When a season’s biggest highlights are the celebrations of two franchise legends, one retiring and one receiving a statute, that’s a sign it wasn’t a great season.
Nneka Ogwumike, certainly, deserved all the flowers and more
she received during her final WNBA season. Lisa Leslie’s statue, likewise, was a long overdue honor for the women’s basketball icon.Yet, that the past took priority over the present was an indictment of the state of the Los Angeles Sparks.
Desperate to break a playoff drought that
now has extended to six seasons, Los Angeles was aggressive ahead of the 2026 season, with Ogwumike’s return to LA exemplifying the Sparks’ pivot towards a more veteran, experienced squad suited for playoff basketball.
LA, instead, was unimpressively mediocre, so much so that the organization agreed to ship out Kelsey Plum, the superstar lured to Los Angeles before the 2025 season with playoff ambitions in mind, at midseason, the most substantial step towards the franchise admitting it had erred in their attempt to accelerate their postseason return.
Before Plum was sent to the Phoenix Mercury, general manager Raegan Pebley was ousted, while head coach Lynne Roberts was dismissed after the season.
But, it’s still too early to proclaim that the Sparks are ready to enter a new era.
New general manager Ariana Andonian has resisted to committing to a clear plan, emphasizing the desire for “sustained success” in an introductory press conference that provided little substance about her vision for the Sparks.
Her hesitancy, however, is understandable.
After initial reporting suggested that Sparks owner Mark Walter, under federal investigation for financial fraud, intended to retain the WNBA team within his portfolio of pro sports teams, more recent reports have emerged that indicate Walter is looking to offload the team for $700 million, with the team’s now-in-construction state-of-the-art practice facility included in the price tag.
As an owner has final say over the direction of a franchise, the immediate future of the Sparks will remain uncertain until the ownership situation is settled.
So after a season to forget, the Sparks await an offseason that could inaugurate a new era of LA basketball, one that, finally, restores one of the WNBA’s flagship franchises to relevance, or they could continue to muddle through mediocrity.
Let’s begin to take a look at the developments that will help determine LA’s direction. In the comments, share your analysis of the state of things in Southern California, from the takeaways from the 2026 season to how they must prepare for 2027.
If the Sparks improbably get the No. 1 pick, it would solve ALL their issues
Did LA get good value in exchange for Kelsey Plum?
We’ll find out on Nov. 15.
While the process behind the trade—recognizing that, in an underachieving season, trading Plum, an impending unrestricted free agent, for any value was better that watching her walk in the offseason for nothing—was right, it is the result that really matters.
While Monique Akoa Makani is a nice player, it’s the first-round draft pick, in combination with the LA’s own first rounder, that could provide needed clarity for the Sparks.
Combining the Mercury’s odd with their own, the Sparks have a 36 percent chance of winning the 2027 WNBA Draft Lottery on Sunday, with a blessing from the basketball gods presumably resulting in USC superstar and LA native JuJu Watkins ending up in purple and gold in April.
That outcome would solve all the Sparks’ issues, as the organization not only would be oriented around optimizing JuJu, both in terms of her on-court talent and off-court appeal, but the prospect of Watkins in LA may inspire bids to buy the franchise from Walter, in addition to encouraging more interest in the still-vacant head coaching job.
But, all that is probably too good to be true, as Los Angeles’ 36 percent chance of winning the top pick is the lowest among the six lottery teams. (Rather than praying to the basketball gods, the Sparks might be better off hoping that outgoing Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, desiring to burnish her reputation as the leader who elevated the business of the WNBA, puts in a call and makes sure JuJu stays in LA.)
Even if, as is most likely, the Sparks end up with picks No. 6 and No. 7 in the 2027 WNBA Draft, they will at least add two young, talented players, such as LSU’s MiLaysia Fulwiley, Kentucky’s Clara Strack or South Carolina’s Tessa Johnson.
In contrast to Watkins, they would be pieces in the build, not THE build.
