WNBA Trade Deadline 2026, Part Two: Let's Make a Deal

With the WNBA's trade deadline just days away, we propose some potential deals that could happen by Sunday

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On Tuesday in Part One, I broke down the rules that govern potential deals ahead of the WNBA’s trade deadline on Sunday and looked at what each team might be thinking. Now it’s time to make up some trades. Everything here is legal and mathematically possible (albeit sometimes requiring additional players to be waived to open roster spots). Exactly how plausible they all are is in the eye of the beholder.

Golden State sends Kayla Thornton, Laeticia Amihere and a 2027 first-round pick to Los Angeles for Nneka Ogwumike

Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks. Photo credit: Chris Poss

I mentioned this theoretical possibility on the Her Hoop Stats podcast last week. Golden State may look for someone to inject more pace and individual creation into their offense from the perimeter, but most of those options would require a significant change in style and/or potentially weaken Natalie Nakase’s team defense to a meaningful degree. So the alternative is looking for an upgrade in the middle. We all saw the story too many times in Las Vegas where Kiah Stokes was an important part of the team all year long, but got played off the floor in the postseason when teams ignored her to defend 5-on-4 when the Aces had the ball. The Valkyries have integrated Stokes into their offense a little better, and she’s made a few threes this year, but the fear has to remain that something similar could happen again. Despite being 36 years old and on a fairly poor team in LA, Ogwumike is still putting up all-star numbers, shooting 41% from outside, and has the athleticism and intelligence to execute Golden State’s defensive schemes.

This also wouldn’t necessarily be just a rental for the Valkyries. Once they had her in the building there’d be some confidence that she’d want to stay, especially as she’d be even closer to where she spent four years at Stanford. But if she helps them make a real run at a championship and then decides to walk away for nothing, that’s an acceptable result anyway. Thornton basically has to be in this deal because the Valkyries only have three players on more than $600,000, and the other two are Gabby Williams and Veronica Burton. She’d be a meaningful loss for Golden State, especially as a leader, but she’s also been largely outplayed by Janelle Salaün coming off the bench behind her this year. Amihere is there to make the numbers work as well, but also because she’d be further out of the rotation with Ogwumike ahead of her, and it gives LA a look at a young athletic big. The first-rounder, which right now would be the No. 14 overall, is the price of doing business.

For LA, this is about getting some value from a roster that hasn’t worked and which could fall apart anyway at the end of the season. Both Ogwumike and Kelsey Plum are on expiring deals and could walk away for nothing at the end of the year. Conversely, Dearica Hamby and Ariel Atkins are on expensive three-year deals which might not be easy to move for much value right now. This is a decent return, and also sends Ogwumike somewhere she’ll likely be happy to go. It’s not like they’re sending her to a bad team in the middle of nowhere.

Washington sends Cotie McMahon (or Angela Dugalić), Rori Harmon and a 2027 second-round pick to Los Angeles for Kelsey Plum

This is basically the guard version of the Ogwumike trade above. The Sparks cash in on a player who could walk away for nothing at the end of the season to add a little youth to their aging roster, while the Mystics add some much needed perimeter offense and outside shooting to their young core.

The return may not look great for LA at first glance, but they’re getting a young first-round pick in McMahon (or a slightly-older UCLA product in Dugalić, if they prefer), a look at a point guard prospect in Harmon, and a second-rounder that might not be much lower than the Golden State first-round pick from the deal above if Washington include the Chicago Sky’s 2027 second-rounder that they own. McMahon’s shown some flashes of real potential in Washington, and might show more in LA with greater opportunity to play on the ball.

For the Mystics, this is the first swing to add some real veteran talent to all the young pieces they’ve been putting together in the last couple of seasons. Georgia Amoore and Alicia Flórez have both had their moments this year but struggled with consistency and efficiency. Plum would be an immediate and dramatic upgrade offensively, both as a scorer and pick-and-roll passer. She’d also space the floor a lot more for the Washington bigs, and take the pressure off Sonia Citron to create everything from the perimeter. Defense would be pretty much a wash. Hopefully it also goes well enough that you move to the top of the list for Plum when she becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year looking for her next contract.

