The WNBA trade deadline passed at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, closing out one of the most active deadline's in recent memory.
The reason for this? In previous years, 12 teams for eight playoff spots meant that teams had ample chances to try to squeeze into those final couple of spots. Teams that probably should have folded their playoff chances and became sellers didn’t because they still believed could go on a late season playoff push.
Also, it was often difficult for certain trades to go through because the WNBA operates on a hard salary cap rather than a softer one, which is the status quo in other professional leagues. Three years ago the Phoenix Mercury were trying to trade Skylar Diggins after there were tensions between her, Diana Taurasi and their head coach at the time, Vanessa Nygaard. Trading Diggins never went through because the math didn’t work and general managers around the WNBA didn’t manage their caps as intentionally as they do now in 2025.
This season, however, trades were much more intentional with clear buyers and sellers. Franchises like the Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics embraced their roles as sellers stacking their assets for the future, especially leading up to a 2026 free agency period where around 80 percent of the WNBA will be unrestricted free agents.
While this year’s deadline resulted in four different trades, including one that came in late June, it still didn’t match the typical excitement that often comes on deadline day in the NBA or MLB. This could change as soon as next season. The current iteration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on October 31 and a well-reported goal of the players association is to bargain for a softer salary cap.
How much did the sellers like the Mystics and the Wings accomplish their goals? And what about teams like the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm who were clearly buying at the deadline? Our staff answers some of those questions in the roundtable discussion below.
Which player should benefit the most from their change of scenery?
Raphielle Johnson: DiJonai Carrington. After winning Most Improved Player honors last season, the move to Dallas did her no favors from a development standpoint. She may be coming off the bench with the Lynx, but there's a clearly defined role and she's on a team that's the favorite of many to win the WNBA title. And we've already seen what Carrington is capable of doing, as she was excellent down the stretch in her Lynx debut against the Storm on Tuesday. The move to Minnesota should do wonders for Carrington as the Lynx look to win a ring.
Cole Huff: The answer has to be Aaliyah Edwards, right? She was a starter for the Mystics just a year ago as a rookie with plenty of potential, but was demoted to the bench as a sophomore in favor of a 2025 lottery pick that plays the same position. But now, Edwards heads back to Connecticut, where she enjoyed major success and earned plenty of fans as a UConn Husky, to potentially start in the frontcourt for a Sun team playing the rest of this season without many expectations from a wins and losses standpoint. She may have a chance to log heavy minutes in a stress-free environment, giving her a chance to get her career back on track.
Jackie Powell: Diamond Miller is going to get a huge opportunity to play minutes on a Dallas team that has a lot of young talent. Miller has been through the ringer when it came to injuries, missing around half of her sophomore season in 2024. But another challenge Miller had to endure playing for the Lynx was her playing time. She lost her starting role to the more experienced Bridget Carlton after she had begun her WNBA career averaging over 12 points per game during her rookie season in 2023.
Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve alluded to the Lynx having a longer developmental timeline for Miller than Miller herself wanted in her career. Miller wanted to contribute and playing in Dallas will allow her to do that immediately with much lower stakes. Miller provided a spark every time she came off the bench for the Lynx. She shot over 50 percent from three in 26 total attempts, but Reeve didn’t have enough trust in her yet to allow her to play freely in critical situations.
“I think… most of us came from places where we’ve felt undervalued,” Miller told reporters prior to her first game for the Wings this past Tuesday night. “Now it’s time where we can expand our game so it’s really exciting.”
To be clear, Miller is thankful for her time in Minnesota as she learned what excellent looks and sounds like. But in Dallas she’ll be able to play meaningful minutes, something that the former No. 2 overall pick has been longing for ever since she got healthy.
Which team helped itself most regarding competing for a championship this season?
