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Former Wizards Guard To Suit Up in China in 2026-27
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- Former Wizards Guard To Suit Up in China in 2026-27
Former Wizards Guard To Suit Up in China in 2026-27
(Ken Blaze-Imagn Images)
The Washington Wizards still have a roster spot to fill, but one former player on last year's squad will officially not be part of the 2026-27 roster.
Free agent guard Sharife Cooper is making the move back to international basketball after signing with the Liaoning Flying Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association. This marks Cooper's second stint with the team after also previously signing with the franchise back in April 2024 before making the move to the Turkish League roughly five months later.
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The move marks a chance for Cooper to see an expanded role overseas after he was viewed to be unlikely to return to the Wizards for a second season.
Cooper started in one game and appeared in half of the Wizards' games during the 2025-26 regular season where he averaged 8.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and three assists per game while shooting over 51% from the floor and 38% from three. Though the bulk of his extended minutes came when the Wizards were battling limited roster availability, Cooper was able to round out the on-ball rotation behind Bub Carrington as he and Leaky Black were among the players who looked to stick out on a two-way deal. Cooper ended his lone season in Washington by tying his career-high with 20 points in 28 minutes in the season-ending road loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers , one of two times he scored 20 points over the final month of the regular season,
while Cooper averaged over 12 points per game in nearly 28 minutes across seven total appearances with the Capital City Go-Go.
The New Jersey native began his career with the Atlanta Hawks after he became a second round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, coming off the board with the 48th overall pick, where he appeared in only 13 games and averaged 0.5 points across three minutes per game.
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Washington has since replaced Cooper's role on the roster after acquiring Tre Mann from the Cleveland Cavaliers last week, likely finalizing the point guard rotation behind Trae Young and Bub Carrington. Head coach Brian Keefe could also turn to others like AJ Dybantsa and Will Riley in the on-ball rotation after fans saw glimpses of both wings capitalizing on their versatility during Summer League, pushing Cooper off the roster.
How the revamped point guard rotation evolves will be one of the many questions answered when preseason begins on Oct. 8 in a road game against the New York Knicks .
