NBL MVP from Australia, Xavier Cooks, agrees to a two-year contract with the Wizards

Xavier Cooks, the Australian National Basketball League's MVP, has signed a contract with the Washington Wizards that runs through the 2023–2024 season. Cooks, who will join the Wizards as soon as the Kings finish their play in the NBL Finals this week, comes to the NBA on a contract buyout and becomes the sixth player in five years to make the transition from that organisation to the NBA, according to Daniel Moldovan of Octagon Sports. Power striker Cooks, who stands 6-foot-8, is known as a switching, adaptable defender with superior passing ability. Cooks, a 27-year-old Aussie who excelled in college at Winthrop but was not picked, is regarded as one of the Kings' and NBL's best development stories. He was the league's MVP in 2022–23 and the Finals MVP in 2021–22 during his fourth season there. The Kings' front staff, which also includes NBA veterans Andrew Bogut and Luc Longley as well as former Memphis Grizzlies executive Chris Pongrass, has long wished for the team to serve as a launching pad for prospects entering the league. Cooks has played under Chase Buford, a former NBA G League coach of the year with Wisconsin who won a championship with Sydney last year. The Wizards now occupy the 10th and final play-in berth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 30-33.