Keep up the defensive effort
Quinn Cook has been up-and-down in his NBA career on offense and defense. This summer he signed a two-year deal to come to Los Angeles and provide the team with some shooting. Although that has not panned out the way the team wanted, there is a silver lining.
That silver lining is defense, something Cook has never been known for in his career. This is season his defensive rating is by far the lowest of his career sitting at 100.7 according to advanced stats. Coming into this year the lowest he ever had was 2017-18 with the Warriors was a 108.4.
So, with his shot struggling mightily, only knocking down 34% of his 3-pointers this year, he has shown growth defensively playing with the Lakers. That shows that he’s willing to dig in and can be effective on that end of the floor.
With that being said, there is no track record to prove he can keep that up. He’s only playing in 13.4 minutes per game. Will he be able to keep it up in games that he would play 25-30 minutes per night?
If he could, he would earn more playing time on this team. But he’s just as likely to falter with a bigger role looking at his past. Here’s to his wishlist including turning a corner on the defensive end.