2022 NBA Draft
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texillwek
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Utah Jazz sign Kofi Cockburn to a deal
Kofi Cockburn is going to fill the lane for the Jazz
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Last year, Matt Mayer, Terrence Shannon Jr., & Andre Curbelo were all projected 2nd round picks by ESPN in last nights draft....
It's nice to be mentioned, but it doesn't mean much...
He could score on 85 percent of guys he’d face in the nba who are for the most part back up centers who are undersized. Nobody is saying kofi deserves starter mins right away. But could kofi have value as a 10-15 min guy off the bench? I think so.
Kofi > Azubuike
Utah is one of the few places that Kofi makes a lot of sense. (As long as they don't trade Gobert) They already run a scheme that does not ask the five to play to the perimeter. Most teams would have to alter alter their offensive schemes while he was on the court.
He can also learn a LOT from Rudy.
He can also learn a LOT from Rudy.
Ayo can help mentor him in that regard
Ayo’s made no sense. He is long and can guard. He’s exactly what good nba teams at the back of the first round should have craved.
Kofi, most knew this was coming. Just read this thread. It’s not his fault, the nba has changed.
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Best luck to Kofi. I think too much is made about 3pt shooting centers in NCAA. A lot of college centers being drafted without a great college 3 ball. Look at Mark Williams - he attempted one his entire career, didn’t fully partake in combine, and was a first rounder. His game has a lot of flaws, but Duke tape showed athletic potential and had good FT percentage.
I wonder what could’ve been had Kofi been a 75% FT shooter.
I wonder what could’ve been had Kofi been a 75% FT shooter.
I really don't think the 3-pt thing has much, if at all, to do with Kofi going undrafted.
It's his inability to pass the ball back out and his difficulties defending the perimeter and switching on the pick and roll that really hurt him.
NBA teams don't want someone who can't find the open man if he gets double-teamed down low, or who's going to get torched on the defensive end by the pick and roll, or if he has to defend a big that does have a perimeter game.
Does not matter where or if you get drafted. It all comes down to how well you play. With a Illinois BSEE MSEE and Carnegie Mellon MBA I have been promoted over lots of Harvard, Wharton, NW-Kellogg grads.
Kofi showed remarkable improvement in his 3 years at Illinois. I believe he will continue to improve his passing, dribbling, and mid range game. He has the size and moves to overpower a lot of NBA players in the low post. Look at the big centers the Celtics used in the playoffs.
Kofi can use this to motivate himself and force his way top NBA. I like he signed with Utah. They know how to develop players there and have utilized Rudy Gobert effectively.
Congrats Kofi - your foot is in the NBA door. All Big Ten to First team All American (AP, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, USA Today). You are among the all time greats at Illinois!
Kofi showed remarkable improvement in his 3 years at Illinois. I believe he will continue to improve his passing, dribbling, and mid range game. He has the size and moves to overpower a lot of NBA players in the low post. Look at the big centers the Celtics used in the playoffs.
Kofi can use this to motivate himself and force his way top NBA. I like he signed with Utah. They know how to develop players there and have utilized Rudy Gobert effectively.
Congrats Kofi - your foot is in the NBA door. All Big Ten to First team All American (AP, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, USA Today). You are among the all time greats at Illinois!
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It's straight up incorrect. Giorgi doesn't even play for the Nuggets. He's signed directly to their G-League affiliate. This link shows his NBA transactions:On giorgi...this site is old and may not be accurate...but mentions giorgi under nuggets section
Who is the Lowest paid NBA player 2021-2022 Season?
The NBA is renowned for big contracts of superstar players, it seems that all NBA players are played millions upon millions of dollars. However, there are players in the NBA who don’t earn these extravagantbasketballnoise.com
Giorgi Bezhanishvili Player Profile, Iowa Wolves - RealGM
Get the latest news, stats and more about Giorgi Bezhanishvili on RealGM.com
basketball.realgm.com
His last NBA transactions are 10/15/21 - waived by Nuggets and 10/17/21 - becomes a free agent.
He subsequently joined Grand Rapids as an affiliate player:
Grand Rapids Gold Announce 2021-22 Training Camp Roster - Grand Rapids Gold
Roster includes NBA Veteran Lance Stephenson and former Michigan Wolverine Nik Stauskas GRAND RAPIDS, MI (October 27, 2021) – The Grand Rapids Gold, the NBA G League affiliate of the Denver Nuggets, announced today its 2021-22 training camp roster. The 14-man roster includes NBA Veteran Lance...
grandrapids.gleague.nba.com
Affiliate players made a base salary of $37k last season, and it appears were eligible for bonuses up to $50k. It's unclear to me whether the $50k is in addition to the $37k or if bonuses can bring it up to a max of $50k. Either way, it means Giorgi probably made somewhere between $37k and $87k last season, and Kofi's probably looking at something similar unless he gets an NBA or 2-way deal, or can snag a 10-day contract at some point during the season.
