Australian league MVP Xavier Cooks expected to join Wizards

The 27-year-old signed a contract through 2023-24 with Washington and will join the team after he wraps up his run with the Sydney Kings in the NBL Finals, which will culminate this week. 

A former NBL Finals MVP (2021-22) and the league's MVP for the 2022-23 season, the 6-foot-8 Australian native is known for his versatility. He finished fifth in the NBL in rebounds (7.8), 11th in assists (4.2), and 16th in points (16.2) this past season, per the league's leaderboard. 

This won't be his first time playing on U.S. soil. Moving across the globe for college, Cooks attended Winthrop from 2014 to 2018, where he had a standout four seasons for the program. 

Cooks is the Eagles' all-time leader in rebounds (983) and blocks (221) and ranks third in points (1,778). At Winthrop, he earned All-Big South honors three times and finished out being named the conference Player of the Year as a senior. Cooks has forged an international career since going undrafted out of college in 2018, stopping in Germany before returning to Australia. 

It is difficult to know immediately where Cooks might fit in the Wizards' rotation, but that should begin to clarify after he officially heads to Washington.