Golden State Warriors should cut Nick Young, sign Quinn Cook
Should the Golden State Warriors cut Omri Casspi or Nick Young to make room for Quinn Cook?
Let’s be extraordinarily clear: there’s been no concrete news concerning whether the Golden State Warriors have even begun to consider cutting one of their current full-time players to make room on the playoff roster for Quinn Cook.
That being said, it’d be kinda difficult for them not to even consider it at this point, don’t ya think?
Over the last five games, the two-way contract guard has averaged 18.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals over the last five contests, shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 48.1 percent from long range.
He’s not only proven to be an incredibly confident and composed floor general, but he’s displayed the kind of scoring versatility that the team’s second unit has been desperately missing all season long.
Most importantly, he has almost single-handedly kept the Warriors’ offense alive in the absence of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant, which is by no means an easy feat. There’s no doubt that were any of them to get injured again, the team could most definitely count on Quinn Cook to step up.
While I personally believe the Warriors will stand pat and not add Cook by the time playoff rosters are locked in, one has to wonder WHO exactly would get the axe to clear space for Cook. Based off what I’ve read from just about every Warriors-related news site, blog or social media account, Omri Casspi seems to be the guy on the chopping block.
Appearing in 53 games this season, Casspi has averaged 5.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 14.0 minutes per game. He’s shot 58.0 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from behind the arc and 72.5 percent from the free throw line.
The 29-year-old forward has had trouble finding his way into the rotation for much of the year, and his recent ankle injury doesn’t exactly help his case for staying. Above all else, the younger forwards on the squad have surprisingly been quite productive, which practically buried any hope of us seeing Casspi on a consistent basis.
Although he may not space the floor as often as any of us would like, Casspi has proven an invaluable backup at the small forward spot, where he provides insurance for Andre Iguodala and KD.
He rebounds well, moves off the ball welll, works hard on defense and he understands the system — which is certainly more than I can say for Nick Young.
If there’s anything that the last few games without Curry, Klay and Durant have proven, it’s that Swaggy P is really nothing more than just a prototypical shooting guard. Not only is he unreliable on the defensive end, but it’s amazingly rare to see him do anything else but shoot.
Averaging 7.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 16.2 minutes per game, Young is shooting 42.7 percent from the field, 37.9 percent from long range and 83.3 percent from the charity stripe. Again — all he does is shoot, and he doesn’t even do that consistently enough to warrant a considerable role on the team.
Cook, on the hand, is a much more versatile option at guard that’s capable of switching between the one spot and the two spot seamlessly. He certainly leaves something to be desired defensively as well, but I can imagine him faring way better than Young based on effort and understanding alone.
There’s no doubt the NBA has shifted toward more versatile players in recent years, and much of that has to do with how the Warriors have approached building their roster. Cook is no stranger to finding other ways to be productive when his shot isn’t falling, and neither is Casspi.
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Young, on the other hand, is no stranger to forgetting what his role is when the Warriors run a specific set. You could try to make the argument that Young is beloved in the locker room, but the same goes for Cook!
So please, Bob Myers, do the right thing; cut Swaggy P, make space for Quinn Cook.