On Sunday, the WNBA trade deadline came and went. There was no major last-minute trade right before the noon deadline. But the biggest rumored trade did take place late on Saturday night. The Los Angeles Sparks traded five-time All-Star Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury. In return, the Mercury sent Monique Akoa Makani, their 2027 first-round pick, and their 2028 second-round pick to the Sparks.
It’s an interesting trade, and frankly, I think Los Angeles probably comes out looking better from the move. Which might seem odd at first glance. The Sparks traded away a five-time All-Star, who was averaging 23.9 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and 6.4 APG, for two draft picks and a player who averages 9.4 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 2.5 APG. But if the reports were accurate that Plum wasn’t going to re-sign with Los Angeles, it was best for them to get as much back in a return as possible instead of losing her for nothing. KP was going to be an Unrestricted Free Agent, and couldn’t be cored with the “franchise tag”. Los Angeles, with a 10-17 record, entering Sunday, was unlikely to reach the playoffs.
If Plum was traded to a playoff contender like Golden State, New York, or Washington, that probably would have made a bit more sense. It’s a larger risk for the Mercury (11-19), who are six games behind the Liberty for the 8th seed and final playoff spot (technically seven games because New York won the season series). It’s a risk because a report from ESPN’s Alexa Philappou says that Plum still fully intends to engage in Free Agency next offseason and did not commit to re-signing with Phoenix before the trade went down. It’s up to the Mercury as an organization to impress Plum enough to convince her that she is better off staying in Phoenix long-term than signing with a different team in 2027. Phoenix has 14 games remaining this season, and they will do everything they can in those 14 games to convince Plum they can build a contender around her, Alyssa Thomas, and Kahleah Copper. If Plum does ultimately re-sign with the Mercury, then the risk of making this trade pays off big time. One can argue that if she does, it would swing the momentum back to Phoenix as far as which franchise “won” the trade.
For Los Angeles, it feels like a win no matter what. It was very unlikely that even if Plum returned to the lineup and they won some games, they still weren’t going to make the playoffs. If she had already told the organization she wasn’t going to re-sign, then they were smart to get anything in return. And the return they got is pretty good, actually. Monique Akoa Makani may not be a superstar or even an all-star, but she’s on a team-friendly contract through 2027, and she becomes a Reserved free agent in 2028. Reserved free agents are basically team-option contracts. If they want the player, that player must re-sign for one more year with the team. Unlike restricted free agents, reserve free agents can only sign a deal with their existing team, unless that team renounces their rights. So they will have Makani for two more years after this season.
The Sparks are also likely to get a lottery pick from Phoenix with that 2027 first-round pick. As I mentioned above, the Mercury are 11-19 and essentially seven games out of a playoff spot with 14 to play. Unless Phoenix finishes something like 13-1 or 12-2, they probably aren’t making the playoffs. Since LA also isn’t likely to make the playoffs, that means the Sparks will probably end up with two lottery picks.
The only downside to that is that, because of the two-year records for both LA and Phoenix, those picks are almost certainly going to be in the five to seven range. Unless they get crazy luck in the draft lottery, they won’t be landing JuJu Watkins or another top player, but the draft seems deep enough that they can still select two quality players to help rebuild the team around.
Aneesah Morrow is Sent to Toronto
The only other major trade took place a couple of days earlier as the Connecticut Sun sent Aneesah Morrow to the Toronto Tempo in exchange for Maria Kliundikova and a future second-round pick in 2028. As I wrote about in my previous article before the Trade Deadline, the entire Aneesah Morrow situation in Connecticut was confusing. She missed some games, some maybe with an injury, but others seemed to be just a coach’s decision. But then, when she did play, she’d put up impressive numbers (she’s averaging nearly 12 PPG and 9 RPG). I don’t know if it was a defensive issue, an attitude issue, or something else, but it felt like the Sun got rid of her without getting a ton in return.
Maria Kliundikova has been a solid backup big, but she also hasn’t played in the WNBA in 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2026. It doesn’t seem to be a priority for her, so it’s unclear if she’s going to play in Houston next season when the Sun move from Connecticut to Texas. If she doesn’t come over to play in the WNBA, then the Sun essentially traded Morrow, the former Top 10 pick, for a second-round pick in 2028. Which may not even make the final roster. I don’t really like the trade from the Sun’s perspective.
Surprisingly Staying Put
Maybe the biggest surprise was that Betnijah Laney-Hamilton didn’t get moved. I would have thought maybe New York could have traded her for a second-round or at least a third-round pick. Laney-Hamilton hasn’t looked great, even when she has played, but she was a key piece to the Liberty’s 2024 Championship team. Clearly, something is wrong because she has been stuck at the end of the bench for New York. Many speculated that she was definitely going to be traded and needed a fresh start, but that didn’t happen.
Similar to Laney-Hamilton, I was also a bit surprised that we didn’t see Skylar Diggins get traded. Skylar clearly hasn’t been happy in Chicago. And she hasn’t played since the Sky’s Coach, Tyler Marsh, decided to bench her in favor of Courtney Vandersloot and Natasha Cloud. The Sky don’t really need Skylar because of those other point guards. It’s possible that Diggins is legitimately injured and can’t play right now. It’s also possible that no other team had any interest in bringing her in.
The biggest question on my mind now is whether or not we’ll see Laney-Hamilton or Diggins return to action this season for their respective teams. Or if they’ll just ride the bench until the season is over.
What do you think? Were you surprised that the Mercury traded for Kelsey Plum? Were you surprised that Betnijah and Skylar didn’t get moved? Let me know in the comments section.
Notes:
Photography Credits: WNBA Photography/Kahleah Copper
Social Media:
Social Media:
X/Twitter: (WNBAShortCorner)
Threads/Instagram: (WNBAShortCorner)
Bluesky: wnbashortcorner.bsky.social