Storm Re-Sign Guard Zia Cooke 13 Days After Trade to Mystics
Zia Cooke is returning to the Seattle Storm on a rest-of-season contract, the team announced Monday. Cooke, who played in 24 games for the Storm this season, was traded to the Washington Mystics in the Brittney Sykes deal on Aug. 5.
Washington waived Cooke the day of the trade, instead sticking with their acquisitions of forward Alysha Clark and one of the Storm’s three 2026 first-round picks. Seattle only received Sykes out of the deal, but that was a solid haul considering Clark and Cooke were deep rotational players for the Storm.
With the addition of Cooke, Seattle now has 11 active players on its roster. Katie Lou Samuelson, who has been out all season with a knee injury, is the 12th. Cooke was a role player for the Storm this season before being traded, averaging 3.3 points, 0.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.4 steals per game in 10.4 minutes.
Cooke’s best game of the season was in the team’s blowout loss to the Golden State Valkyries on June 29, totaling 10 points, three rebounds and a steal.
Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn hasn’t used more than an eight-player rotation in any game since Aug. 3 (loss to Indiana Fever). Cooke will likely play even less than she did in her first stint with the Storm now that Sykes is in the starting lineup and Erica Wheeler is filling the primary bench option.
Cooke was originally the No. 10 overall pick by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2023. She played two seasons there before landing with the Storm this offseason.
