Seattle Storm bring back player they just dealt in trade

Not even two weeks after the Seattle Storm included Zia Cooke in a trade with the Washington Mystics, the third-year guard is back.

Cooke and the Storm have agreed on a contract for the rest of the 2025 season, the Storm announced Monday afternoon.

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The Storm sent Cooke along with veteran forward Alysha Clark and a 2026 first-round WNBA Draft pick to the Mystics in a trade on Aug. 5 for All-Star guard Brittney Sykes.

Cooke was picked No. 10 overall in the 2023 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks after a college career at South Carolina that included a national championship. She was a role player in two seasons with the Sparks, then signed with the Storm as a free agent in February after being waived by Los Angeles.

In 24 games with Seattle this year, Cooke is averaging 3.3 points and 0.5 assists per game. She is shooting a career-high 34.6% from the field and 38.2% on 3-pointers.

WELCOME BACK ZIA ⛈️

We've signed Zia Cooke to a rest-of-season contract!

📰 https://t.co/zyUZL9uQsf pic.twitter.com/5ENkZOzW2T

— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) August 18, 2025

Cooke did not appear in a game after the trade to Washington before being waived.

Despite the addition of Sykes, the Storm have lost seven of their last eight games and fallen under .500 with a 17-18 overall record. Seattle is eighth in the WNBA standings with nine games left in the regular season. The top eight teams in the league make the playoffs.

The Storm play next at 5 p.m. Tuesday in a road game against the Chicago Sky (8-25).

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