Santa Cruz Warriors: Introducing the ‘Surf City Summary’ weekly column

Cook starts for GSW in place of Curry

I didn’t have the chance to report on this when it was first announced, but Warriors 2-way contract player Quinn Cook rejoined the Golden State Warriors following Stephen Curry‘s ankle injury, proceeding to start in Curry’s place against the Charlotte Hornets last Wednesday.

In 22 minutes, Cook finished with eight points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field, adding in three rebounds and three assists. Wednesday’s game in Charlotte was notably his first NBA start ever, but he certainly left no doubt that he’s as capable of leading a major league team when necessary.

It’s important to differentiate between an actual G League player being called up to a major league NBA team and a 2-way contract player rejoining a team. Though it’s true that two-way contracts will spend most of their time in the G League, the fact of the matter is they are technically part of the parent team — not the G League affiliate.

Each major NBA team is allowed TWO 2-way contract players. In the case of the Warriors, they have both Cook and Chris Boucher. Both players will spend most of their time in Santa Cruz, but they are each able to spend up to 45 days of service with Golden State as part of their development.

In other words, Golden State is merely using a portion of the 45-day allowance to add Cook to their backcourt depth; therefore, he won’t be stealing anyone’s minutes (ex. Patrick McCaw, Nick Young, JaVale McGee, Kevon Looney) any time soon.

But that’s not to say he’s undeserving of that role: among all G League players that have played more than 10 G League games, Cook currently ranks third in points (25.1) and third in assists (8.4). Golden State signed a decorated G League alumnus, and he has yet to disappoint this season.