Fresh off back-to-back NBA Finals appearances with Golden State, Quinn Cook is looking to bring his sweet shooting to his childhood favorite team.
A true G League success story, the 6-foot-2 point guard had to grind his way to NBA stage, and he hasn’t missed on his opportunity.
Cook fit in perfectly with the Warriors’ 3-point revolution, sinking 40.5 percent of his treys last season. For the Lakers — who were second-worst in 3-point shooting last year — his ability to hit from deep in a variety of situations will be key.
The 26-year-old is an elite spot-up shooter, ranking in the NBA’s 97th percentile on such attempts (based on his 1.31 points per spot-up possession). He is a true deadeye when given the chance to simply set his feet and fire.
Cook thrived on these looks thanks to Golden State’s egalitarian offense, and he should find plenty of similar attempts alongside one of the league’s greatest shot-creators: LeBron James.
But Cook, who averaged 6.9 points in his first full-time NBA campaign, is more than just a catch-and-shoot guy.
Cook is a chess piece for coach Frank Vogel’s playbook, as he ranked in the 70th percentile scoring off screens (1.04 ppp). And he also has plenty of wiggle with his dribble, placing in the 68th percentile as the pick-and-roll ball handler (0.90 ppp).
That shifty handle is at the core of his top weapon, his pull-up jumper. The Duke product is a machine in the mid-range, where he hit 52.4 percent of his looks — fourth-best among the 112 players with at least 100 mid-range attempts.
His pull-up is a mirror image of Russell Westbrook’s patented “cotton shot,” except that Cook likes to mix in a plethora of pump-fakes — the sort of craftiness necessary for him to shake off his often-larger defenders.
Listed at 6-foot-2, 179 pounds, Cook does have his limitations, particularly defensively. And he’s very much a shooter first, with jumpers accounting for 78 percent of his attempts.
Yet he’s also an immediate offensive shot in the arm whenever he checks into a game. Cook’s efficiency and floor-spacing make him an ideal fit next to LeBron and Anthony Davis, who will shoulder the bulk of the scoring burden.
Defenses will have to stay honest when Cook’s on the floor, whether the ball’s in his hands or not.