Summer League Report Card: Jack Cooley

With summer league officially over for the Sacramento Kings, we here at A Royal Pain will give individual grades to the players on the team. This article will be analyzing Jack Cooley.

Nobody expected it, but Jack Cooley instantly became a summer league favorite for the Sacramento Kings. If I could pick one of these summer league players that are currently not on the roster to receive a contract, I choose Cooley quickly.

With Cooley’s impressive play, I had no choice but to say #CooleyContract. So what makes Cooley so contract worthy? I’m glad you asked.

Jack played behind Georgios Papagiannis as the reserve center and came out to be more impressive most of the time. One example was the first game against the Phoenix Suns. Papa looked very off and Cooley was a spark off the bench. He finished the game with an 11 point, 10 rebound double-double.

Summer League stats

In five summer league appearances, Cooley averaged 9.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while shooting a field goal percentage of 64%. His plus/minus came in at +27, proving to have a positive impact in games.

Hidden qualities

His numbers off the bench were solid no doubt, but he has a quality that cannot be indicated with stats. Cooley showed extreme hustle down low in the paint, which was a huge source of his rebounds and points. Cooley would use his big body down low to out-hustle his opponents and get crucial second-chance points which would always get everyone fired up.

You couldn’t find a more hard-working player like Cooley on the Kings, most definitely. Now even if he did receive a contract, he wouldn’t have much playing time being behind Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos in the pecking order. He isn’t mobile enough to be a power forward even though he is the right height (6-9), but we all liked what we saw from him.

Next: Sacramento Kings projected 2017-2018 depth chart

With everything that has been said, here is my grade for Jack. He didn’t play terrible but he wasn’t a superstar. He came in, did what he had to do, and earned the respect from Kings fans! #CooleyContract