BOOM

I think this reinforces Cooks error in going to NZ and not trying NBA SL!!!

For sure, cooks should have gone.

Well done to Jack. Great reward for all the hard work he has put in. Just shows that Australian basketball is in a great place at the moment.

Mens side, not so much the women.

I don't get why Xavier Cooks didn’t go to the NBA summer league. Duop Reath would of also had a good chance making an NBA roster spot but got injured.

Congrats Jack White, he is playing right now and is doing alright with 2pts, 4rebs, 2asts.

Good luck to him.

They've got a lot of talent in Denver if all fit and healthy, but they don't have a super deep bench so on his time with the senior team he might get a chance. And with so much of the team guys who want the ball, he could definitely find a niche as the hustle guy who does everything else.

Ultimately though big minutes will only come if he can be something close to a decent three point shooter. Doesn't have to be elite, just average would be enough if he's doing the other things he can do at a high level.

Yeah congrats to him, seriously impressive and I know I didn't give him much of a hope until he started to string together some performances.

I'm surprised Cooks didn't dip his toes in the water, but he's also a few years older than White, I think he would have been viewed differently - they would have been wanting a guy who could step in and contribute right away at age 26 (27 by seasons' start), where as a two-way makes sense for White at 24.

Jack White - DOB 5 / 8 / 97
Xavier Cooks - DOB 19 / 8 / 95

excuse my ignorance but how do the 2 way contracts work?

Yep, Cooks is a bit too old for SL, it's for young guys really. Cooks said he wasn't interested in playing SL because NBA teams know what he can do already, he played SL years ago with the Lakers too. I was surprised Reath was willing to play SL too btw.

Two-way contracts the player spends most of the time with the team's G-League side with a requirement to spend a certain amount of time on the NBA team's roster. It doesn't mean White will play a game but more than likely will. Will Magnay was on a two-way contract with New Orleans and only played one game with the Pels.

Good luck to Jack I didn't think he had much chance nice NBL player but hardly a star here but if you get given the opportunity (SL) and grab it with both hands anything can happen.

Thanks Zodiac - appreciate it

is there a buyout?

"Yep, Cooks is a bit too old for SL, it's for young guys really. Cooks said he wasn't interested in playing SL because NBA teams know what he can do already, he played SL years ago with the Lakers too."

Yeah, and strategically it also says that he's not there to get a two-way or anything like that, I suspect he thinks he's good enough for a full contract. He may or may not get that, but I get the thinking behind it.

I don't really buy the "too old for summer league" thing. If you're a fringe player you need to keep putting yourself forward.

I think Xavier Cooks said that he had been to summer league three times,
so I can understand him not feeling it to go again.
He also does not have Duke Captain on his resume, something that certainly did not hurt Jack Whites chances. There is a lot of front office staff around the league from Duke. They call themselves the Duke Mafia.

Jack White's NBA shot is a big tick for the NBL and its ability to develop players. While Next Stars come in usually expected to be drafted, someone like Jack White and Torrey Craig come here underdone and unheralded and develop an NBA level skillset.

May be wrong but I recall an interview / article that mentioned that Cooks wasn't interested in signing a two way contract or going to Summer League again if there wasn't a good chance that he would make the full squad of a team.

Cant blame him, he's not young anymore and would rather be spending his prime years playing a major role in a team rather than rolling the dice taking the G-League route to the NBA.

Mid 20s is still young Imo

Its all relative I spose, we will be 27 next month. Guessing it would also be a pay cut for Cooks in the g League.

Cooks is a marquee at kings, I think he got it right, as he said, had a few shots before for no results. He won't get millions but a few good years will see him set in nbl or euro.

Mid-20's is not young as far as NBA teams are concerned you're already a known quantity at that point and Cooks is about to turn 27. That's what is so great about Jack White he went undrafted played a couple of years in a good league performing well but not starring got given a SL spot by the Nuggets and played so well they were willing to give him a two-way deal.

Cooks is not going to leave his big money contract with the Kings for a two-way deal and even then if he had played at SL there would've been no guarantee he would even get one of them.

a 26 year old Italian just got signed to a 2 year $6m deal out of the Spanish league. I guess thats the kind of thing that Cooks was hoping for but he's probably just not there.

25 to 30 is not old for basketball players, Barlow being a very good example, wasn't Ingles 28 before he was picked up. Injuries is the biggest problem, Barlow virtually missed two seasons but has since won two championships with United.

