Less than 24 hours before the 2026 WNBA trade deadline, the Los Angeles Sparks agreed to send Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for Monique Akoa Makani, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick, as reported by ESPN’s Kendra Andrews and Shams Charania.
On Sunday afternoon, Plum’s now-former team will be taking on the Portland Fire in the Rose City (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC).
Fittingly, the only player traded in the middle of a season who actually influenced the WNBA title will be on the sidelines in Portland: Sylvia Fowles.
In 2015, the now-Fire assistant coach was traded from the Chicago Sky to the Minnesota Lynx in late July after sitting out the first half of the season; Fowles had requested a trade during the offseason that the Sky had not granted. In Minnesota, Fowles not only helped the Lynx win the franchise’s third title, but was named Finals MVP. Two seasons later, she’d add another title, another Finals MVP and a regular season MVP.
Needless to say, the trade was a success. And no other player in WNBA history who was swapped at midseason has come close to sniffing the impact of Sweet Syl.
Is there any chance that Plum supplants Fowles as the most significant midseason acquisition in WNBA history?
Such a circumstance seems far fetched.
The 2025 WNBA Finals runners up, the Mercury desire another deep postseason run. Yet, at 11-18 after their Saturday afternoon loss to the New York Liberty, Phoenix slipped to 12th place in the WNBA standings—below the likewise disappointing Sparks team that Plum just departed.
It seems more likely that Plum trade could instead become another forgotten WNBA footnote, as KP is an impending unrestricted free agent who might not even be with the Mercury to begin the 2027 season.
Could another traded star, instead, rival the impact of the Fowles in 2015? Who could change scenery and change the championship?
Might Fowles’ former team, the Lynx, participate in a deal that sends out a superstar? While the speculation surrounding a Napheesa Collier blockbuster seems to have been premature, that Collier’s name even emerged in the rumor mill makes her at least worth monitoring.
Still, the idea of a first-place team trading their two-time MVP runner up, even if she is coming off a long-term injury and is not under contract after this season, is pretty absurd. And the Lynx faithful surely will be happy to see Phee in Lynx threads when Minnesota hosts the Indiana Fever on Sunday afternoon (1 p.m. ET, ABC).
The Fever have yet feature in significant trade rumblings, while two other teams in action on Sunday, the Connecticut Sun and Toronto Tempo, already have made a deal, with the Sun, for some reason, deciding to sell low on Aneesah Morrow, who will serve as a low-cost frontcourt upgrade for the Tempo.
Their opponents, however, have been involved in transaction speculation.
The Dallas Wings, looking to escape their three-game skid against the Sun (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), have reached the deadline in a curious spot. Better than expected, is it time to address their weaknesses ahead of a playoff push? Or, because of their overachievement, should the Wings sit tight, use this postseason for data collection and save the major moves for the offseason?
Arike Ogunbowale remains a popular piece in prospective Dallas trade scenarios, as our Edwin Garcia posited recently (and he was on the right track in recognizing that Phoenix would be interested in acquiring another scoring guard), although there’s not been substantiated reporting about Arike’s availability.
After investing A LOT in Alanna Smith over the offseason, are the Wings inclined to admit defeat on that signing, even if injuries disrupted her acclimation to Dallas? Alternatively, for a Dallas team with defense, particularly rim protection, as a glaring weakness, having the reigning co-Defensive Player of the Year on the roster could pay off at key moments in the playoffs, making keeping Smith around a smarter play.
Prior to Phoenix making the move for Plum, Smith had been cited as a potential target for the Mercury.
The Valkyries, like the Wings, have outpaced expectations, inserting themselves into the contender conversation one season after becoming the first WNBA expansion team to make the playoffs.
This year, an early playoff exit would be a disappointment in the Bay. But if the offense doesn’t improve, that might be Golden State’s fate.
Golden State reportedly checked in on Plum. Where, if anywhere, do they turn to try to find the offensive injection needed to better position themselves for postseason success? Could they throw everything (and more) at the Lynx in order to lure Collier, who seems like the perfect basketball and cultural fit?
For now, all this is fantasyland.
Fowles’ status as the greatest star traded in-season in WNBA history is incredibly secure, barring Plum and the Mercury pulling off an absolute miracle.
And yet, until the trade deadline strikes at 3 p.m. ET, it’s fun to imagine that the seemingly impossible is, in fact, possible. So, share all your trade deadline absurdities, impossibilities and analysis in the comments.
