Sleepers to make the Chicago Bulls final roster: Tyler Cook
It looks like the impact that the solid performance that the former Detroit Pistons forward Tyler Cook made on the Bulls’ front office after he went off in a late-season game against this team during the 2020-21 campaign was profound. Cook was one of the earlier players that the front office added to the camp roster on a non-guaranteed deal.
Given that the Bulls needed to add more depth to the forward rotation heading into camp and the preseason this month, I really liked the signings of Cook and former Brooklyn Nets power forward Alize Johnson. But Cook isn’t guaranteed to make the final roster, while it looks like Johnson is going to be in the mix almost no matter what.
Cook is a very athletic forward that can thunderously put the ball through the rim, rebound at a high level, and be truly disruptive on defense. During his rookie campaign with the Cavs and Denver Nuggets, Cook registered a solid 2.7 steal percentage and 16.6 defensive rebounding percentage. He also got increasingly more efficient with the ball in his hands on offense down the stretch last season.
In the final month of the 2020-21 regular season, Cook really started to turn it on. In nine games played in the month of May last season, Cook averaged 8.6 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.2 blocks. That was good for a stellar 133 offensive rating and 73.8 true shooting percentage.
Cook can add another dynamic to this forward rotation, granted he won’t help the Bulls space the floor much if he’s playing at the four or the five.