The Seattle Storm looked to upgrade their roster at the WNBA Trade Deadline with the trade to bring in All-Star guard Brittney Sykes. The Storm sent out Alysha Clark and Zia Cooke in the trade, and the Mystics cut Cooke to make room on their roster.
Following the Mystics cutting Zia Cooke, the Storm promptly brought the third-year guard back to their roster on a rest-of-season contract, the team announced. Cooke never appeared in a game for the Mystics. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, Cooke was having a strong season for the Storm as one of their key backup guards before the trade.
Prior to the trade deadline, Cooke had appeared in a total of 24 games at a little over ten minutes off the bench. She was averaging 3.3 points with splits of 34.6 percent shooting from the field, 38.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 68.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Cooke’s three-point percentage was a career-high, and she was one of the Storm’s most dependable outside threats.
Cooke’s re-signing gives the team a full 12-player roster to end the season. The Storm are currently in a tough race for the playoffs, only a half game up on the Los Angeles Sparks for the eighth and final playoff spot.
Before signing with the Storm, Cooke played a total of two seasons for the Sparks after they selected her in 2023. She never was really able to find any consistency with the Sparks, and the team opted to let her walk in free agency this past offseason.
Cooke has been primarily a reserve player throughout her career, although she did start four games during her rookie season in 2023. She had one game earlier this season when she scored in double figures, back on June 29 when she finished with ten points against the Golden State Valkyries. Her career-high in scoring is 14 points, which she reached twice during her rookie season, and matched in one game last year.
