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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.

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And-Ones: Beasley, Parsons, Turell, Bowen

March 15th, 2022 at 9:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Power forward Michael Beasley, an 11-year veteran who is still just 33, remains hopeful that he can continue his professional basketball journey, as he revealed during an intense interview with ex-NFL players Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor on The Pivot Podcast (video link).

Beasley last inked a deal with the Brooklyn Nets for the 2019/20 NBA season’s Orlando “bubble” season, only to see his contract voided after he tested positive for COVID-19. “I’m gonna retire how I want to retire,” said Beasley. “I can’t live my life on your terms. I can’t just let my dream die.”

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • In a conversation with fellow former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on their podcast All The Smoke, former NBA forward Chandler Parsons discussed the 2020 car accident that was a factor in his eventual retirement. “It was nuts,” said Parsons, who was a deep-bench reserve with the Hawks at the time. “I was leaving practice one day in Atlanta, two o’clock on a Wednesday. And I’m driving and I just see this car coming at me and just completely T-Bones me. And I had never been to a crash before… The windows were bashed in, airbag’s out, I had a cut on my wrist, I was bleeding… and I couldn’t move my neck!”
  • Division III wing Ryan Turell, the leading NCAA scorer in the nation out of Yeshiva University with an average of 27.1 PPG, will leave school ahead of his senior year to test the waters for the 2022 draft, writes Jonathan Givony of ESPN. “I know NBA teams came to see me [during his season],” the 6’7″ prospect said. “My coach would tell me after each game, especially toward the end of the season. Quite a few NBA teams came to watch.”
  • Ex-Pacers small forward Brian Bowen II recently had a surgical procedure for his ruptured Achilles tendon, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link). He has appeared in 12 games across two seasons with Indiana. This year, the 6’6″ Bowen did not make an NBA roster, but he did suit up for the Iowa Wolves, the G League club for the Timberwolves, and the USA Basketball World Cup Qualifying Team. In 21 contests with Iowa this year, he holds averages of 14.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 1.1 APG.
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Joe Johnson, Langston Galloway Among Team USA Players For World Cup Qualifiers

February 15th, 2022 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has announced its 12-man roster for the next two qualifying games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The team, coached by Jim Boylen, will be made up of G League players and current free agents. Here’s the roster:

With the exception of Ryan, all of the players on Team USA have some NBA experience, though some are certainly more accomplished than others. Johnson has earned seven All-Star berths and has appeared in 1,277 career regular season games. Bell, Black, and Galloway have also each played in more than 160 career regular season contests.

The 2023 World Cup will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia next August and September. Teams play 12 qualifying games before then — those contests take place across six windows, with World Cup hopefuls playing twice during each window.

Team USA went 1-1 in its first two qualifying games in November, defeating Cuba but losing to Mexico. Boylen coached that team and Bowen played for it, but the other 11 roster spots have since been turned over, with Isaiah Thomas among the players who aren’t back this time around. The new-look squad will face Puerto Rico on February 24 and Mexico again on February 27.

After this month’s games, the remaining four qualifying windows are scheduled for June, August, November, and next February. While the next two windows fall outside of the NBA season, the expectation is that USA Basketball will continue using G-Leaguers for the qualifiers before recruiting NBA stars for the event itself next summer.

As our JD Shaw reports (via Twitter), forward DaQuan Jeffries had been expected to be part of Team USA’s roster for this month’s qualifiers, but had to de-commit due to an injury.

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Jordan Bell, Shaq Harrison Among Team USA Players For World Cup Qualifiers

November 15th, 2021 at 1:42pm CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has announced its roster for a pair of upcoming qualifying games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The squad, which will be coached by former Bulls head coach Jim Boylen, is comprised of G-Leaguers, nearly all of whom have prior NBA experience. Here’s the list:

Of the 12 players on the roster, 11 have appeared in at least one NBA regular season game, led by Harrison (173 career games) and Bell (160 games). Simpson is the only player without any NBA experience under his belt.

