Five days before the regular-season opener, the Storm made their final cuts.
On Monday, the team waived forwards Mackenzie Holmes and Brianna Fraser and guard Serena Sundell.
The moves end the relatively short tenures in Seattle for Sundell, the former Kansas State standout who was taken in the third round in last month’s WNBA draft. Sundell’s brother Jalen is an offensive lineman for the Seahawks.
The 27-year-old Fraser, a late training-camp pickup, was attempting to land with her first WNBA team.
Holmes, who was taken in the third round of the 2024 WNBA draft and sat out last season to recover from a knee injury, drew favorable impressions following the Storm’s 79-59 exhibition win against the Connecticut Sun.
Last week, the Storm released rookie guards Madison Conner and Jordan Hobbs, who were taken in the third round of last month’s draft.
“The current roster that we have, we’re going to start the year with,” said coach Noelle Quinn, who indicated the Storm aren’t expecting to make additional personnel changes before Saturday’s road game against the Phoenix Mercury.
The recent cuts leaves 11 players on the team, highlighted by projected starters Skylar Diggins, Gabby Williams, Alysha Clark, Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor.
The bench likely includes Dominique Malonga, Erica Wheeler, Li Yueru, Katie Lexie Brown, Zia Cooke and Katie Lou Samuelson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp and will start the season with the team, per league rules.
Seemingly, the last roster spot went to Cooke, a 5-foot-9 guard and an unrestricted free agent who was invited to training camp on a nonguaranteed $66,079 contract after two lackluster seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks.
“She was here early before camp started, so she was able to get acclimated to the building, to us as coaches and learning our system pretty early and that put her a leg up honestly between the competition in camp,” Quinn said. “She’s very quick. She’s one of our quickest players here in camp. Her ability to defend is what I’ve been really emphasizing with her. She’s played with Nneka before, but coming back in a different environment and having different resources and just a different team makeup has really empowered her to bring out her strengths.
“She’s a student of the game. She watches film every day. You can see the professionalism she has … and exuding that every single day because of who we have here around her. I think she’s done an excellent job in camp with giving exactly what we’re asking for.”
Cooke, who won a 2022 national championship at South Carolina, was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2023 draft by the Sparks. She averaged 4.3 points on 30% shooting from the field, including 27.4% on three-pointers in 68 games and four starts.
During the Storm’s exhibition, Cooke was the first off the bench and finished with eight points while logging a game-high 25½ minutes.
Cooke reunites in Seattle with former Sparks teammates Ogwumike, Brown and Li. Samuelson also played in L.A. in 2022, a year before Cooke’s arrival.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” Cooke said last week. “I’m happy I met Nneka at LA and I’ve got an opportunity to play with her now. Having Lexie here and Li here is definitely something I’m excited for as well. They’re players that I’m familiar with and they’re familiar with my game and also people that I look up to.
“For us all to be here together definitely means a lot to me.”
Ogwumike added: “Zia was my rookie a couple years ago, and I was happy to help her. I told her that I couldn’t guarantee that she made the team, but I said I could talk to them and see if there’s an availability here.”
Note
The Minnesota Lynx waived former Washington Huskies standout Dalayah Daniels, who was taken No. 24 overall in the second round of the WNBA draft.
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