

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But there is no denying the fact that he is able to hit open shots coming off of screens or when he is receiving the ball off of kick-outs.

With Oklahoma City having ex-Florida head coach Billy Donavan take over the coaching duty, his familiarity with Quinn Cook may help Cook’s chances as well.

The thing that is going to make or break his audition in the end is going to be proving that he can be an effective ball-handler. If that does not happen he is going to have to work on that skill in the D-League..

Experience and a winning pedigree as well as playing for the best tactical mind in college basketball is going to serve Quinn Cook well in the Summer League.

For him to claim a spot on the regular season roster he is going to have to excel at the one thing he really did not need master at Duke — becoming a floor general.

Next: Greek Prospect Georgios Papagiannis Close to Deciding Future

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