The 2023 World Cup will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia two years from now, while the first qualifying matches will take place later this month. The U.S. team will face Cuba on November 28 and Mexico on November 29. After November’s games, the next round of qualifiers will take place in February.

Although NBA players make up Team USA’s roster in the World Cup itself, the qualifiers take place during the NBA season, so USA Basketball generally opts to build a roster made up of G League veterans. A group led by Jeff Van Gundy put up a 10-2 record in qualifying games for the 2019 World Cup from 2017-19. Mason and Randle participated in a handful of those contests.

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Timberwolves Waive Chris Silva, Three Others

October 15th, 2021 at 4:45pm CST by Rory Maher

The Timberwolves announced in a press release today that they waived Chris Silva, Brian Bowen II, Matt Lewis and Isaiah Miller.

All four players had been signed to Exhibit 10 contracts, which means that if they spend at least 60 days with Minnesota’s G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, they could earn bonuses of up to $50K.

Silva has the most NBA experience of the group, playing in 59 games with career averages of 2.8 PPG and 2.6 RPG (7.4 MPG) over the past two seasons with the Heat and Kings.

Bowen has 12 NBA games under his belt with the Pacers, but only saw action for 46 total minutes. His stats for the Pacers’ G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, were somewhat mixed. He most recently played for the Wolves in both Summer League and briefly in the preseason.

Lewis went undrafted in 2019-20 and was named CAA Player of the Year in his final season for James Madison University.

Miller also went undrafted in 2019-20 and was SoCon Player of the Year and SoCon Defensive Player of the Year in his last season for UNC Greensboro.

All four players figure to see time in the G League.

The Timberwolves’ roster now sits at 16 total players, with 13 under guaranteed contracts, Jaylen Nowell on a non-guaranteed deal, and both two-way slots filled.

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Timberwolves Sign Bowen, Silva, Lewis, Miller

September 20th, 2021 at 4:18pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves have signed forwards Brian Bowen II and Chris Silva and guards Matt Lewis and Isaiah Miller, according to a team press release.

The signings give Minnesota a full 20-man camp roster. Terms were not disclosed, but they’re all training camp deals.

Bowen started all five games for the Timberwolves in the Las Vegas summer league, averaging 8.4 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 24.5 MPG. He has played 12 games for the Pacers.

Silva saw action in 15 total games last season for the Heat and Kings, where he averaged 2.1 PPG and 1.8 RPG. Silva was dealt to the Kings at the trade deadline and waived in late April.

Lewis went undrafted out of James Madison University. He was named the CAA Player of the Year last season.

A report that the club was signing Miller to an Exhibit 10 contract came to light in late July. He also played in all five games of the summer league games, averaging 7.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 2.0 APG in 16.2 MPG.

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Pacers Sign Amida Brimah, Waive Brian Bowen

April 23rd, 2021 at 11:57am CST by Luke Adams

11:57am: Brimah has officially signed his two-way deal with the Pacers, the team announced in a press release. He won’t have to go through a quarantine period and will be available for the team’s game on Saturday vs. Detroit, tweets Scott Agness of The Athletic.

As first reported by J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (via Twitter) and confirmed by the Pacers, Bowen has been waived to open up a spot for Brimah. The 22-year-old forward, who has spent the last two seasons on a two-way deal with Indiana, logged a total of just 46 minutes in 12 games for the team since the start of 2019/20.

9:37am: Following a series of injuries to their frontcourt players, the Pacers are adding some depth. Free agent center Amida Brimah is signing a two-way contract with Indiana, agent Daniel Hazan tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Brimah, who went undrafted out of UConn in 2017, has never appeared in an NBA regular season game despite signing Exhibit 10 contracts with NBA teams for four consecutive years — two with the Spurs (2017 and 2018) and two with the Pacers (2019 and 2020).

The 27-year-old big man had a brief stint with a Serbian club in 2018 but has otherwise spent his professional career in the G League, most recently averaging 8.0 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 2.6 RPG in 10 games (23.5 MPG) for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in this season’s NBAGL bubble.

Brimah is known for his rim-protecting abilities — he was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and made the G League All-Defensive team in 2018. And despite never playing an NBA game, he has some championship experience, having won an NCAA title with UConn in ’14 and a G League title with the Austin Spurs in ’18.

