Javonte Cooke Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Timberwolves Sign, Waive Brian Bowen II, Javonte Cooke

October 21st, 2023 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

12:04pm: As expected, Bowen and Cooke have been waived, the Timberwolves announced (via Twitter).

10:22am: The Timberwolves have added a pair of players to their preseason roster, announcing in a press release that forward Brian Bowen II and guard Javonte Cooke have signed with the team.

The Wolves didn’t specify the terms of the deals, but in all likelihood, they’re Exhibit 10 contracts, designed to get Bowen and Cooke bonuses worth up to $75K if they report to the Iowa Wolves and then spend at least 60 days with Minnesota’s G League team. Barring something unexpected, the two players are good bets to be cut later today.

Bowen, who played for Minnesota’s Summer League team in July, has some NBA experience, having appeared in 12 games for Indiana from 2019-21. The 25-year-old played for Iowa in 2021/22, averaging 14.9 points and 8.6 rebounds in 32.1 minutes per game across 27 appearances, with a shooting line of .452/.280/.785.

Cooke, 24, went undrafted last year out of Winston-Salem State and spent his first professional season playing for Iowa. In 41 games (19.4 MPG) with the Timberwolves’ NBAGL team, he averaged 7.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.6 APG on .424/.319/.650 shooting. His agreement with Minnesota was initially reported in September.

The T-Wolves’ roster consists, for the time being, of 19 players.

Javonte Cooke To Sign Exhibit 10 Deal With Timberwolves

September 4th, 2023 at 12:38pm CST by Rory Maher

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.