Bryce

Cotton

He drove to the basket and suffered the injury just after his landing. Cotton was able to walk to the locker room under his own power with a limp, so it doesn’t look too serious. The undersized guard has played very well for the Hawks Vegas team, so he’ll likely get a camp invite somewhere.

Cotton said that he’s hoping to impress the Hawks with a strong summer league performance, as he hopes to become the third-string point guard on the roster, and this is certainly a step in the right direction for the second-year guard. He also added three boards, three triples and one assist to his stat line, but to be clear, he’ll have zero fantasy value if he does land a backup gig in Atlanta.

The Hawks have three point guards in Dennis Schroder, Jarrett Jack and Malcolm Delaney, so Cotton’s chances of making the 15-man roster wouldn’t be good. He played for the Hawks during the summer league and averaged 12.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 19.6 minutes.

Spain’s Baskonia and Russia’s Khimki were rumored to be in the mix for the services of Cotton, who played summer league with the Atlanta Hawks last July. Cotton averaged 3.8 ppg in eight games with Phoenix and Memphis last season. The Hawks, who are thin at PG, were reportedly considering inviting him to training camp. Atlanta will have to continue searching for PG depth.

“Believe it or not, it was the only opportunity so I was just grateful they took a chance on me,” Cotton said Friday. “I wanted to come in, work hard and do whatever they need.” Cotton has 23 games of NBA experience in stints with three teams over the past two seasons, and he looked solid on Friday with 14 points, seven rebounds, one assist and four treys in just 17 minutes. If he continues to play well, he should at least get an invitation to the Hawks’ training camp.

Cotton is also a candidate to attend the Hawks’ training camp after a solid summer league showing, but his chances of making the 15-man roster would be slim. He would be guaranteed playing time overseas, so that might be the best thing for his development.

Cotton has had a few cups of coffee in the NBA, and played for the Hawks in the Summer League this past summer. Atlanta was willing to sign him to a 10-day contract, but Cotton elected to stay with the Perth Wildcats.

Cotton played for Atlanta’s summer league squad in 2016 as well. The Hawks were willing to sign him to a 10-day contract back in January, but Cotton instead decided to finish the 2016-17 campaign in Australia with the Perth Wildcats.

Cotton played for the Hawks at Summer League, but he wasn’t able to earn a camp invite so he’s headed back overseas.

Cotton could very well be cut from the Jazz but he should resurface fairly quickly if that indeed happens. Don’t sleep on him if he somehow lucks into minutes this season, as he’s fully capable of putting up numbers as the smallest man on the court.