The banged-up Pacers are currently missing Myles Turner (toe), Domantas Sabonis (back), and Goga Bitadze (ankle), so there could be a path to immediate minutes for Brimah, depending on when he officially signs and when Sabonis and Bitadze are ready to return.

Indiana will have to waive one of its current two-way players to make room for Brimah. Brian Bowen is probably a likelier release candidate than 2020 second-rounder Cassius Stanley, but we’ll have to see what the Pacers have in mind.

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Central Notes: Prince, Cavaliers, Pacers, Bulls

January 29th, 2021 at 2:28pm CST by JD Shaw

Cavaliers forward Taurean Prince is proving to be more than a simple throw-in player in the multi-team trade featuring Jarrett Allen, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes.

Prince, 26, was acquired by Cleveland alongside Allen earlier this month. The five-year veteran has been effective in his five games with the team, averaging 9.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 41% from downtown.

“He fits the mold of what we’re looking for,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We’re looking for guys who can play multiple positions, guys who have the ability to knock down shots, who have athleticism, who can run the floor. And then on the defensive end, guys who take 1-on-1 challenges and compete.

“It’s how he’s willing to work, the toughness that he plays with, the scrap that he has. We’ve seen that from him in the past. But I’ve been even more pleased having him every single day with how he makes his teammates better, how unselfish he is. We’re definitely glad to have him.”

There’s more from the Central Division today:

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Pacers’ Warren, Bowen Sidelined With Injuries

December 10th, 2020 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers announced today in a press release that forward T.J. Warren is being considered week-to-week due to right foot plantar fasciitis.

Warren, one of the stars of the NBA’s Walt Disney World bubble during the summer restart, was also being affected by plantar fasciitis in his right foot at that time. The fact that it continues to bother him isn’t a great sign. However, after he was able to play through the injury over the summer, the Pacers may simply be playing it safe this time around in an attempt to ensure it doesn’t become a longer-term issue.

Meanwhile, the Pacers also announced in today’s release that small forward Brian Bowen II will miss approximately six to eight weeks as a result of a partial groin tear.

Bowen didn’t project to be a regular part of Indiana’s rotation this season after having signed a two-way contract in November. However, his injury will still reduce the team’s depth on the wing with the regular season around the corner.

On the positive side, as a two-way player, Bowen would have been limited to 50 regular season games in 2020/21 anyway. If he’s sidelined for a full eight weeks, the Pacers will have just 49 games remaining in their season when he returns, meaning they won’t have to worry about those limitations for Bowen down the stretch.

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Pacers Sign Guards Cassius Stanley, Naz Mitrou-Long

November 29th, 2020 at 1:49pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
The Pacers have finalized agreements with two guards, signing rookie Cassius Stanley to a two-way contract and Naz Mitrou-Long to an Exhibit 10 deal, according to a press release on the team’s official site.
Indiana selected Stanley with the No. 54 pick in the 2020 draft out of Duke. The 6’6″ guard started all of his 29 games during his lone season with Duke in 2019/20, averaging 12.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG, while converting on 36% of his 3.0 long-range attempts a night. After two seasons with the Jazz, Mitrou-Long appeared in five games for the Pacers last season, averaging 9.4 MPG.
The announcement also confirmed several other previously-reported signings. Forward JaKarr Sampson will return for his second season with Indiana on a fully-guaranteed veteran’s minimum deal. Wing Kelan Martin, formerly with the Timberwolves, will join the Pacers on a two-year deal, though the speculation is that it will not be fully-guaranteed.
Forward Brian Bowen II, who suited up for six games with the Pacers last season, will occupy the club’s second two-way player contract slot alongside Stanley.
Mitrou-Long joins center Amida Brimah and forward Rayshaun Hammonds as the Pacers with Exhibit 10 contracts. All three will join the team for training camp, with an opportunity to make the club’s opening night roster. These are one-year, minimum salary deals that can carry an optional player bonus ranging from $5K to $50K.
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