Iowa Wolves basketball guard Javonte Cooke attends Media Day with the 2023-24 Wolves at their basketball practice facility in Des Moines on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Lee Navin/For the Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

Blazers Signing Rookie Free Agent Days Ahead of Season

Originally posted on Portland Trail Blazers on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Oct 19, 2025 5:51 PM ET

The Portland Trail Blazers are bringing in reinforcements to shore up their depth this season, even along the periphery of their roster.

Per Shams Charania of ESPN, Portland is inking guard Javonte Cooke to a two-way deal. Cooke becomes the third of Portland's three two-way signings heading into the 2025-26 season.

The Portland Trail Blazers are signing guard Javonte Cooke to a two-way NBA contract, agent Jerry Dianis tells ESPN. Cooke went undrafted out of Winston-Salem State in 2023 and is now the second active player in the league from four years at a Division II program.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2025

Cooke has been bouncing around the G League since being passed over in the 2023 NBA Draft out of Winston-Salem State. As a two-way player, he'll ostensibly split his time between the Trail Blazers' NBAGL affiliate, the Rip City Remix, and Portland proper.

Should he actually appear in an NBA game this season, it would mark his league debut, making him a technical rookie.

Cooke, 26, spent his first two pro seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves' G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, for parts of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. In May 2024, he joined the Canadian Elite Basketball League's Brampton Honey Badgers, but was waived the next month. He played for the Oklahoma City Thunder's NBAGL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.

Although he spent this past Summer League with the Miami Heat, Cooke has now essentially earned a promotion with Portland.

He now joins fellow two-way Trail Blazers signings Caleb Love and Sidy Cissoko.

Cooke's Chance to Crack the Trail Blazers Rotation

Across his three G League regular seasons with the Iowa Wolves and Oklahoma City Blue, Cooke boasts averages of 14.3 points while slashing .436/.347/.697, 4.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks per.

The 26-year-old clearly showed enough to tantalize Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups, both of whom were extended earlier this summer.

Thanks to injuries to Damian Lillard and Scoot Henderson to start the year (Lillard, of course, will miss the entire season with his Achilles tendon recovery), there's a chance that Cooke could earn actual backcourt minutes early.

UPDATE:

It's been an active day of dealmaking for the Trail Blazers, who reportedly inked All-Defensive Second Team power forward Toumani Camara to a four-year, $82 million rookie salary contract extension deal and fourth-year shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe to a four-season, $90 million extension.

The Cooke addition trails these deals significantly in terms of value and, likely, player upside.