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Is Graham Ike Playing His Way Onto The Warriors’ Roster?
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- Is Graham Ike Playing His Way Onto The Warriors’ Roster?
Credit: Myk Crawford
Graham Ike entered the NBA Summer League as an undrafted big man fighting for a job. A week later, he looks like one of the Golden State Warriors ' most reliable performers, the type of big man the franchise has been missing for quite some time.
This has led to one important question: Is Ike playing his way onto the Warriors' roster?
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Summer League Performance
It has only been three games thus far, but Ike certainly has shown potential in these Summer League games. In the Warriors' first game, the undrafted big man scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting, while adding four rebounds, three assists, and a block as the Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 104-72.
In his second game, Ike scored six points and grabbed two boards as the Warriors fell to the Miami Heat , 95-85. Lastly, in his third game, Ike recorded nine points, nine rebounds, and a block as Golden State took down the Dallas Mavericks by a score of 101-90.
Are these numbers that jump off the page? No. Are they solid for an undrafted player trying to make an NBA roster? Yes.
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Ultimately, Ike will have to continue playing well and prove he can develop his game if he wants to land with the Warriors. He's off to a good start.
Ike's College Career
While playing at Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado, Ike quickly became a player with a lot of potential. His play led many colleges to show interest in him. Unfortunately, Ike would suffer an ACL injury as a senior, and this caused many college scouts to back off.
Ike would go to college to play basketball at the University of Wyoming. His knee injury would cause him to miss the first half of the season, but he would return to play in 12 games.
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In those games, Ike played well, averaging 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 60.2% from the field. His sophomore season would be better, as he played in 33 games, averaging 19.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, shooting 51.0% from the floor.
Ike was named first-team All-Mountain West Conference as a sophomore, and after being named the conference preseason Player of the Year, things couldn't have looked brighter. Then, Ike suffered a leg injury during practice that caused him to miss the beginning of the 2022-23 season.
Ike decided to use a medical redshirt, which allowed him to regain a lost year of eligibility after suffering a season-ending injury.
After missing the entire season, Ike entered the NCAA transfer portal and transferred to Gonzaga. He returned from injury and played in the 2023-24 season, averaging 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, while earning First-Team All-WCC honors. His play helped Gonzaga reach the Sweet 16.
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As a senior, Ike continued to get better, averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds, while being named to another First-Team All-WCC selection. He was also named the WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 22.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game during the tournament.
Since he used a medical redshirt earlier in his collegiate career, this allowed him to return to Gonzaga for the 2025-2026 season. Ike averaged 19.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 56.3% from the field and 33.8% from three in his last season.
His play earned him the WCC Player of the Year and AP Third-Team All-American honors.
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Ike also earned high praise from Gonzaga, in particular, assistant Brian Michaelson.
"Nobody's Drew Timme, but (Ike) averaged almost 20 (at Wyoming), a guy that played primarily on the interior really dominated that paint area like Drew would," Michaelson said . "You watched the way he was able to function and the different ways he was able to score, it was clear how he'd fit basketball-wise, and then from the first time you talked to him, he is an unbelievably special kid.
"We've had a lot of really good people here and Graham goes right to the top of that list."
Ike certainly had high hopes when entering the 2026 NBA Draft. Going undrafted is just a small setback in Ike's eyes.
He'll continue to give it his all in Summer League, and if he keeps producing, he could earn a contract with the Warriors or another NBA team.
