The Joondalup Wolves are excited to announce the signing of Joey Baker, an NBA G-League and Duke Blue Devils product, for the 2025 NBL1 West Season.
A 6’7 Forward from Fayetteville, North Carolina, Joey brings a wealth of experience playing in the NBA G-League and at two of the most prominent basketball colleges in Duke and Michigan.
Most recently, Baker was signed to the Grand Rapids Gold in the NBA G-League. From 2023 to 2025, he played 22 games and averaged 3.9 points per game, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.6 assists.
Before signing with the NBA G-League, Baker played for the Michigan Wolverines under Juwan Howard, current assistant coach at the Brooklyn Nets.
Before his grad transfer year at Michigan, Baker played four years for the Duke Blue Devils and is no stranger to playing on teams loaded with talent. From 2018 to 2022, Baker was a four-time letter winner, appearing in 88 games. He was considered a four-star recruit out of high school and was ranked by ESPN as the number 41 player in the country in the class of 2018.
He joined the Blue Devils that year alongside future NBA superstars such as Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Cam Reddish, who were drafted number 1, 3, and 10 in the NBA draft immediately following their first season at Duke. This group of Duke freshmen, which included Joey in 2018-19, was by a large margin the number one recruiting class in the nation.
While at Duke, Joey also played alongside Australian product Jack White, NBA first-round picks Wendell Moore Jr., Jalen Johnson, Mark Williams, Vernon Carey Jr., AJ Griffin, and number-one overall pick Paolo Banchero. Joey was also team captain for the 2021-22 season, the final year legendary five-time national title-winning coach Mike Krzyzewski, also known as Coach K, coached at the college.
Joey averaged 4.5 points per game and was the 6th man for a team whose starting lineup included 5 NBA players, four first-round picks and one second-round pick. In 2019-20, Baker averaged 5 points per game on a team with seven future NBA players, including Jack White, who averaged 3.1 points per game on that same team. Baker shot 39% from 3 in his college career.
Baker also has previous international experience, having played with Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys in the Lithuanian Basketball League from 2023 to 2024. In 15 games, he averaged 5.3 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.6 assists.
The Wolfpack welcomes Joey to Arena Joondalup and can’t wait to see him hit the court immediately after he completes the NBA G-League Season.
Speaking on the signing, Men’s Head Coach David Morrell said, “We are thrilled to add Joey for 2025 as our 2nd import signing. With any player you sign, you check on their character.
When we examined Joey’s character and the type of person we were adding to our roster, it was abundantly clear that he has a terrific reputation for work ethic, winning, leadership, and being a good teammate.
We think he’s a tremendous balance of potential star power and a guy who will fit in easily and make other players’ jobs easier. In my experience, that is a rare combination to find.
He’s big at 6’7 and shoots it at an elite level. But I think that scratches the surface of what Joey can do for our team, and I am very excited to see what he can do in a Wolfpack jersey.
When you can get a guy who was a top 40 blue-chip recruit coming out of high school, a captain for the legendary Coach K at Duke, a starter for Coach Juwan Howard at Michigan, and has 2-seasons of NBA G-League experience, it’s a great CV, and we are excited to be a part of that basketball journey.
I am excited to get Joey to Perth and start seeing how his talents mix with the rest of the team and how he can add to what we can do this year.”
When asked how it feels to Run with the Pack for the 2025 season, Joey said, “I’m thrilled to join the Wolves family. From my first conversation with the coaching staff, I was impressed by their championship vision and commitment to player development.
Wolves fans can expect maximum effort every time I step on the court – I pride myself on hustle, heart, and determination.
To my new teammates, I can’t wait to get to work and push each other to reach our full potential. I’m also looking forward to immersing myself in the Joondalup community and making this wonderful place my new home as we chase a championship together.”
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