The WNBA trade deadline has come and gone. But from early trades that indicated that contenders are getting serious about upgrading their rosters to a late move before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline, the week had its newsworthy moments.
On Sunday, the league-leading Minnesota Lynx made a key move, picking up reigning Most Improved Player DiJonai Carrington from the Dallas Wings in exchange for Diamond Miller, injured Karlie Samuelson and a 2027 second-round pick.
Another standout guard was on the move Tuesday as the Seattle Storm sent Alysha Clark, Zia Cooke and their 2026 first-round pick to the Washington Mystics for first-time All-Star Brittney Sykes. Averaging 15.4 PPG and a career-high 4.4 APG, Sykes helps strengthen Seattle's push for playoff positioning.
Hours before Thursday's deadline, Washington made another deal, sending forward Aaliyah Edwards to the Connecticut Sun -- near where she starred in college at UConn -- in exchange for guard Jacy Sheldon and the chance to swap Minnesota's 2026 first-round pick for New York's.
We graded all the trades in terms of their impact on the rest of this season and the long-term outlook for the teams making deals.
Aug. 7: Mystics deal Edwards to Sun for Sheldon, pick swap
Sun get:
F Aaliyah Edwards
Mystics get:
G Jacy Sheldon
Right to 2026 first-round draft pick swap
Connecticut grade: B+
This is an opportunity for the Sun to get a player talented enough to go No. 6 in the loaded 2024 draft at relatively low expense.
Edwards was grouped with last year's rookie stars after starting 17 games and averaging 7.6 PPG and 5.6 RPG in her first season. Despite decent efficiency (51% shooting, albeit not supplemented by any 3s and relatively few made free throws), Edwards didn't rate quite as well by advanced stats. My wins above replacement player metric had Edwards basically at replacement level, the expected performance from a free agent signed for the minimum.
At 23, Edwards should have room for improvement. And her per-minute play has rated modestly better this season. Her usage rate is up from 18% of Washington's plays to 23%, while increased free throw attempts (7.2 per 36 minutes, up from 3.9 as a rookie) have papered over Edwards' shooting percentage declining slightly.
Yet the arrival of another power forward via the 2025 draft, No. 4 pick Kiki Iriafen, pushed Edwards into a smaller role. She has yet to start this season and has averaged just 13.3 MPG. Early last month, ESPN's Kendra Andrews and Alexa Philippou reported that the Mystics were engaged in trade conversations involving Edwards. Per league sources, Washington sought a first-round pick in return.
Given the Sun won't have their own 2026 first-rounder, which the Chicago Sky can swap with the Phoenix Mercury's pick dating to last year's deal for Marina Mabrey, they surely weren't eager to give up one of their remaining two first-round picks entirely. Instead, another swap would only move Connecticut's other pick down a single spot (from No. 14 to No. 15) if the season ended today.
Aaliyah Edwards scores and draws the foul, 07/13/2025
The Sun did have to part with their own young talent in Sheldon, who was actually taken one spot ahead of Edwards in the 2024 draft by the Dallas Wings. I don't think that reflects their relative current value across the league. Sheldon struggled as a rookie and was sent to Connecticut as part of the sign-and-trade return for restricted free agent DiJonai Carrington.
Sheldon took an important step forward with the Sun, shooting 41% on 3s, but fell out of the starting lineup with Marina Mabrey's return after the All-Star break. Sheldon, who turns 25 later this month, is nearly two full years older than Edwards and was behind rookies Leila Lacan and Saniya Rivers in Connecticut's guard pecking order moving forward.
Dealing Sheldon for Edwards rebalances the Sun's roster to a degree. They did draft a forward this year in Aneesah Morrow, but it remains unclear whether Morrow -- listed generously at 6-foot-1 -- is big enough to play power forward long term in the WNBA or will have to develop more perimeter skills to succeed as a pro.
Adding a former UConn standout is a nice bonus for Connecticut amid the drama of the team's potential sale. The Sun will play at least next season at Mohegan Sun Arena, less than an hour away from the nearby Storrs campus. With Edwards joining fellow Huskies Tina Charles, Bria Hartley and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, it might be time to revive the "USunn" moniker once used for Connecticut's pro team.
Jacy Sheldon rises to block the shot, 07/27/2025
Washington grade: B-
On the flip side, trading a post for a guard should help the Mystics' roster balance after they dealt starting point guard Sykes earlier this week. Washington has a wing and a 4 to build around going forward in Iriafen and fellow rookie All-Star Sonia Citron, but is low on ball handlers ahead of making three first-round picks next spring.
