The first major move of the WNBA offseason is here. Kelsey Plum and Jewell Loyd are on the move as the Sparks, Storm and Aces agreed to a three-team trade.
Plum, a two-time WNBA champion with the Aces, will join the Los Angeles Sparks, while Loyd, a two-time champion with the Storm, will join the Aces. Seattle receives the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft and Li Yueru from Los Angeles. The Sparks will also receive the No. 9 pick in this year’s draft, and the Aces will receive the No. 13 pick.
It’s a lot to digest, but each team got a major return in this mega deal. The Aces swapped Plum for Loyd. The Sparks speed up their rebuild with Plum rather than select second in the draft. The Storm seemingly begin a rebuild, moving on from Loyd, who has been with the franchise since 2015.
Loyd and Plum are both former No. 1 overall picks that stayed with their respective franchise until now. Plum averaged 17.8 points per game last season, while Loyd averaged 19.7 per game.