In a massive three team trade, the Las Vegas Aces are acquiring former Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd to bolster their veteran heavy lineup ahead of the 2025 WNBA season.
Not to be outdone, the Los Angeles Sparks are adding Kelsey Plum in the deal, in what’s the first trade in league history to involve multiple former number 1 draft picks. Meanwhile Seattle will now receive the 2nd overall pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft to kickstart their rebuild efforts out west.
The full details of the trade are as follows:
- Sparks receive: G Kelsey Plum, No. 9 overall pick in 2025 draft (from Seattle), 2026 second round pick
- Aces receive: G Jewell Loyd, No. 13 overall pick in 2025 draft (from Los Angeles)
- Storm receive: C Li Yueru, No. 2 overall pick in 2025 draft (from Los Angeles), 2026 first round pick (from Las Vegas)
While the deal can’t technically be made official until February 1st because it will involve a sign-and-trade with Plum, who is believed to be signing a 1 year deal to get the trade across the finish line. Initial reports indicate that the 30 year old guard is open to signing a long term deal to stay in LA beyond the 2025 campaign.
That being said, an extension isn’t likely to come until the dust settles on the new collective bargaining agreement, which still needs to be ratified. With the increased visibility, and star power of the WNBA, it’s universally believed that the new CBA will feature large scale pay increases for players in 2026 and beyond.
Plus now joins an upstart Sparks squad, which features Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson, who both have bright futures ahead of them in the league.
For Loyd, the trade provides a fresh start. The 6x All-Star requested a trade out of Seattle after allegations of harassment and workplace misconduct on the part of the Storm came to light. After an internal investigation was unable to substantiate those claims, Loyd made her trade request public despite having 1 year remaining on her current deal.
She’ll now join perennial MVP candidate A’ja Wilson, and 3x WNBA champion Chelsea Gray in the desert. Though Vegas fell short of their bid for a threepeat in 2024, they remain amongst the betting favourites to return to the championship game this season.
Seattle will now be able to add an impact player to their roster, who will be under team control for the foreseeable future as they look to turn the page on the Jewell Loyd era in the Pacific-Northwest.
Photo: John Mac. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.