Good luck to Jack, he certainly making every post a winner, Duke also would have helped. I believe he is also a fair bit stronger than Cooks.

The Italian talent pool has exploded in just a few years.

Drafted in 2022
Banchero #1
Procida #36
Spagnolo #50

Signed in 2022
Fontecchio

Summer league
Pajola

2 guys missing out this year getting drafted
2 guys already on 23' draft board.
2 others on the following board.

PJ Tucker played summer league in 2012 at the age of 27 after being out of the NBA for several years. He's now been back in the league for 10 years.

I never said mid-20's is old I said it's not young because it isn't. Why do the vast majority of imports that go undrafted only hang around in the G-League for a year or two at best before going overseas?

Because by that age they know their chances of getting an NBA call up are pretty slim so instead of hanging around in the G-League playing for peanuts they would rather go overseas and make a lot more money. Pro players careers are short relatively speaking and once the NBA dream has seemingly passed them by they want to earn as much as they can before retiring. The odd exception here and there doesn't disprove the fact this is the norm for the vast majority of pro players.

G League and summer league are two different things though. Plenty of imports go back to the US in the off season and work out in summer league to see if they can make an impression. Which is what Tucker did.

Not really it's mainly for young undrafted guys.

Does White have a current contract with Melbourne? If so, does anyone think there will be any sort of transfer fee/ compensation made to United?

Yes, White re-signed to a 3 year deal with United earlier in the season.

Normally there would be compensation paid with a regular NBA contract but not sure how it works in regard to two-way contracts.

The whole kerfuffle with the Creek contract he signed with the Nets was a regular non-guaranteed training camp contract those contracts only convert if the player makes the NBA teams opening day roster which is when compensation needs to be paid if they were under contract with another team. The Nets offered Creek a two-way contract after he failed to make their opening day roster.

Two-way contracts are signed outside the standard NBA roster so White will be 'there' opening day of the season unlikely with Denver though and probably their G-League team. You would think the Nuggets need to pay compensation of some sort to United just a question of how much.

I've read before the usual going rate for first round picks is $400K, second round picks $200K and undrafted players $100K.

* earlier in the off-season.

https://nbl.com.au/news/jack-white-extends-contract-with-melbourne

Two-Way contracts are worth half of a rookie minimum contract — roughly US $502,000. At first, the salary was based on the number of games played with an NBA team, but it is now a flat rate for the season.
They also used to limit the number of days that the 2way spent with the NBA team to 45 days, but when Covid arrived that limit was not feasible and was dropped.

It might be different now but I remember Creek saying in an interview with Boti after he came back from the US that all up his initial training camp deal, the two-way contract with the Nets and 10 day contract with Minnesota that he made about $250K total which he said was about the same money he was on with the 36ers.

Ok thanks, I hope we are getting to the point now where NBL teams will always be compensated for losing players under contract to the NBA!

He also does not have Duke Captain on his resume, something that certainly did not hurt Jack Whites chances. There is a lot of front office staff around the league from Duke. They call themselves the Duke Mafia.

I imagine white would have had a nba out clause in his contract United would have known about it

Would love to see White turn this into a long term NBA career. He's got leadership, unselfishness in spades. Really happy for him

I don't think his status as Duke captain impacted his performance on the court too much, which more than anything else is what got him signed as far as I'm concerned.

No doubt, but in addition to his play having that on his CV didn't hurt.

"@lv, ah yes the classic "unselfish" Aussie ball players... maybe , just maybe , it's cos they can't shoot the damn ball to save their lives so they keep passing the ball instead...and i sincerely don't think he has the footspeed to hang with proper NBA players ( not the summer league scrubs) on defence either. "

Yeah... no. NBA GMs don't know what they're talking about. They should defer to the infinite wisdom of Ozzymandis when signing players.

Lol I never changed my tune on him. He surprised me to get drafted, and then he's performed pretty well in Summer League - you see, unlike you I am able to change my opinion based on newly presented facts and evidence.

As for Giddey's "mickey mouse record", you act like triple doubles in the NBA are easy to get. Like everyone's had one or something. He's a kid starting at the hardest position in the league and he's getting triple doubles. He truly sucks hey.

" White literally went 0/ 28 from the 3 line in his final year at Duke, thybulle, exum & Simmons are also shit shooters..."

Yawn. White's 3 point efficacy has risen dramatically since then. Now whose cherry picking. Hasn't been at Duke for like 3 years now.