Rather than firing head coach Lynne Roberts, LA recently parted ways with general manager Raegan Pebley. That should make them more willing to move on from some of these deals they’ve made in the past, because the people in charge now are less invested in making them work. There are also now clear reports that LA are looking to move Plum rather than clinging to the hope that she might re-sign and they can build a contender around her. If they have competing bids, maybe the Sparks can even force up the price a little higher than in this deal (although all of this depends on Plum being somewhere near a return, after over a month out due to injury). If they think she’s going to walk away, might as well get what you can for her before Sunday.

New York sends Betnijah Laney-Hamilton to almost anywhere for ???

Some version of this had to be in here. Laney-Hamilton has shown her value in the past as a smart wing who can defend and score, and initiate some offense when you need her to. She’s struggled to crack Chris DeMarco’s rotation in a lot of games this season, although it’s always been couched as being part of managing her return from the major injury that saw her miss the whole of last season. She’s openly discussed her frustration with the situation, and the possibility that she could be somewhere else by the deadline. Lots of teams would happily take a shot on her, albeit obviously depending on the price. She’s the type of player virtually every team needs, only earning $400,000 this year, and there’s no future commitment if it turns out that she’s not been playing in New York because the injury was too damaging to her performance level.

The question is what would New York want back? She’s still useful backup for them and could move up the pecking order when experience and composure matter most in the playoffs. So while making players happy and maintaining your reputation as a franchise that prioritises that is important, the Liberty are unlikely to just give her away. And assuming they still think she’s pretty good, they definitely won’t just give her away to a team they could be competing with in the playoffs — although it’s teams like Dallas, Atlanta, Las Vegas and even Minnesota where her addition makes the most sense.

I don’t know if New York would even want a player back. They have Marine Fauthoux and Anneli Maley as current developmental players and could use the open roster spot to convert one of them to a regular contract. But most of those teams mentioned above are relatively close to the cap and would have to send someone out to create the room for Laney-Hamilton’s $400,000. Maybe this is the deal where Portland or Washington get involved as a third party to take on a contract so that the math works for the teams involved in the meat of the trade. That would probably mean someone giving up another pick, along with whatever New York demand. It’s probably at least a second-rounder, maybe even a low-first if there are multiple teams with interest. Dallas own Las Vegas’s 2027 first-round pick as well as their own, so maybe they’d give up one of those. But you could understand the argument that that’s a rich price for a player rarely seeing the floor this year. Maybe two second-rounders instead?

Chicago trades nobody to anywhere

I tried, I really did. Firstly, I tried to find a way to get that 2027 first-round pick swap back from Washington. But outside of contriving some way to get the Mystics a true star guard under multiple-year contract control, the Mystics aren’t giving up a pick that could easily become Hannah Hidalgo or JuJu Watkins. Then I just tried to cash in any of the vets. But where’s the deal?

Diggins to Las Vegas for Jewell Loyd worked initially (with some extra pieces to finagle the cash), but the Yamamoto signing by the Aces signaled a complete lack of interest there. Also, one of two things must be true with Diggins, and neither is good. Either she’s actually really struggling with her knee, or she’s tanked her tradability (whatever minimal amount there was) by sitting out of every game since being benched. Azurá Stevens is pretty good but the wrong side of 30, often injured, and earning over $3 million guaranteed over the next three years when she’d be a backup on a lot of teams. Courtney Vandersloot and Elizabeth Williams are both solid veterans but probably a little overpaid and on guaranteed money through 2027. DiJonai Carrington hasn’t played a single second of basketball all season. Even Jacy Sheldon’s on her fourth team in three years and would likely struggle to get Chicago back the draft capital they gave up for her less than four months ago. Unless they’re giving up one of their young pieces (Rickea Jackson is untradable by rule, due to being replaced by a Season Ending Injury exception, in case any Sky fans were scared about that one), it’s really hard to find anything worth doing.

There are maybe some second-round picks here if they wanted them. Someone might see Williams as worth that if they need a big, or Natasha Cloud for guard depth, or even a flier on Carrington if the doctors are positive. But both head coach Tyler Marsh and general manager Jeff Pagliocca would probably rather try to win some games down the stretch and hope it helps keep their jobs. Sorry, Chicago.