The Mystics do have Jade Melbourne, still one of the league's younger players in her third WNBA season at age 22. However, Melbourne's uneven efficiency makes it difficult to count on her as a long-term contributor. Melbourne's .487 true shooting percentage ranks in the bottom 10 among players with at least 500 minutes of action this season.
Sources say that while Jacy Sheldon was happy off the court in Connecticut, she sought an opportunity to be better utilized on the court, which this trade to D.C. provides.
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) August 7, 2025
A win-win for both the Mystics and Sun... (cont.)
Sheldon shouldn't be counted on to continue shooting 41% on 3s after hitting them at a 31% clip as a rookie. Still, Sheldon is a capable outside shooter and physical defender with the size at 5-foot-10 to guard wings in addition to ball handlers.
It's also possible Washington will derive more value from the pick swap than the current standings imply. Minnesota, 5.5 games up on the field, is all but locked into the final pick of the first round. New York, just a game up in second on the Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury, has more uncertainty.
The Liberty have gone 2-4 since Breanna Stewart went down with a bone bruise on July 26, with both wins against lottery-bound teams. New York's schedule gets tougher after Friday, including three matchups against the league-leading Lynx, who are dealing with their own injury to MVP front-runner Napheesa Collier. Projections using ESPN's Basketball Power Index show about a one in three chance that the Liberty fall behind another team in the standings.
Aug. 5: Storm upgrade offense with Mystics' Sykes
Storm get:
G Brittney Sykes
Mystics get:
F Alysha Clark
G Zia Cooke (has since been waived)
2026 first-round draft pick
Seattle grade: B+
I noted in last week's story on potential WNBA trades that the Storm were the most interesting contender to watch leading up to Thursday's deadline because of their combination of draft picks -- likely four of the top 16 in next year's draft, including extra first-rounders from the Las Vegas Aces and Los Angeles Sparks -- and tradeable salary.
Although I had Connecticut Sun guard Marina Mabrey going to Seattle, I wrote Sykes "would probably top the Storm's wish list" if the Mystics made her available despite being a game out of the eighth and final playoff spot with 16 games left in the season. Sykes can fill a variety of roles in what will become the WNBA's most versatile perimeter trio alongside fellow All-Stars Skylar Diggins and Gabby Williams.
Add in Erica Wheeler, who has started 22 games after replacing Clark in the lineup early in the season, and Seattle now has four perimeter players capable of initiating the offense and creating shots for themselves and others.
Sykes brings a unique skill to that group in terms of her ability to draw fouls. She's averaging 5.0 makes in 6.3 tries per game from the free throw line, ranking second in the league in attempts. That's useful to a Storm team that has only one player (Diggins, at 5.1) taking more than 2.6 shots per game from the charity stripe. Seattle's 15.9 attempts per game as a team rank dead last in the WNBA, part of what inspired coach Noelle Quinn's postgame rant about refereeing last Friday.
In an ideal world, the Storm would have added a bit more shooting. After leading the WNBA in 3-point percentage early in the season, Seattle has slumped to seventh at 33%, and the team ranks ninth in both makes and attempts per game. Sykes is a career 30% 3-point shooter, though she has been more accurate beyond the arc this season (32%) than the struggling Clark (29%).
Either way, Sykes should upgrade a Storm offense that has slipped to ninth in per-possession scoring -- far and away the worst among teams that are better than .500 -- while also adding to the second-ranked defense that has kept Seattle afloat this season. In Sykes and Williams, the Storm now have two All-Defensive perimeter stoppers to deploy against opposing stars.
Technically, that was true with Clark, but at age 38 she was no longer the same defensive force as during her first stint in Seattle. Sykes made All-Defensive each year from 2020 through 2023, including a pair of first-team nods, before being limited to 18 games by injury last season.
Even marginal improvement could make a difference in where the Storm finish in the standings. Painful losses by a combined six points at home over the weekend against Los Angeles and Indiana dropped the team to sixth, only a game ahead of Las Vegas. But Seattle is within 2.5 games of second as part of a logjam behind the league-leading Minnesota Lynx. Finishing in the top four and getting home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs is a realistic goal with the addition of Sykes, and winning a playoff series for the first time since 2022 would justify giving up what's likely the least valuable of the Storm's three first-rounders.
