Editor’s note: This article is part of our WNBA Trade Deadline coverage, which follows the moves reshaping the league.
The WNBA trade deadline has a history of being relatively uneventful, but is that about to change?
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There are several reasons for that history, starting with the league’s hard salary cap, which limits teams’ ability to absorb contracts.
However, some of the WNBA’s biggest power players believe that the influx of money and the new roster construction tools in the collective bargaining agreement — including the minimum salary cap exception and the ability to carry seven protected veteran contracts compared to six in previous years — could make teams more likely to take chances before the Aug. 2 deadline.
Franchises that have made bold moves in the past have been rewarded for it.
The Minnesota Lynx have generally been the most aggressive franchise at the deadline, executing deals like the 2015 midseason trade for center Sylvia Fowles, who went on to help the team win two titles and become a league MVP. Last year, Minnesota acquired guard DiJonai Carrington at the deadline, and her perimeter defense has provided a huge spark off the bench for the Lynx.
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The Las Vegas Aces traded for NaLyssa Smith in June 2025, ahead of the deadline, and she ended up paying dividends in their championship run.
Talks are active around the league with less than a week to go before Sunday’s deadline. The question is, will those talks amount to substantial movement?
Here’s everything I’m hearing coming out of the All-Star break:
Expiring contracts to watch
Kelsey Plum was part of a three-team trade in 2025 that sent her to the Los Angeles Sparks, Jewell Loyd to the Aces and the No. 2 pick, which became Dominique Malonga, to the Seattle Storm. Las Vegas can say it won that trade by claiming its third title in four seasons last year, though Malonga is now an All-Star for the Storm.
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Los Angeles and Seattle weren’t one move away from becoming contenders when they executed that deal, and now the Sparks are at risk of losing Plum for nothing.
Plum signed a one-year deal valued at $999,999 in free agency, but the sense from sources around the league, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not cleared to comment publicly on the matter, is that the 31-year-old guard does not intend to re-sign with the Sparks as a free agent. Both Plum and her agent, Zack Miller of WME, declined to comment to The Athletic on her plans.
The only way for the Sparks, who are 10-16 and four games back of the eighth-seed Washington Mystics, to guarantee they do not lose a valuable asset for nothing is to move Plum before next week.
The franchise fired former general manager Raegan Pebley earlier this month, and assistant GMs Zach Knowlton and Nate Nielsen have been filling the role on an interim basis.
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The Sparks haven’t engaged in meaningful trade talks involving Plum, according to multiple high-level team executives around the league. She has missed the last month with an injury that also cost her an All-Star Game appearance, but she’s expected to return this week.
Candace Parker, Chelsea Gray and Nneka Ogwumike are all former Sparks champions who left in free agency because of the franchise’s consistent missteps. After almost a decade of staying out of the franchise’s operations, controlling owner Mark Walter appears to be taking a more active approach, as evidenced by Pebley’s midseason dismissal and the team’s announcement of a new $150 million practice facility that will open in 2027.
If the Sparks opt not to trade Plum, they are taking a big risk that they’ll be able to execute offseason moves that will convince her to stay in Los Angeles.
Lynx star Napheesa Collier is another franchise player who, because of the terms of her contract, has to be considered a trade option.
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The back-to-back MVP runner-up has spent her entire career with Minnesota, which selected her with the sixth pick in the 2019 draft. She signed a one-year, supermax deal for 2026 after being cored by the Lynx, and in doing so, she signaled to some degree that she’d like to explore her options in free agency.
Even without Collier, who missed 27 of the first 28 games of the season recovering from offseason surgery on both her ankles, the Lynx have the league’s best record at 22-6. That is in large part thanks to Olivia Miles, who is playing her way into MVP discussions as a rookie. Furthermore, the No. 2 pick is on the path to solidifying herself as the franchise’s future cornerstone.
“Every team is going to be opportunistic to improve their roster,” Lynx coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve told reporters in Minnesota on Monday. “Every team is maybe in a different spot in terms of what they think they need, whether they should or shouldn’t. We’re certainly a team that’s been, quote, open for business, open-minded to things that are being talked about. It’ll be a busy week for us.”