G League Contracts/Finances
Two Way Contracts Each NBA team can sign 2 players to two way contracts. These players will split time between the NBA and the G League. In the past, these players can spend a maximum of 45 days wi…
nbagleaguetracker.com
Well, he got what he wanted. I wish him the best but disappointing in my opinion. He may not of had a lot to prove with the college game by staying for his 4th year but with hindsight being 20/20 he should have stayed and continued to work on his skill set. Remember, he has not been playing basketball for all that long. More reps against a very good Big-10 could not hurt. Anyway, best of luck big fella.
He has to make the team. He bet on himself but making a team is going to be a toss up at best. Especailly if others money is guaranteed. If he returned it was said he would have received about $1,000,000. He made his choice and I pray he makes it a squad so he didn't miss out on big money. I wonder if looking back today if he would make that same decision. I hope and and really pulling for Kofi to overcome the current odds again and make the Jazz
I don't think he got what he wanted. He wants more than million bucks guaranteed it would seem because he left around a million on the table. He wanted to be drafted and get at least that and guarantees Ayo did being picked early in round 2. If he doesn't make a team he may end up make $50,000 instead of a million or more through NIL or being drafted early in round 2 like Ayo.
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What players were those? He matches up with very few NBA level 5s during the last year. Most of the players that were forced to guard him would project at 4s or even 3s in the NBA. Bottom line is that his game doesn’t translate to the modern NBA. His scoring is limited to the low block and teams will trade that 2 for the 3 they will get when their guard puts Kofi in a pick and roll. He would have been a top 5 pick in the 80s/90s. He essentially got a summer league contractFelt unbelievably wrong watching players that Kofi flat out would and did dominate get drafted one after another. Yet the National and Big Ten player of the year candidate goes undrafted. Who averaged a double double.Make it make sense. Go be great KING KOFI! I-L-L
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I remember a 2-3 year period of time when I was rooting for the Jazz, even over the Bulls (if head to head and doing better than the Bulls.) That one year when Deron, Dee, (and for a brief preseason time, The Reverend) were all on the team, and the Jazz made the NBA conference finals. Now with Kofi, I'll be tuning in again.
Looking at from a dollars and cents financial perspective, Kofi almost certainly screwed up, if he ends up on a 2-way he likely breaks even, compared to NIL. It's gonna be tough, he's likely looking at G League and mayyybe $50K. NIL best guess is around half a million bucks, maybe more. He was done with college and ready to move on. Heck, he wanted to move on after Freshmen year when he wasn't even remotely close to ready but may have been looking at similar prospects regardless because when you're younger there's more "potential" regardless of whether it's real or not. Illinois would have given him big NIL, he'd be arguably the best returning college basketball player in the country, big star and big man on campus. Now he'll have a few people checking G League box scores but will gradually lose interest as Illinois fans will move onto the new guys, and he'll be lucky if Jazz fans even know his name.
Best of luck to him. He felt Brad Underwood was using him to win games to the detriment of his pro career. Now it's just on him. He's got size for sure. Not many guys have that. As others have said, he needs to improve as a passer in the biggest way, something he started to do at Illinois and I think could have continued to do had he stayed. What sucks in terms of being an undrafted, no 2-way contract goes is there is zero investment from the team. If they decide 'meh' they could cut him at any point and well that's that.
Every player has to make their own decision, at the end of the day, it is their life. So I support him all the same.
Best of luck to him. He felt Brad Underwood was using him to win games to the detriment of his pro career. Now it's just on him. He's got size for sure. Not many guys have that. As others have said, he needs to improve as a passer in the biggest way, something he started to do at Illinois and I think could have continued to do had he stayed. What sucks in terms of being an undrafted, no 2-way contract goes is there is zero investment from the team. If they decide 'meh' they could cut him at any point and well that's that.
Every player has to make their own decision, at the end of the day, it is their life. So I support him all the same.
They say the first million is the hardest....
If we are being honest, Brad probably was and should have been. Brad's job is to win games for the U of I. Playing Kofi in a manner that would improve his weaknesses wasn't conducive to that end, which is why this move made sense for both parties.
If Kofi came back, he would have been used exactly as he has been the past three seasons. Kofi was dominating at this level without the skills the NBA execs would like for him to develop. He was not going to be challenged physically the way he will be playing in the NBA, or more likely the G-League. If he is ever going to be a NBA player, he has to learn to be effective against guys who are similarly sized. They just don't exist in any number at the NCAA level.
Practicing against a guy like Gobert (arguably the best defensive player in the world) is just what the doctor ordered for Kofi. He needs to be challenged. NCAA ball wasn't providing him with that.
Have read the thread. Whatever happens with Kofi, the more he keeps Ayo's chip on the shoulder mentality the better in terms maximizing his chances wherever that may be (NBA, g league, international etc)
Situations are completely different but mindset should be the same and what happens happens.
Is that a hole in your shoe?
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