Xavier

Cooks

These transactions get the Wizards down to the league maximum of 15 standard contracts before the Monday evening deadline. In the case of Gibson, the veteran forward may not have offered much in the way of numbers, but he’s long been a positive influence within the locker room during his professional career. The departures of Gibson and Cooks won’t impact fantasy basketball, as neither was a lock to be in the rotation once the regular season began.

Cooks signed with Washington in early March, and he’s gotten to play big minutes over their last few games with the Wizards focused on the lottery. He set a career-high for rebounding, while tying his scoring career-high with 10 points, which he set in their previous game. Jordan Goodwin led the way with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists. Johnny Davis (4-for-20) and Isaiah Tood (2-for-13) both struggled mightily from the field as starters, but Davis added six rebounds, eight assists and two steals, while Todd hauled in 12 boards in his first career start. Quenton Jackson also added 19 points off the bench. Washington will look to get back to the postseason next year, though they’ll need good moves this summer and some injury luck to have a chance.

Todd and Cooks will get their first career start in game 82 for the Wizards. They’ll be without the majority of their veterans and usual rotation pieces, so plenty of guys will play big minutes that have spent most of the season on the bench.

Cooks will not join the Wizards until after the NBL Finals, as he’s currently playing for the Sydney Kings. The 2018 Big South Player of the Year at Winthrop, Cooks helped lead the Kings to the NBL title last season and was named league MVP this season. In 26 games this season, he’s averaging 15.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.3 steals, 2.1 blocks, and 0.5 3-pointers in 27.7 minutes, shooting 60% from the field and from the foul line.