Jun. 24—Gonzaga's Graham Ike was still on the board when the NBA Draft concluded, but the productive All-American forward quickly lined up an undrafted free agent deal, signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Golden State Warriors late Wednesday night.
Ike's deal was first reported by Ary Report of the Consensus NBA Substack. The Warriors will "strongly consider" Ike for a two-way deal or "potentially more," according to Ary Report. Players on Exhibit 10 contracts are signed to one-year, minimum salary agreements that aren't guaranteed. Exhibit 10 deals can later be converted into two-way deals by NBA teams.
Presumably, Ike will be on Golden State's roster when the team opens 2026 NBA Summer League play with the California Classic, which is set to take place from July 3-6 at the Warriors' Chase Center and Sacramento Kings ' Golden 1 Center. Summer League continues the following week in Las Vegas, with games running July 9-19.
When Wednesday's draft finished, Ike ranked No. 13 among the best prospects still available and was considered the No. 4-rated forward.
No Gonzaga players were selected in the NBA draft for the second straight year — a rare drought for a program that had at least one player picked every year from 2021-24 and seven total during that span. Previously, Gonzaga hadn't gone consecutive years without a draft pick since 2014 and 2015.
Ike could be a candidate for a two-way contract, which would allow him to split his time playing for the Warriors in San Francisco and the organization's G League franchise located roughly an hour away in Santa Cruz.
Golden State was one of 13 NBA teams Ike worked out for during the lead-up to the NBA draft. The Warriors used their 11th overall pick on national championship-winning Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg , who had 20 points and 11 rebounds against Ike and the Zags during the Wolverines' 101-61 victory last November in the championship game of the Players Era Festival. Golden State then chose a guard/wing with the 54th overall pick, drafting Florida State's Lajae Jones.
Gonzaga has multiple ties to Golden State's coaching staff and front office, including Mark Few's longstanding relationship with the Warriors' Steve Kerr, who tabbed the GU coach to work on his staff during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Additionally, Warriors General Manager Mike Dunleavy Jr . played with top Gonzaga assistant Brian Michaelson at Portland 's Jesuit High School in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Gonzaga assistant Zach Norvell Jr. is also familiar with Golden State, playing three games with the Warriors during the 2019-20 season and a handful more with the G League team in Santa Cruz.
Ike left Spokane as college basketball's active career scoring and rebounding leader, with 2,575 points and 1,144 rebounds over five seasons and 146 games at Gonzaga and Wyoming. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 19.9 points on 56.3% shooting and hauled down 8.0 rebounds per game as a senior, earning West Coast Conference Player of the Year and Associated Press Third Team All-American honors.
The accomplished Gonzaga forward faces an uphill battle to earn playing time on Golden State's roster, which includes veteran frontcourt players like Draymond Green , Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford , along with younger rotation members Gui Santos and Quinten Post . Lendeborg is expected to compete for immediate playing time coming off a championship and Consensus First Team All-American honors at Michigan.
Gonzaga didn't have any players selected, but former GU signee Jack Kayil found a home on the second day of the draft, going No. 39 overall to the recently crowned NBA champion New York Knicks .
Kayil took what many considered a gamble, staying in the draft despite an opportunity to join Gonzaga's starting lineup this fall and transform into a first-round pick. The guard's selection on Wednesday was consistent with most mock drafts, which typically had him going anywhere from No. 31-45 in the second round.
Kayil wasn't asked specifically about the possibility of playing at Gonzaga during a press conference Wednesday night, but the guard responded to a question about turning down potentially lucrative NIL opportunities in college basketball to play in the NBA.
"I wanted to play since day one in the NBA and I had the opportunity, so I took it right away," Kayil said.
Another group of former Gonzaga players including Jalen Warley, Tyon Grant-Foster and Adam Miller will have the opportunity to latch on with NBA teams in the upcoming days and weeks on two-way deals, Exhibit 10 contracts or through Summer League invitations.