Johnson: Minnesota (DiJonai Carrington) and New York (Emma Meeseman) made important additions to their rosters, whether it was via trade or free agent signing. But, I think Seattle adding Brittney Sykes gives them a better chance of competing for a title, and it was much-needed. The Storm entered Thursday 12th out of 13 teams in bench scoring, and they've asked a lot of their starters, most especially Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, and Gabby Williams. Adding Sykes bolsters the bench even if she starts, as that would likely push Erica Wheeler back into a reserve role. Also, rookie Dominique Malonga has made strides in her development, and her playing time has increased. Including Alysha Clark in the deal frees up opportunities for Malonga, even if they don't share similar skill sets or positions on the court.
Huff: Seattle. While I agree that Minnesota and New York improved by adding depth, it feels like those two teams’ additions serve more as luxury pieces that may or may not consistently play big enough roles to make a drastic difference on already-loaded teams. With Sykes heading to the Pacific Northwest, I get the notion that Seattle will really lean on her. Will she start alongside Diggins or play a sixth-player role? Remains to be seen. But Sykes' two-way ability for a team relatively thin outside its starting five should allow her to carve out a big role and potentially raise Seattle’s floor and ceiling in a significant way.
Powell: New York. While adding Belgian superstar Emma Meesseman technically wasn’t a move made via a trade, it still was a transaction before the deadline, so I guess it still counts. Meesseman also arrived in New York at such an opportune time when the Liberty are without the third member of their big three in Breanna Stewart. Meesseman has been called an ultra-processor and while she’s a superstar, she’s also a player who can adapt to a myriad of situations because she’s wired as a team player in the body of a superstar. Integrating Meesseman with Stewart, Kennedy Burke and Nyara Sabally, all Liberty front court players who have been injured since Meesseman’s arrival, will come with its challenges, but Meesseman is the ideal player you want in this position where the Liberty need her to adapt quickly.
I have a lot of questions about how both Carrington is going to add to the Lynx’s offense especially when she’s been so inconsistent this year. (She’s shot 36.6% from the field and 27.5% from three this season in over 51 attempts.) But will playing for a coach that demands so much respect in Cheryl Reeve help Carrington return to her Most Improved Player form that she reached last season? It’s possible especially when she has former Sun teammates on roster in Courtney Williams, and Natisha Hiedeman. And then there’s Alanna Smith, who she played with in college at Stanford. The Storm added the second most talented player behind Meesseman, but their offensive math doesn’t change all that much, which makes me question if they are really a team that can make it past the first or second round of the playoffs.
Lynx are comfortably on top, but the Dream and Fever gain ground on the Liberty and Mercury.
How clear is the Washington Mystics’ vision based on the moves they made?
Johnson: Regarding the immediate future, the Mystics' vision is very clear. Trades involving Brittney Sykes and Aaliyah Edwards netted the team two additional 2026 first-round picks. While the swap with Connecticut may not result in a high first, as the teams are swapping picks initially held by Minnesota (Washington) and New York (Connecticut) respectively, the Mystics have two more pieces of draft capital to work with as they build around Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen. And the decision to move Sykes puts the team on a collision course with the draft lottery, which was the preseason expectation.
Huff: Although the Mystics replaced one of their veterans (Sykes) with an even more experienced player (Alysha Clark), their vision to build around their young core is even clearer than it already was prior to the deadline. Before her departure, Sykes was leading Washington in points, assists and field goal attempts per game — her high involvement in the offense being removed will open doors for Citron, Iriafen and potentially Shakira Austin to take on and continue blossoming in greater roles. And while the Mystics shipped off a young player with potential in Edwards, there was a logjam in the frontcourt, and her exodus brought back a future first-round pick, as did the Sykes trade.
