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Last night, in the first game of his professional career, former Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop scored nine points and collected seven rebounds in 31 minutes of action for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Las Vegas Summer League team. Today, it was announced that he had signed his three-year, rookie contract with the NBA team. While the Timberwolves confirmed the signing, they declined to comment on the terms.
Despite being unanimously projected to be a first-round pick, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year fell to the second half of the second round in last month’s NBA Draft, meaning that the deal that he just signed is likely far less than many anticipated that it would be.
Other than the length, the deal’s specifics have not been announced, however, the first two seasons are fully guaranteed according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski.
Keita Bates-Diop signed his contract with Wolves today. League sources tell @TheAthletic the 2nd RD pick gets a 3-year deal, with the first 2 fully guaranteed
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) July 7, 2018
John Meyer from SBNation’s Canis Hoopus speculates that the T-wolves will use part of their Mid-Level Exception on the deal, and that the first year could come in at the rookie minimum of $838,464.
Meyer also explains, “By using a portion of the Mid-Level Exception, the Wolves will have full Bird Rights at the end of the contract when KBD hits restricted free agency.”
Whatever KBD signed for, congratulations to him. When you get back to Minnesota, might we suggest The Eater’s “38 Essential Twin Cities Restaurants, Spring 2018”?