OKC Thunder NBA draft profile: Sharife Cooper -talented playmaker

Sharife Cooper strengths and weaknesses

Strengths:

The Auburn freshman was the primary offensive threat for their squad as he produced 20.2 points and 8.1 assists per game. His diminutive size is a factor but much like Trae Young was able to capitalize so too has Cooper.

He also emulates Young in terms of getting to the charity stripe which speaks to his willingness to drive the ball and mix things up offensively.

Cooper is adept at controlling the pace of the game with his change of speed ability and great handle while his above-average passing helps set up teammates for easy scoring opportunities.

To that end, he has mastered the pick and roll, lob passes, corner kick-outs, and can utilize his dribble to draw defenders to him and then hit open teammates.  That ability resulted in the Tigers point guard assisting on 52 percent of his squad’s scoring when he was on the hardwood.

Weaknesses:

Clearly, Coopers’ diminutive frame causes issues on the defensive side of the floor. While he emulates the game style and play of Trae Young the one area that he is vastly different is his perimeter shooting where he managed only 22.8 percent.

Yet, his 82.5 percent free-throw shooting and 20 plus points per game speaks to the fact he should be able to improve with a few tweaks to his shot mechanics.

Hasn’t demonstrated the same ability when playing off the ball which is something he’ll need to focus on improving given how many teams prefer to use multi-guard lineups. That punctuates the need for him to improve his shooting so he can hit from catch and shoot opportunities and via movement and cutting to the basket.

Two major red flags were his struggles scoring against lengthy teams and his 4.2 turnovers per game. Plus his lack of elevation and tendency to lean backward on shots makes him susceptible to being blocked by taller, more physical NBA players.

Obviously, his size and frame make him a target for opposing teams to attack defensively. While he can work on improving in this area, his lack of effort and focus doesn’t project well for him to ever excel in this area.