Free agent Javonte Cooke is signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Timberwolves, agent Jerry Dianis tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Cooke, 24, went undrafted last year out of Winston-Salem State. As Scotto notes, the 6’6″ guard spent his first professional season playing for Minnesota’s NBA G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves.
In 25 regular season games (20.3 MPG) with Iowa in 2022/23, including five starts, Cooke averaged 8.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 1.6 APG on .424/.308/.773 shooting splits.
Given his relatively modest contributions, it’s highly likely that Cooke will be waived by Minnesota before the ’23/24 season starts. In that scenario, if he spends at least 60 days with Iowa, he could earn a bonus of up to $75K.
As our roster count tracker shows, the Timberwolves currently have 14 players on guaranteed standard contracts and a pair of players on two-way deals, along with a two-way qualifying offer out to restricted free agent Matt Ryan. Since they’re below the offseason maximum of 21 players under contract, they won’t have to make another roster move to sign Cooke.