Powell: Respect is due for how clear the Mystics’ vision is. This is a franchise that aims to build through some of the most pro-ready draft classes the league has ever seen. There are some teams, namely the Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks that chose not to take advantage of the circumstances that the Mystics have. As a result the Sky are 11th place and they won’t have control over what will be a 2026 lottery pick due to a pre-draft trade they made this year to make sure they could draft Hailey Van Lith. And the Sparks are clawing tooth and nail to get into one of the last two playoff spots. But just because the Mystics' vision is clear, doesn’t mean they’ve hit a home run on all of their moves. Edwards is a talent who could have become part of the Mystics young core, but because of the Mystics’ poor roster construction she ended up in an unfavorable spot in the rotation leading to a trade request. Did no one want Stefanie Dolson instead around the league? That’s for sure possible. But also, the inexperience of Mystics’ front office came back to bite them earlier this season when they missed the deadline to pick up 22 year-old point guard Jade Melbourne’s option, extending her rookie scale deal through 2026. As a rebuilding franchise that should have control over as many young players as possible, this was a missed opportunity. So while this vision is clear, it’s far from flawless.
Which team do you believe is the biggest threat to the current favorite, Minnesota, to win the title?
Johnson: It's New York, under the assumption that their frontcourt will return to full strength well ahead of the playoffs. Not having Breanna Stewart, Nyara Sabally and Kennedy Burke due to injury is huge, as it's left the Liberty light on frontcourt depth. Adding Emma Meeseman to the fold was a significant move, as she was the best player not in the WNBA at the time of her signing. Meeseman's offensive versatility will be a major asset for Sandy Brondello, especially as the veteran forward continues to get more comfortable with her new teammates and the system. Plus, they still have Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud on the perimeter.
Huff: Like Raphielle said,New York is Minnesota’s biggest threat, if healthy. The Liberty were off to a similarly fast start to the season as the Lynx were before Jonquel Jones’ ankle injury jumpstarted a series of injuries to follow for the Liberty, who are very banged up at the time of this writing. Health provided, in addition to the acquisition of Meeseman, there’s a real argument to be made that the defending champions have a better roster than they did a season ago. That being said, the injuries are a concern and good health come postseason is far from guaranteed.
Powell: I have two answers. The obvious one is the New York Liberty which both Raphielle and Cole alluded to. But what about the Atlanta Dream, a team that’s currently third in the standings and third in net rating behind the Lynx and the Liberty. The Lynx have struggled with the Dream’s size this season as Alanna Smith has had to take the brunt of guarding the Dream’s large and strong centers in Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones. To be clear Smith deals with this mismatch when she guards Jonquel Jones in New York, but in Atlanta there are two players of that stature that she really has to worry about.
In two games played against the Dream this season, the Lynx have a net rating of zero, and their defensive and offensive ratings are both at 107.7. The Lynx’s base defensive rating of 95.4 drops by over 12% when they play against the Dream. While Carrington will be able to contain Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard when she returns better than Kayla McBride previously could, I still question how much the mismatch in the front court will matter for the Lynx. Although if the standings remain the same by the final day of the regular season, the Lynx might get lucky and might not have to face the Dream in the postseason at all.
Do you believe the Connecticut Sun should have gone “all-in” on a rebuild by being more active at the deadline?
Johnson: I'm somewhat surprised that the Sun did not look to move another of their veterans, either for a young prospect to evaluate for the rest of the season or in exchange for added draft capital. Then again, maybe the fact that nearly 80 percent of the league's players will be free agents after this season factored into Connecticut not doing more before the trade deadline. Adding Edwards via trade was a good move, but Connecticut not looking to move another post to free up minutes for the 2024 first-round pick was somewhat confusing. If there's anything to watch down the stretch for Rachid Meziane's team, it's the playing time that Edwards and rookies Leïla Lacan, Saniya Rivers and Aneesah Morrow receive (Rayah Marshall can be included, but she's been out of the rotation on most nights). This isn't going to be a playoff team, so the focus should be on evaluating those young players.
