Sharife Cooper was selected with the No. 48 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Since then, he hasn’t stopped fighting for a consistent spot on an NBA roster. Evidently, he’ll have another chance to reach his goal in the coming weeks.
“The Cleveland Cavaliers are signing guard Sharife Cooper to a 10-day contract,” senior NBA insider Michael Scotto wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Cooper was initially drafted by the Atlanta Hawks. However, he never found a stable home with the organization, playing on a two-way contract in his debut campaign. Cooper made his NBA debut in the Hawks’ season opener against the Dallas Mavericks, going 0-for-3 from the floor in a 113–87 win.
On July 22, 2022, Cooper re-signed with the Hawks on another two-way deal, only for the franchise to cut him from the team three days later. Cooper didn’t give up. On Sept. 20, 2022, Cooper signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers but was waived again only a month later.
Most recently, Sharife Cooper has been playing for the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G-League. In 19 games this season, Cooper has averaged 18.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game while shooting 46.4% from the field and 35.7% from beyond the arc.
Evidently, the former Auburn standout’s showings were enough to catch the eye of the Cavaliers. Cleveland’s next game is on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET against the Dallas Mavericks. The Cavaliers currently boast a 37-19 record and the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
If Cooper can replicate a fraction of his success at Auburn on basketball’s biggest stage he’ll be in good shape. In his lone season with the Tigers, Cooper averaged 20.2 points, 8.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 33.0 minutes per game.
He became one of only three players since 2010 to average 20 points, eight assists and four rebounds per game. One of the others was NBA All-Star Ja Morant. Due to an NCAA investigation into his eligibility, Cooper only played in 12 games at Auburn.
Nonetheless, his 97 total assists finished eighth overall in the SEC and first among freshmen. Cooper was only the second one-and-done in program history, joining Isaac Okoro.
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