Despite Clark's salary ($185,000, according to the Her Hoop Stats WNBA salary cap database, which is the source for all such figures in this story) being nearly the same as Sykes' $195,000, Seattle's tight cap situation required sending out two players in return. The Storm started the day with just $223 in cap space.
It's notable that Seattle chose not to send back forward Katie Lou Samuelson, who is out for the season after an ACL tear during training camp. Samuelson's sister, Karlie, was included in the Lynx's trade for DiJonai Carrington on Sunday in similar circumstances. Cooke had seen reduced playing time since the signing of Tiffany Mitchell, and the addition of Sykes likely would have pushed her to the deep bench.
The Storm now have more than enough cap space to fill their open roster spot by adding a 12th player.
Washington grade: B+
The Mystics have been one of the WNBA's best stories this season. Expected to contend for the league's worst record after trading veterans Ariel Atkins and Karlie Samuelson for draft picks, Washington has instead stayed around .500 behind three All-Stars -- Sykes and rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen. Still, there was an unusual amount of incentive for the Mystics to move veterans before the deadline.
The pair of expansion teams entering the WNBA this season could create a kink in the 2026 draft order. If the league follows the same procedure as with past expansion teams, including the Golden State Valkyries this year, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo will be slotted in sixth and seventh after the five lottery teams, pushing the eight playoff teams this season to eighth through 15th.
Alysha Clark with the And-1!, 07/09/2025
In that scenario, instead of the usual one-spot difference between making and missing the playoffs, there will be a minimum drop-off of three picks before we consider the WNBA's two-year lottery order. At 5-22, the Connecticut Sun have the league's worst record this season. But Connecticut won 14 more games than Washington last season, meaning the Mystics are still six games worse in terms of combined record. And if the Aces fall out of the playoffs, Washington could reasonably enter the lottery as high as third.
With that in mind, the Mystics might not be done dealing. I included forwards Aaliyah Edwards and Emily Engstler in my mock trades piece, while veteran center Stefanie Dolson could also have value to a contender if Washington is looking to continue building around Citron and Iriafen.
In that context, it will be interesting to see whether the Mystics retain Clark, who spent 2021 and 2022 with the team when Washington was still built around now-retired Elena Delle Donne. Clark might find more playing time with the Mystics than she did in Seattle. She opened the year as a starter before giving way to Wheeler and had seen her minutes decline during a July shooting slump (3-of-16 on 3s).
After an extended conversation with Quinn following last Thursday's practice, Clark was out of the Storm's rotation on Friday. She hadn't missed a game due to coach's decision since 2012, her first WNBA season. Clark is now at the tail end of her career, but she shot 37% from 3-point range a year ago while starting for Las Vegas, leading to a bidding war for her services in free agency.
In addition to the Storm and Aces, the Sparks made a pitch for Clark, according to league sources. If Clark did agree to a buyout with Washington, I'd expect contenders to be interested in signing her for the stretch run. At the same time, Clark could be an important veteran presence for the Mystics in the locker room -- particularly if Dolson is traded -- and gives them more size on the perimeter.
Either way, the pick is the real prize. After holding three of this year's top six picks -- used on the two All-Stars plus guard Georgia Amoore, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in training camp -- Washington now has three 2026 first-rounders, albeit unlikely to be quite so high. The Mystics already had the Lynx's 2026 pick, all but certain to be No. 15 overall. Seattle's pick, harder to peg with nearly a third of the season remaining, might also fall outside the top 10.
We'll see whether Washington can add to that stockpile between now and Thursday. The Mystics now have an open roster spot. They had to waive forward Sika Kone to make room for two players, then immediately waived Cooke.
Kendra Andrews joins "NBA Today" to break down how DiJonai Carrington's arrival from Dallas could boost Minnesota's defense to fuel a strong playoff push.
Aug. 3: League-leading Lynx land defensive specialist
Lynx get:
G DiJonai Carrington
Wings get:
F Diamond Miller
G Karlie Samuelson
2027 second-round draft pick
Minnesota grade: A-
Barring an extended absence from MVP front-runner Napheesa Collier, who left Saturday's record-setting win over the Las Vegas Aces with an ankle injury, Minnesota should cruise to the top overall seed with a six-game cushion over the rest of the WNBA.
That gives the Lynx the benefit of focusing on how they match up in the playoffs, particularly in a potential Finals rematch against the defending champion New York Liberty. Carrington could play a key role with her on-ball defense if that series comes to pass.
