Javonte Cook wanted this one. That much was obvious from the opening tip.
The former Winston-Salem State guard put up 21 points on Sunday, shooting 7-for-12 with five 3-pointers to help the Phoenix Suns edge the Portland Trail Blazers 81-79 in NBA Summer League action. Cook was facing the organization that waived him back in March after a brief stint on a two-way contract. He didn’t say much about it beforehand. But his game did the talking.
The performance was another reminder of a long, winding path that started far from the NBA spotlight.
From the CIAA to the League
Cook’s basketball career took some unusual turns. He started at USC Aiken, a Division II school in South Carolina, then transferred to Mars Hill before finally landing at Winston-Salem State, an HBCU in the CIAA. That’s where everything clicked. During the 2021-22 season, he averaged 17.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting close to 40% from deep. He dropped a season-high 31 points in the CIAA Tournament that year, leading the Rams to a blowout win.
That kind of scoring has always been his calling card. But getting NBA teams to notice a kid from the CIAA? That takes a different kind of persistence.
After college, Cook signed with the Iowa Wolves in the G League. He played for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Summer League team in 2023, then bounced to the Oklahoma City Thunder organization and eventually the Oklahoma City Blue. Every stop was a tryout. Every practice was an audition.
His first real NBA chance came in October 2025, when Portland signed him to a two-way contract. He appeared in 19 games for the Blazers before getting waived in March. It was a short run, but it proved he belonged on an NBA floor at least for a stretch.
What’s Next for Cook
Now Cook is in Las Vegas with the Suns’ Summer League squad trying to do it all over again. With Phoenix, he’s getting solid minutes and making shots. The 3-point stroke looks clean. The confidence is there. It’s hard not to notice a guy who just dropped 21 on the team that let him go.
The Suns have a couple of open roster spots and a need for shooting off the bench. Cook won’t turn 27 until August. He’s not a young prospect anymore, not in the traditional sense, but he’s also not a finished product. Teams that let go of him have to watch him walk into Summer League and light it up against their own guys. That doesn’t happen by accident.
Cook said after the game that he’s just focused on proving he can play at this level every night. That’s the kind of boring, honest answer Summer League is full of. But the performance against Portland? That part was anything but boring.
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