Daequan Cook re-signed to two-year, $6.5 million deal
Via Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the Thunder have re-signed Daequan Cook to a two-year, $6.5 million deal. (Originally, reports on Cook’s contract had it at $7.5 million.)
Cook, a restricted free agent, never really showed interest in signing anywhere else other than Oklahoma City. But it was whether or not the Thunder would make enough of a financial commitment to him in order to keep him. His qualifying offer was for $3.1 million for next season and OKC got him for $3.25 million a year.
My snap take? Feels like too much, but it really isn’t. For a specialist like Cook, someone that plays 8-12 minutes a game to take three or four shots, that much money is a pretty heavy price. Especially with second year, which kind of surprises me. But it’s just something you kind of have to pay if you want the luxury of a shooter.
The $3.25 million a year eats up most of Oklahoma City’s remaining cap space and while it won’t have any kind of longstanding impact on roster decisions (i.e. Ibaka, Harden or Maynor), it does mean the Thunder will now definitely be standing firm throughout this free agency. Not that we didn’t know that already.
Compare Cook’s $3.25 million a year to other so-called 3-point specialists though:
- Kyle Korver: $5 million
- J.J. Redick: $6.75 million
- Jason Kapono: $1.2 million
Cook is somewhere in the middle of those — both financially and in terms of ability. So it probably fits within the marketplace.
Cook was an important piece to the team spacing the floor and providing a nice little offensive jolt off the bench last season, shooting a career-high 42.2 percent from 3 and 43.6 percent from the field. He averaged 5.6 points in 13.9 minutes per game last season.
