RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesWhen the lottery balls didn’t fall their way in 2025, the Los Angeles Sparks opted to accelerate their rebuild. Instead of staying pat with the second overall pick, putting them in range to land eventual All-Stars in Dominique Malonga, Sonia Citron, or Kiki Iriafen, they sent that pick (Malonga) to the Seattle Storm as part of a blockbuster three-way trade that ultimately landed Kelsey Plum in LA, and Jewell Loyd in Las Vegas.
That 2025 campaign didn’t end in a playoff berth, but the second half of the season — they went 13-9 behind the league’s fourth-best offense after the All-Star break — gave a glimpse into what things could look like.
With that, the Sparks entered the offseason looking to improve upon their 10th-ranked defense, and ultimately push themselves into more serious contention conversations. They traded Rickea Jackson, one of their two 2024 lottery selections, to the Chicago Sky for Ariel Atkins. They followed that up with landing Nneka Ogwumike, a former Spark and future Hall of Famer fresh off another All-WNBA campaign, to create a veteran-led Core Four.
In theory, a Plum-Atkins-Dearica Hamby-Ogwumike quartet could be among the league’s best. Add in 2024 lotto pick Cameron Brink, an intriguing two-way wing in Rae Burrell, and a veteran guard addition in Erica Wheeler and it wasn’t difficult to talk yourself into the Sparks’ top-seven. If they hit the right notes on both ends, they’d have the talent and versatility to duke it out with anyone.
Unfortunately, they have not hit the right notes.
Kelsey Plum #10 of the Los Angeles Sparks dribbles against Gabby Williams #1 of the Golden State Valkyries in the second quarter during a Commissioner's Cup game at Chase Center on June 15, 2026, in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images) Eakin Howard via Getty Images
They’ve dealt with injury woes, namely Plum and Brink. The defense was historically bad to begin the year, and has only improved to regular bad. Instead of pushing for a top-four seed, the Sparks find themselves five games out of eighth place. And now, they may be forced to pivot from this build.
Earlier this week, The Athletic’s Annie Costabile reported the sense around the league is that Plum doesn’t intend to re-sign with the Sparks this offseason , making her an interesting potential trade candidate ahead of Sunday’s deadline almost by default. On Wednesday, Marisa Ingeni of the LA Times (as well as The IX and Her Hoops Stats) was told by league sources that Plum will likely be dealt — and the phones are already ringing.
It’s important to note that the Sparks retained Plum this offseason via the Core Designation, the WNBA’s version of a franchise tag. With that tag, Plum has veto rights on any potential trade she’d be involved in.
Beyond that, the WNBA is working with a hard cap — compared to the NBA that has apron restrictions, but still offers more wiggle room for trades to happen. As such, we’re talking about threading the needle on teams that:
Plum would (likely) want to join and ultimately re-sign with this offseason.
Are interested in Plum.
Have the personnel and/or draft picks to entice the Sparks.
Have the financial capabilities to pull off a legal trade.
That is not easy, but that doesn’t mean we won’t try. I’ve separated the other 14 teams in the league into tiers for how likely it is they could make a Plum trade happen.
Let’s dig in, shall we?
Plum says no: Storm, Sun, Sky, Fire, Tempo
If Plum is unlikely to re-sign with the Sparks, I’d imagine part of the reasoning is because she wants to be in a win-now situation that is actually winning. That would likely rule out teams below the Sparks in the standings (Sky, Sun, Storm; more coming on the Mercury shortly), as well as the expansion teams (Fire, Tempo).
We’re definitely good here: Fever, Lynx
The Caitlin Clark-Kelsey Mitchell duo is fresh off dropping a combined 60 points in a win over the Storm on Tuesday night. At absolute worst , they’re a top-three backcourt duo in the league — and I’d probably give them the top spot right now. It’s hard to envision the Fever breaking up that duo on purpose.
If it’s not the Fever with the best backcourt duo, it’s likely the Lynx with Olivia Miles and Courtney Williams. Plum, if healthy, would represent a talent upgrade on Williams; I don’t know if it’s enough of an upgrade to consider breaking things up when the Lynx have been [checks notes] the best team in the WNBA.
We’re pretty good here: Wings, Liberty
The Wings have made a massive leap, going from cellar dweller to a no-doubt-about-it playoff team with home-court aspirations. They’re rolling with a three-guard alignment right now with MVP candidate Paige Bueckers, former All-Star Arike Ogunbowale, and rookie standout Azzi Fudd.
If there’s an Ogunbowale-based package to build, maybe the Wings could consider that kind of splash. I’m not sure how interested the Sparks would be in that, nor am I sure the Wings would want to do that considering how much Ogunbowale has meant to the franchise, and the need for an actual wing instead of another (admittedly very talented) guard.
The Liberty will always find themselves in star conversations; heck, we’re months removed from them adding Satou Sabally (get well soon) to a mix that already included Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu. A Plum for Sabally and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton deal is a financial match for what it’s worth; that just feels more 2K-like than something that would actually come to fruition.
Building a package around Pauline Astier (if the Sparks want to aim younger) is tough because of her expiring, minimum salary — though it’s worth noting she’d be a reserved free agent this offseason, so they’d have exclusive negotiating rights. I just don’t see this one.
Interesting, but probably not workable: Aces
Who doesn’t love a good “the grass isn’t always greener” story, amirite???
No?
Moooving on, then.
There’s obvious fam...
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