OCTOBER 12: Cooke has been released, according to the Thunder, putting him in line to receive his Exhibit 10 bonus as long as he spends at least 60 days with the Blue.
OCTOBER 11: A few weeks after the deal was agreed to, the Thunder announced that they’ve signed Cooke.
SEPTEMBER 24: The Thunder have agreed to sign free agent guard Javonte Cooke to an Exhibit 10 contract, agent Jerry Dianis tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Cooke, who finished his college career at Winston-Salem State in 2022, has spent the past two seasons playing in the G League for the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s affiliate. In 48 Showcase Cup and regular season games for Iowa in 2023/24, he averaged 16.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 33.1 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .441/.363/.759.
Cooke also played in the Canadian Elite Basketball League this spring for the Brampton Honey Badgers before joining the Timberwolves’ Las Vegas Summer League team for a second consecutive July.
Iowa traded Cooke’s G League returning rights to the Oklahoma City Blue earlier this month. Assuming he returns to the NBAGL this fall and spends at least 60 days with the Blue, the 6’6″ guard will earn an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $77.5K on top of his standard G League salary.