Daequan Cook has 'gut feeling' he'll stay with the OKC Thunder

Daequan Cook's agent says he's fielded calls from several teams interested in the restricted free agent. But the Oklahoma City reserve guard said he wants to stay with the Thunder.

"That's where I want to be," Cook told the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News on Tuesday. "That's where I fit in. My gut feeling right now is that's where I'm going to end up. I had a great season there. I helped out a lot. (They like) my habits, becoming not just a better player on the court, but better off the court. It all starts there."

Cook, who was in his hometown this week for his annual basketball camp, averaged 5.6 points and 14 minutes last season for the Thunder. Though he played in only 43 regular-season games, Cook shot 42 percent from 3-point range and emerged in the playoffs. The 6-foot-5 guard had 18 points in the Thunder's Game 5 victory over Memphis in the Western Conference semifinals and played in all 17 postseason games.

"I think his best years are ahead of him," Cook's agent Mike Conley Sr. told the Dayton Daily News. "I get on Daequan a lot because he's been limited so far in the league. Teams have seen him as a shooter. Obviously, the community of Dayton knows him as an exciting scorer. He can score any which way you hand it to him. ... I want to get him back to expanding his game and doing what we know he can do."

As a restricted free agent, Cook can field offers from any team with the Thunder owning the right to retain him by matching the offer. Cook's salary last season was $2.1 million.

"When he wasn't playing there for a while, he could have just complained and blamed everybody. But he hired a shooting coach and went to the gym. He was the first one in and last one to leave and turned it around for himself. Coaches took notice, and he started playing."