A pair of blockbuster WNBA trades and a massive free agent signing in the last couple of days will have the league looking very different this summer. Four of its biggest stars are on the move, marking what could be just the beginning of the upheaval.
The first deal went down Monday, Jan. 27, involving All-Star guards Kelsey Plum and Jewel Loyd. Both have won multiple WNBA Championships and were teammates on the U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning team in Paris last summer.
Loyd, the 2023 league scoring champ, is heading to Las Vegas after she requested a trade out of Seattle following 10 seasons with the team. Last week, perhaps in anticipation of a deal, she talked about her state of mind while playing in the new 3-on-3 Unrivaled Basketball League.
“Honestly, I’m just getting back to me. I’m getting back to peace and getting back to finding a joy in basketball,” Loyd said. “So that was the biggest thing in my mind, is go play hard.”
Plum, who couldn’t agree on a contract extension with Vegas, will take her two championship rings and 18 points per game average to the Los Angeles Sparks.
The third team in the deal, the Seattle Storm, will get a pair of first-round draft picks, including the number two pick in this April’s draft.
The second blockbuster deal went down Tuesday, Jan. 28, as the Connecticut Sun sent five-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas to the Phoenix Mercury. Thomas, one of the greatest players in franchise history, led the Sun to the WNBA finals in 2019 and 2022. She’s finished in the top five in league MVP voting each of the last three seasons. Phoenix sent a pair of players and a first-round pick back to Connecticut in the deal.
That last trade may have started the dominoes falling. There were multiple reports Tuesday night that 11-year veteran and star center Brittney Griner has already agreed to a one-year deal with the Atlanta Dream. Things might get even more interesting on Saturday, Feb. 1, when players like Satou Sabally, Brionna Jones and Nneka Ogwumike sign new deals.