Portland sends Luisa Geiselsöder and a 2027 third-round pick to Toronto for Temi Fagbenle

This is mostly for illustrative purposes but also makes some sense in practice. While we talk a lot about the team salary cap, set this year at $7,000,000, there is also a team minimum salary. They kept the calculation simple in the new CBA, setting it at 85% of the cap, which is therefore $5,950,000 this year. People often think this means that teams that are under the salary floor are going to have to sign ridiculous contracts late in the season or make bad trades in order to make it up to that minimum. That’s not the case. If you’re under the team minimum at the end of the season, all you do is pay the difference to players on your roster. So it’s no big deal. However, there is a slight loophole. Because the entire figure of a player’s salary moves between teams when they’re traded, you can add a player at the deadline who counts for that full salary on your cap sheet, even though 70% of her actual cash for that season has already been paid by her previous team. While we’re not talking the vast sums of money thrown around in the NBA, now that we’re in the new CBA era these aren’t completely negligible sums either. If you can do it without really hurting your playing staff, you might as well save a few bucks.

The two teams currently under the team minimum are Portland and Washington, both of which are significantly under. The problem with making a move like this is firstly that it requires a roster spot, so you’re going to have to give up on someone currently on your roster, and secondly that there aren’t many obvious targets. Most contracts of meaningful size have salary in future years locked in, so neither the Fire nor Mystics are likely to want to take them on and commit to future money that they don’t want. Fagbenle is one of very few seven-figure one-year contracts that might be available at the deadline for minimal cost. She’s suffered with injuries this year (and not looked at her best when she has played), so despite their own need for interior size, the Tempo might be willing to move on from her. In return they’re getting a look at a younger European big in Geiselsöder, who’s also under a cheap unguaranteed contract for the next couple of years. Portland don’t actually get over the team minimum with this deal, but they do get meaningfully closer. Toronto dip under the line themselves as a result, but only marginally (which is part of why the Fire are throwing in a token pick).

If something like this happens, both teams involved will try to tell you it’s purely for basketball reasons. Just be aware that while basketball was a consideration, it was probably the bean-counters that made the suggestion.

Dallas sends Arike Ogunbowale and Alanna Smith to Phoenix for Kennedy Burke and Karlie Samuelson. Phoenix sends Valeriane Ayayi to Connecticut, Sami Whitcomb and Lexi Held to Portland, Kyara Linskens to Toronto. Toronto sends Temi Fagbenle to Portland. Portland sends Luisa Geiselsöder to Connecticut. Plus some picks move to convince people to get involved.

Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale (24). Photo credit: Chris Poss

Okay, yes, this one is bananas. But stick with me. Phoenix refuses to accept defeat and doubles down, taking on Smith and Ogunbowale from Dallas — two contracts that some teams would consider net negatives at this point. It makes the Mercury incredibly top-heavy both this year and next, but they bank on figuring it out. Dallas move on from Ogunbowale and the Smith contract that hasn’t really worked out, clearing huge amounts of cap space for next year, and adding two wings who can help them without needing to be on the ball. Burke can also play small-ball 4 in some lineups, and while she’s had a poor year in Connecticut, she has shown how useful she can be as a role player in previous stops.

Then it’s a matter of finding homes for people that make sense, because Phoenix have to send out four players to make this work (they’d subsequently have to sign two cheap free agents to get back to a legal roster). Ayayi goes to Connecticut to join their French cohort, where the Sun also get a look at Geiselsöder from Portland. Whitcomb goes to the Fire as a veteran leader and to help replace the recently injured Sarah Ashlee Barker. Portland also get Temi Fagbenle from Toronto, adding to their collection of former London Lions and would have to cut someone else to make room for Lexi Held (all of which also helps Portland move towards the team salary floor, as in the Fagbenle deal above). Toronto swap Fagbenle for Belgian center Kyara Linskens, who already has built-in chemistry with their point guard Julie Allemand from the Belgian national team.

There are so many moving parts here that it probably falls apart at some stage, and if I were in charge of the Mercury there is no way on earth that I make this deal. But I don’t think any of it is too crazy. Despite giving up two players who’ve been highly rated and won awards in the past, Dallas clean up their cap situation and may even have improved their status for the stretch run in 2026. Phoenix are banking on their coaching and playing off Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper to bring the best out of Ogunbowale and Smith — or at least make that team very entertaining to watch. The others are mostly just willing to move around smaller rotation pieces (and it might take some second- or third-round picks to get them involved). Stranger things have happened.

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