Philadelphia 76ers: Was passing on Sharife Cooper a mistake?

When the Philadelphia 76ers traded Mikal Bridges for Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first-round pick, the team opted to value future prospects over the immediate contributions of a still young but more collegiately experienced player with a defined role in the NBA.

In hindsight, that was the wrong call.

Since that terrible decision made by an interim general manager who was replaced shortly thereafter, the team has actually drafted pretty darn well, with each of their two subsequent first-round picks – three if you count Landry Shamet – filling defined roles in the Sixers’ rotation.

And yet? In 2021, the 76ers once again returned to the well of potential over immediate projection and opted to draft Jaden Springer, a raw but ascending combo guard who could one day be an NBA player but appears to be years away from being ready for primetime action.

Was drafting Jaden Springer a mistake? Should Daryl Morey have instead turned their attention to a more veteran player or someone who plays an immediate position of need heading into the 2021-22 NBA season? Should the Philadelphia 76ers have drafted the best point guard left on the board, Sharife Cooper, and gone all-in on a future without Ben Simmons?

Should the Philadelphia 76ers have drafted Sharife Cooper 28th overall?

Sharife Cooper was one of the more polarizing players in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Some saw a super speedy young point guard with a developing offense game and one of the best passing packages in the NCAA. And others? Well, they saw his undersized frame, his positional versatility, and his 3 point shooting percentage and wonder why they’d invest a draft pick on the next Ish Smith.

Both of those sides had a point. Measuring in at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Cooper averaged 4.2 turnovers per game and recorded pretty darn putrid shooting numbers – 39.1 from the field, 22.8 from 3 – but then again, you see him average 20.2 points and 8.1 assists while giving a not-very-good Auburn team all he had and it’s hard not to appreciate what the Newark, New Jersey native brought to table.

If the NBA gave out preseason superlatives to its 2021 rookie class, Cooper’s would surely be “Most Moxey.”

While Coopers’ game isn’t a fit on every team in the NBA, and he was ultimately drafted by a team with a very similar lead guard already in place, his speed and willingness to get his teammates involved in the offense should have been enough to draw in many a PG-hungry team looking to add some playmaking to their backcourt.

Even if Ben Simmons miraculously plays out the duration of his contract with the team that drafted him, the Philadelphia 76ers very much should have been in on that action.

Now sure, some will quibble that having both Tyrese Maxey and Cooper is somewhat redundant, but frankly, that isn’t really true. While the duo do share similar size and both lack a definitive outside game at this point in their NBA careers, Maxey didn’t average more than 3.5 assists at either the NBA or NCAA level, whereas Cooper had 97 assists in 12 games and finished out the season with three double-doubles.

Furthermore, Cooper is just a much more advanced passer than Maxey, or really any of the Sixers’ point guards not named Simmons. He can get shooters the ball in a variety of different ways, from shovel passes, to lobs, and even a few very nice behind-the-back bouncers.

Factor in a professional pick-and-roll game that would look very sweet paired up with Joel Embiid, and you’re left with the sort of player Philly hasn’t employed since, well, since they re-acquired Ish Smith back in 2015-16.

Considering Smith averaged a career-high 14.7 points and seven assists during that particular 50 game run with the Sixers, I’d say getting that sort of production out of a 20-year-old relatively local product wouldn’t be too bad, all things considered.

Factor in Cooper’s killer mentality, and you’re left with the sort of guy who can eagerly run a second unit and put his guys in the best position to succeed on the court.

Jaden Springer, by contrast, is much more of a Maxey clone than a point guard in waiting, as he too is an undersized combo guard who projects as a good defender but will (probably) never space the floor well enough to play the two and lacks the passing abilities to run an offense like an old school point guard.

So what gives? Did the Sixers think that a Cooper-Maxey bench pairing would lack too much shooting to be effective? Or did they simply fall on the negative side of the Cooper evaluation chart and have little faith in his ability to become more than a speedy reserve unable to crack a playoff rotation?

Either way, I watch quite a bit of the Atlanta Hawks during the preseason – missed out? Watch his highlights versus the Cavs here – and I’ve gotta tell you, Cooper sure looks pro-ready to me, especially if he was afforded the sort of shooters-plus-centers lineups the Sixers gave to both Maxey and Shake Milton during the preseason.

Who knows, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Jaden Springer will develop into a plus passer and an impressive shooter, and fans the NBA over will wonder how he slipped to 28. But personally, when Springer’s name was called on draft night, I just assumed the Philadephia 76ers had a deal in place for his services, as his game and timeline felt incredibly antithetical to where the franchise is today. Sharife Cooper, by contrast, sure would have looked nice in a red, white, and blue uniform, and it was there for the taking until two pick prior to the team’s first second-round pick. *sigh* Why couldn’t the Atlanta Hawks have been huge Filip Petrusev fans?