Sacramento Kings to add Jack Cooley on two-way deal

After being a part of their NBA Summer League roster, the Sacramento Kings will reportedly sign big man Jack Cooley to a two-way contract.

A member of the Sacramento Kings‘ NBA Summer League squad is reportedly extending his stay a little further.

First reported by Chris Reichert of 2 Ways & 10 Days, the Kings are in the process of adding 26-year-old big man Jack Cooley on a two-way deal, which was later confirmed by James Ham of NBC Sports California.

The news of Cooley’s reported deal with the Kings comes off the heels of his appearance with the team’s Summer League squad, where he averaged 9.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in five appearances.

After going undrafted in the 2013 NBA Draft, Cooley has spent time on the NBA level, the G League level and playing abroad for clubs across Europe and Asia over the first few years of his professional career.

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Cooley’s brief experience in the NBA came when he was a member of the Utah Jazz at the end of the 2014-15 season. In his 16 appearances with the Jazz that year, Cooley averaged 1.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in just 5.4 minutes per game.

As Ham notes in his detailed report on the signing, Cooley had other offers from clubs overseas, but is looking to make his way back to the NBA.

Cooley’s deal is the first of its kind for the Kings, as two-way contracts are a new mechanism that’s been introduced as part the league’s new CBA.

Under the new rule, two-way contracts can be signed for either one or two years and players can spend a maximum of 45 days with their parent club, for which they will be compensated via the NBA rookie scale for each day they’re on the NBA level (for more on all of this, read this informative FAQ on two-way contracts, courtesy of 2 Ways & 10 Days).

So while players on two-way deals will spend the majority of their time on the G League level (Reno, in Cooley’s case), they are able to spend time with the NBA team they’ve signed their deal with throughout the season.

As mentioned before, Cooley already is familiar with playing in the G League, having spent portions of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons with the then-Idaho Stampede, the Jazz’s affiliate (the Stampede are now known as the Salt Lake City Stars).

During his two stints with the Stampede, Cooley made quite an impact on the floor, posting double figures in points (16.2 per game) and rebounds (12.3 per game) in 26 total appearances.

Along with that, Cooley’s name is etched in the league’s record books as he set the single game record for most rebounds in a game with 29 on March 13, 2015 against the Los Angeles D-Fenders (now known as the South Bay Lakers).

With Cooley reportedly on his way to filling a two-way spot, that leaves the Kings with one more two-way contact left to give out, should they choose to do.

Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

Whether they will remains to be seen, but we’ll fill you in with the news you need should it come to fruition.