Sports
Cooper Completes Workout With Portland
< < Back toD.J. Cooper completed his first pre-draft workout Friday with the Portland Trail Blazers. According to his agent, Mike Naiditch, the former Ohio guard “did well,” as the “staff was pleasantly surprised by D.J.’s defense.”
The guard finished his career with the most steals in Ohio Bobcat history and 18th in NCAA Division I history with 327.
The Trail Blazers did more measurements on Cooper, as he measured a centimeter short of 6-feet with shoes on.
As reported Thursday, Cooper was measured at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament at 5 feet, 10.25 inches without shoes and 173 pounds with a 6-foot-5 reach.
Portland owns the 10th, 39th, 40th, and 45th picks in the upcoming draft, and could be looking to select a point guard in the second round.
Naiditch also confirmed that other teams have asked about his client.
Orlando, New York and Utah have shown interest in holding a pre-draft workout for Cooper, but they haven't finalized the dates yet.
Orlando currently holds the No. 2 and 51 picks in the 2013 NBA Draft. They are expected to take a point guard in the draft with Jameer Nelson recently turning 31 and Beno Udrih becoming a free agent.
The Magic are projected in some mock drafts to pick Trey Burke with their first round pick, but could wait to draft a point guard with their 51st pick, where Cooper could be the selection.
New York has both Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd under contract for another three years, but Kidd is considering retirement and struggled in the playoffs, going scoreless in his last 10 games and missing his final 18 shots.
The Knicks have just the 24th selection in this year’s draft.
Utah had five point guards on their roster last season, and four will become free agents this offseason. The one still under contract is Alec Burks, who has averaged 7.1 points and 1.2 assists in his two seasons with the Jazz.
Utah owns the 14th, 21st and 46th picks in the 2013 draft. They are expected to draft a point guard with at least one of their picks.