OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Cavaliers tried Jared Cunningham and Jordan McRae and DeAndre Liggins and even drafted Kay Felder instead of giving a roster spot to Quinn Cook.

Only two of those players are still in the NBA, and one is two wins away from an NBA championship ring.

Cook, a standout with the Canton Charge -- Cleveland's G-League affiliate -- for two years, is a backup guard on the Warriors' roster. He hasn't played any real minutes in the first two games of the Finals yet, but nevertheless filled an important role for Golden State while its stars suffered through injury after injury late in the season.

Now 25, Cook never cracked the Cavs roster since he signed on for training camp in 2015. He was passed over by all the players mentioned above and Dahntay Jones during his two seasons with the Charge, including his G-League Rookie of the Year campaign in 2015-16.

Cook's family on his dad's side lives in Canton and Cleveland. He roomed for two years in Canton with John Holland and was college roomates for two years at Duke with Rodney Hood.

Cook said he still has relationships with LeBron James and Tristan Thompson and JR Smith.

The one thing he doesn't have, he said, is any ill will toward the Cavs for not granting him the opportunity the Warriors are providing now.

"This isn't like a redemption tour for me," Cook told cleveland.com. "Cleveland wasn't the only team that could've called me up. I didn't get called up by anybody my first year. It was just more motivation for me. I must not have been ready to play at the NBA level at that time. It was more me just getting better, proving myself, that I'm an NBA player and I got opportunities elsewhere.

"I'm always going to be grateful for Cleveland because they gave me my first opportunity."

Cook didn't get a taste of the NBA until the Dallas Mavericks gave him a 10-day contract in February of 2017 -- so that's nearly two full year of G League toil. He was the 2017 G League All-Star MVP.

The Pelicans gave him two 10-day contracts that season, and in October the Warriors signed him to a "two-way" contract in October. He was awarded an NBA contract in April so he could play in the playoffs.

In 33 games and 18 starts with the Warriors (remember, Stephen Curry missed the end of the season with a knee sprain), Cook averaged 9.5 points and shot .442 from 3-point range.

"I thought he was a good player," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue remembers. "I always thought he was very solid, could shoot the basketball, can play pick-and-roll, could run pick-and- roll. You know, just from my experience, having him, I think coach (David) Blatt was coaching when he came to training camp, but he gave it his all. He tried so hard. Sometimes he'd make mistakes and he was mad at certain plays, certain possessions.

"But overall, just a great offensive player, can do multiple things -- shoot the basketball, run pick-and-roll, catch and shoot, shoot off the dribble -- and got a little speed and pace to his game."

Liggins is on the Pelicans' roster, and Felder signed a "two way" contract with the Pistons' organization.

The Cavs' point guards now are George Hill and Jordan Clarkson, and Clarkson is struggling mightily in the playoffs. They've also used Jose Calderon, Derrick Rose, Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade, and Iman Shumpert at point guard this season. After drafting Felder in the second round in 2016, they traded him to Atlanta to make room for Wade.

That's a lot of names and a lot of work to find two ball handlers, when one who was good enough to play for the Warriors was in the Cavs' organization for two years.

These things happen though in the NBA. Players develop late or later than they'd need to to help one team, and catch on with another.

Even when it's the defending champs. Cook was not only on the court for the end of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals against the Rockets, but he missed a 3 that could've won that game for Golden State.

Yes, he missed the shot, and no, he isn't playing right now against the Cavs, but to even be in that spot is quite a mile marker for Cook.

"I'm glad he's got a chance and an opportunity to come to a championship- caliber team where he's played minutes, played in the playoffs," Lue said. "So I'm just happy for him."