Many Spartan fans were probably unaware, but former Michigan State big man Carson Cooper was playing in the NBA Summer League Championship on Sunday evening.
Cooper and the Memphis Grizzlies took on Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg and the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately, Cooper’s Grizzlies fell short in the final minutes, 94-90.
While we didn’t get to see Cooper hoist the championship trophy (is there one?), we did get to see him stand out in his last pitch to the Grizzlies before assuming his likely position in the G-League to begin the 2026-27 season. He didn’t disappoint after a few quiet performances in a row, putting together arguably his best offensive performance in this year’s Summer League.
Cooper finished with 16 points, two steals, and a rebound in just 17 minutes off the bench. He was averaging nearly a point per minute and while it would have been nice to see him grab some rebounds or block a shot or two, he made up for it on the other end of the floor.
Also, Cooper had the second-highest +/- on the team at +5. He was behind only Cedric Coward (+7) who was a perfect 5-for-5 from three. This shows how valuable he can be.
The Grizzlies are about to see that from Cooper in the G-League this season. I’m not going to be shocked when he has his first “breakout” game at the NBA level.
Carson Cooper has the tools
I’m sure I’ve said this plenty of times, but Cooper has all the tools to become a decent role player for the Grizzlies. He’s not an offensive threat in the same way that Xavier Tillman was when he got to Memphis, but I think Cooper is growing at a rapid rate in that regard. He also shied away from his offense over the past couple of weeks.
Cooper is coachable, he’s a quick learner, he’s athletic, he hustles, and he makes great decisions. He’s got size, he added an occasional jumper to his game, and he loves the pick-and-roll.
The Grizzlies have a couple of young centers, headlined by Zach Edey, but Cooper has a much different bag. Edey is more of a back-you-down offensive weapon who can draw tons of fouls while Cooper plays more defense and is much more effective running the floor in the fast break.
Memphis clearly like what they see in Cooper or they wouldn’t have signed him to a two-way contract.
Add us as a preferred source on Google