So, let’s say the Sparks do not get all the luck, leaving them with two lower lotto picks. What do you think they should do? What prospects would look good in purple and gold? Or, should they package one, or both, of the picks in a trade, again rejecting a slower rebuild by taking a chance on another star?
How will LA’s new leadership evaluate the current roster?
Sparks fans, unfortunately, can imagine too many alternative timelines, from one where Rickea Jackson is still a Spark to one where Dominique Malonga is dunking in crypto.com Arena to one where Angel Reese is the LA Barbie to another one where the lottery balls brought Paige Bueckers to SoCal.
Instead, the Sparks are a mismatched group of players at different stages of the career.
All of Dearica Hamby, Ariel Atkins and Erica Wheeler are 30 years old or older and signed for the 2027 season, with both Hamby and Atkins on contracts exceeding $1 million.
Hamby’s numbers were down in 2026, primarily due to a decrease in minutes and usage. Regardless of other roster decisions, Hamby makes some sense as a keeper, as she’s a good leader who is productive and plays hard. However, if a team looking for a solid big offers value for Hamby, the Sparks should probably jump on the deal, as there has to be some concern about the possibility of the just-turned 33-year-old Hamby declining.
That, already, is a concern with Atkins.
Overtaxed as a primary option for the Chicago Sky in 2025, Atkins, presumably, would be more efficient in a more appropriate role in LA. Instead, she experienced her worst 3-point shooting of her career. Her solid-enough individual defense didn’t compensate for her offensive shortcomings, especially at her high price tag.
If the 3-point shooting perks back up to the 36 percent average she posted with the Washington Mystics and Sky, Atkins, like Hamby, could be a supporting piece on the next version of the Sparks. Yet, even more so than with Hamby, LA shouldn’t by shy about accepting her a modest trade return if another team expresses interest.
The young, mid-20s layer of LA’s roster is anchored by Cameron Brink, as Monique Akoa Makani and Aaliyah Nye are on non-guaranteed deals, while Rae Burrell is a restricted free agent and Jihyun Park is a reserved free agent.
Even if she has been a disappointment, in large part due to injuries, it’s impossible to give up on the potential of Brink. She’s still played just 65 career games across three WNBA seasons, logging 31 games this season as a 19-minute per game reserve. During her minutes, LA registered a team-best defensive rating of 107.0, compared 112.0 overall. However, the offensive drop off erased that impact; an overall offensive rating of 106.7 dropped to 97.0 in Brink’s minutes.
Considering her theoretical skillset as a stretch big who can also put the ball on the floor, that’s pretty hard to believe. Especially if the lottery doesn’t deliver JuJu as the Sparks savior, the organization should prioritize hiring a head coach who has a plan for unlocking Brink, something Roberts seemed uninterested or incapable of doing.
The Sparks’ most significant decision involves Burrell, arguably the organization’s greatest (and only?) success story during their six-season playoff drought.
Once an athlete who happened to play basketball, Burrell has become a basketball player who is a great athlete, with her maddening moments increasingly outweighed by plays that inspire dreams of stardom. She has become a more credible ball handler, a more efficient finisher, a needs-to-be-guarded 3-point shooter and an improving playmaker, all while still applying her athletic tools to be a disruptive defender.
As Burrell is a restricted free agent, LA can match any offer sheet she receives another team. Unless another organization gets outlandish, retaining Burrell should be automatic. Even if the new leadership has questions about her as a longer term piece, she should have significant trade value on anything resembling a reasonable deal.
What’s you assessment of the futures of LA’s four key players? Should they be aggressive or strategic about moving on from Hamby and Atkins? Or, would it be wiser to keep them around?
Do you still believe in Brink? If another organization expresses trade interest in her, should the Sparks listen or hang up?
And what about Burrell? Do you think she can keep getting better and establish herself as part of a winning core? Or, do you think she’s still too erratic to be a piece worth investing in?