Carrington's time in Dallas was a useful reminder that defensive stoppers tend to do more to improve a defense's ceiling than its floor. Adding Carrington wasn't enough to lift the Wings beyond 10th in the WNBA in defensive rating, part of the reason she lost her starting job after 12 games and has seen reduced playing time.
In Minnesota, Carrington joins a rock-solid system like the league-leading one the Connecticut Sun employed when she got a Defensive Player of the Year vote and earned All-Defensive first team honors en route to winning Most Improved Player honors last season. In fact, the Lynx's 95.1 defensive rating is nearly three fewer points per 100 possessions than any other team in the WNBA.
Second to Connecticut in defensive rating last season, Minnesota has accomplished that without the benefit of a true perimeter stopper. Kayla McBride got the defensive assignment on Sabrina Ionescu in last year's Finals, a role she played more than capably. But taking that off McBride's plate could help her offensively.
Depending on how matchups go, I could even see Carrington starting in the playoffs alongside McBride. As well as things have gone for the Lynx this season, small forward Bridget Carleton hasn't been as effective as when she finished third in Most Improved voting behind Carrington last year. Carleton is making 36% of her 3s, down from 44% in 2024.
That shooting is still better than Carrington, who's shooting 26% on 3s this season, putting her in the WNBA's bottom 10 among players with at least 50 shot attempts. Maintaining spacing has been key to Minnesota's offense, which has seen all five starters average at least one 3-pointer per game. It will be interesting to see how Carrington fits in that regard.
Even if Carrington is strictly a reserve for the Lynx, she fills a need. After newly acquired Samuelson suffered a foot injury that required season-ending surgery, Cheryl Reeve's rotation was short a player she trusts. Minnesota boasts two of the WNBA's top reserves in Natisha Hiedeman and Jessica Shepard, but there's a positional gap in between the 5-foot-8 Hiedeman and the 6-foor-4 Shepard.
Miller, the second overall pick in 2023, could never earn Reeve's trust. After Miller underwent knee surgery last May, she fell out of the rotation and played just 456 total minutes over the past two seasons. Miller had some better efforts recently, but Wednesday's game against New York was a playoff preview in terms of playing time. Miller played four minutes as Reeve essentially tightened her rotation to seven players. With the Finals expanding to best-of-seven this season, the Lynx were probably a player short.
Besides Miller, the long-term cost here was minimal for Minnesota. The team's 2027 second-round pick will likely come at the end of the round, and Samuelson will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason. Barring an unexpected change to the WNBA collective bargaining agreement, the Lynx had no advantage in re-signing Samuelson by keeping her on the roster the rest of the season.
Alexa Philippou gives her take on what DiJonai Carrington can bring to the Minnesota Lynx in their playoff push.
Dallas grade: B
We'll ultimately look back on Carrington's brief time with the Wings as a poor fit for both sides. Carrington didn't get the expanded role she might have hoped after playing with a contending team and Dallas didn't get the improvement it was seeking. With Carrington headed toward unrestricted free agency and the Wings headed back to the lottery, anything Dallas could get is a positive.
It's possible that after the trade, Miller could show more of the skills that made her an All-American at Maryland. She has been effective in sporadic playing time this season, making 43% of 2s and 14-of-26 from 3 as compared to 37% on 2s and 5-of-26 on 3s in 2024. Miller gave Minnesota an important lift last Sunday in a loss to Atlanta, scoring eight points in 16 minutes to help the Lynx get back in the game.
Miller's combination of size (6-foot-3) and perimeter skills fits well on a Wings team with one of the WNBA's smallest backcourts. The 6-foot Bueckers has been the team's only non-post taller than 5-11 much of the season, with the 5-8 duo of Arike Ogunbowale and JJ Quinerly emerging as starters and 5-10 rookie Aziaha James off the bench.
Looking ahead, I'm curious how Dallas' protected list shakes out for the upcoming expansion draft. Assuming the league follows the same rules as for last year's Golden State Valkyries expansion, the Wings have six spots available. Bueckers and Maddy Siegrist are the most obvious options for Dallas. That leaves four spots among Arike Ogunbowale -- an unrestricted free agent who could be selected as a core player -- Miller, three starters (Quinerly, Luisa Geiselsoder and Li Yueru) and key reserve James.
Already, the Wings had to waive veteran center Teaira McCowan to make room for two newcomers on their roster. Although Dallas might not keep Samuelson on the roster because of her injury, there must be a spot for her at the time of the trade. McCowan had averaged a career-low 12.9 MPG and did not seem to be a part of the Wings' long-term plans.