Reeve’s task is to determine whether she has assurances that Collier will re-sign with Minnesota after the season. That promise could be mutual, too. For example, Collier could agree to sign a multiyear deal as long as Reeve can guarantee that if she wants out at any point during its duration, the team will work with her to make that happen.
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Collier’s 2026 debut — 24 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes — showed that she’s healthy and would give any team that hopes to trade for her faith that they’d be acquiring an MVP-caliber player moving forward.
The Lynx’s status as contenders puts Reeve in a different position from the Sparks front office, because keeping Collier will help Minnesota contend for a title this season. Reeve is not operating from a position of desperation.
Mercury retrograde
The Phoenix Mercury are one of the biggest disappointments of the season.
After making a finals run in 2025, they are 12th in the standings so far this year and five games behind the Mystics for the eighth and final playoff spot coming out of the All-Star break.
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General manager Nick U’Ren took a big swing in 2025 when he acquired All-Star forwards Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally via a four-team trade. This offseason, he opted not to core Sabally, and she ultimately signed with the New York Liberty as an unrestricted free agent.
There were trade talks including Thomas during the Mercury’s losing streaks earlier this season, according to multiple league sources, but they have since gone cold.
One player who could be a target for U’Ren and the Mercury as they look to salvage the 2026 season is Dallas Wings forward Alanna Smith. The reigning co-defensive player of the year signed a three-year max deal valued at roughly $3.75 million. While the Wings were able to offer Smith the best financial situation, her opportunities have been limited in Dallas, where she’s averaging 3.8 points and 2.9 rebounds and playing 14.2 minutes per game off the bench.
The Mercury have $857,740 in cap space remaining this season, which means they’d have to send salary back to Dallas or otherwise clear room to land Smith.
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Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s future in New York
Laney-Hamilton’s name has been in trade talks since the start of the season, according to multiple league sources. Those conversations cooled in May and June, but they heated up again with the deadline approaching.
The problem with getting a deal across the finish line is what many league sources believe is a prohibitively high asking price from Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb. Laney-Hamilton missed the entire 2025 season while recovering from surgery to repair a meniscus injury that occurred while the veteran guard was playing in Unrivaled. Kolb suspended her contract last year to create cap space and open up a roster spot, but the move also gave the Liberty exclusive negotiating rights over her in free agency.
This season, Laney-Hamilton’s role has been significantly limited. She picked up three consecutive DNPs leading into the All-Star break, which doesn’t help her trade stock. She is on an expiring contract valued at $400,000, which won’t necessarily be difficult to move, but it all comes back to Kolb’s asking price.
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“As a competitor, as somebody who’s worked really hard, as somebody who’s been a part of the organization for a long time, it can sometimes be disappointing and frustrating,” Laney-Hamilton said earlier this month about her lack of playing time. “But, you know, that’s also part of the process.”
Sellers vs. buyers
The Connecticut Sun have a plethora of assets between positional overlap, draft capital and cap space ($800,769). Far removed from the playoff picture, they are in position to be a top seller at the deadline.
Second-year forward Aneesah Morrow has come up in trade talks, according to multiple sources. One intriguing possibility could be a deal that sends Morrow to the Liberty for Laney-Hamilton.
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The Mystics could be deadline buyers or sellers. Like the Sun, Washington has a lot of positional overlap on its roster. The team drafted center Lauren Betts with the No. 4 pick despite having Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin in the frontcourt because Betts was the best player available and a valuable trade asset.
They are exceeding expectations with a comfortable grip on the final playoff spot coming out of the All-Star break. They could attempt to speed up their rebuild by making a move for Plum, who would complement Washington’s leading scorer, Sonia Citron, in the backcourt.
The Mystics also have $1,836,639 in cap space, which will make bringing in salary easier.
WNBA Trade Deadline coverage is part of a partnership with State Street.
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings, Phoenix Mercury, WNBA, WNBA Trade Deadline
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