Huff: Yes, considering the Sun’s spot in the standings at this point in the season. With the worst record in the league and the playoffs likely unrealistic, the starting roles that Connecticut’s veteran players occupy are preventing the young players from receiving important developmental reps; this potentially becomes even more of a hindrance with Aaliyah Edwards in town and needing minutes. Marina Mabrey and Tina Charles are a couple of veterans slated to become unrestricted free agents after this season, which will provide the Sun even more cap space to be active in free agency this upcoming offseason. Perhaps they are waiting until then to go “all in.”
Powell: To be clear the Sun were forced to rebuild unlike the Mystics who leaned more into it after changing hands once they fired Mike and Eric Thibault. The writing had been on the wall for so long that the late 2010s and early 2020s Sun coached by Curt Miller and then Stephanie White was going to come to a dramatic end. That success wasn’t going to be continued mostly because the Sun franchise arguably has the least player friendly facilities in the league and is located in the most middle of nowhere place in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun as they stand aren’t a place for free agents as they once were.
There are many reasons as to why the Sun weren’t more active, but the most obvious one is the current battle for the franchise itself. There is an ownership group in Boston willing to put up $325 Million for the franchise and move it to Boston. The proposal, however, hasn’t been accepted by the board of governors and multiple reports suggest that the league could force the Sun to sell to a buyer of the league’s choosing rather than Connecticut's.
There are also other questions about how much trade value 37-year-old Tina Charles and recently-hurt guard Marina Mabrey had. Jacy Sheldon, who they did trade, is a very good rotation two-way guard and she will balance out a Mystics roster that was never balanced. 2026 will present a blank slate for many WNBA teams, and that includes the Connecticut Sun.
Between the Lynx and the Storm, who improves more as a result of the moves they made at the deadline?
Johnson: While Seattle adding Sykes may have addressed a slightly more pressing need, adding a defender of Carrington's caliber is why Minnesota receives the nod for me. The Lynx were able to go small at times on Tuesday, playing three wings with Bridget Carleton shifting down due to Alanna Smith being in foul trouble. And the move worked, with Minnesota making its run and going on to beat the Storm in Seattle. It isn't difficult to envision lineups where it's Napheesa Collier serving as the five once she returns from her sprained ankle. Minnesota has been the best team all season, and the Carrington additions should make them even better, especially once Collier returns.
Huff: I somewhat alluded to this in an earlier response, but I’ll rephrase it here: I think the Lynx entered and exited the trade deadline as an A+ team, while the Storm upgraded from probably a B-level team to something greater. Alysha Clark’s role had diminished throughout the season and she wasn’t consistently playing meaningful minutes by the end of her second stint in Seattle. Now, the Storm gets deeper with the addition of Sykes and gains another defender, but one with real game-changing ability on the offensive end and player capable of closing games. Between their starting five, the rookie Dominique Malonga, and now Sykes, Seattle has a very strong seven-player rotation.
Powell: I agree with Cole on this one. The Storm improved more because they added a better all around player, but I’m not sure how much adding Sykes is going to help them make a deep playoff run and make it into the WNBA Finals. Basketball is about math and I agree with Nekias Duncan at Bleacher Report when he says that the Sykes trade “reinforces” who the Storm are rather than " solves what they aren’t”. While Sykes has improved her three-point clip over the years, she’s still not the perimeter spacing threat that the Storm need in order to put more pressure on defenses.
To be clear, I saw the fit for Sykes much more in Minnesota. The Lynx didn’t just need another perimeter defender, but they needed someone who can reliably create offense in high pressure situations when offensive actions get blown up by excellent defenses presumably in the postseason. Napheesa Collier is the Lynx’s only consistent creator of offense in clutch and crunch time situations. She can be handed the basketball and can make something happen with it. While there’s some argument to be made that Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride have the potential to take on those types of responsibilities, Sykes has been excellent at drawing contact and getting to the line, which regardless of officiating, the Lynx struggled to do in situations when it mattered most. As of now the Lynx are 11th in the league when it comes to free throws attempted per game.
When’s the last time you had fun watching an NBA All-Star game?