thelesterlee
FULL TRADE DETAILS:
Las Vegas Aces receive:
— Jewell Loyd
— No. 13 pick in 2025 DraftLos Angeles Sparks receive:
— Kelsey Plum
— No. 9 pick in 2025 DraftSeattle Storm receive:
— No. 2 pick in 2025 Draft
— Li Yueru https://t.co/Gcqgh1vgcd— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 27, 2025
Absolute blockbuster trade to start the 2025 WNBA calendar.
Kelsey Plum goes to LA.
Jewell Loyd moves to Las Vegas.
The Seattle Storm gain the no. 2 pick in the draft.
And with every big moment, there are winners and there are always losers. Let’s start with the winners…
1. Workplace harassment
Jewell Loyd and the Seattle Storm were in an abusive relationship.
Last season, Loyd accused the team’s coaching staff of harassing and bullying her.
The Storm did an internal investigation—shockingly determining they did nothing wrong. You can’t get Covid-19 if you never take a Covid-19 test. *temple tap*
And now Jewell Loyd joins the Las Vegas Aces and their coaching staff led by Becky Hammon—who was accused of penalizing a player because she got pregnant without telling the team first.
Once again, the coaching staff suffered no consequences.
This is a huge W for bosses who take your phone away until your shift ends.
Good luck to my girl Jewell. You are leaving one job with asshole supervisors and starting a new job where her supervisor is arguably the biggest asshole in the league.
The WNBA is the home of disrespecting players and Jewel Loyd is speedrunning through all the worst situations possible.
2. Gooners
2 types of WNBA fans exist on my social media timelines: those who enjoy watching the WNBA and creepy guys who are one overdraft fee away from attempting to assassinate the president to impress an OnlyFans model who specializes in small penis humilation.
Los Angeles Sparks rookie, Cameron Brink, became one of the biggest stars in the league last season mainly because dudes wanted to be lift & carried by her.
Kelsey Plum, too, is a creepy fan favorite of those who consume the sport via Skims advertisements.
Gooners don’t have to pay attention to separate teams anymore. All their JOI is under one roof. They’ve finally brought it down to just one tab open.
3. Kelsey Plum
If Kelsey Plum wanted to stay in Las Vegas, she’d still be on the Aces.
The California native returns home where she will be able to acquire bigger offcourt opportunities than in Vegas where a woman’s career ceiling is UFC ring girl.
Despite winning only 8 games and having the worst offensive rating in the league last season, I like this Sparks team.
Minus Lexie Brown.
Homegirl shot 32% from the field and 30% from 3.
You can’t be calling out Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid with Rashad McCants twice a week in Gilbert Arenas’s Neverland Ranch and then go out there bricking every shot. Although, she’s on the perfect podcast for professional athletes who were nowhere near as great or important as they believed they were.
Thankfully, Kelsey Plum is in LA now to take alllll of those Lexie minutes away.
4. Los Angeles Sparks
As mentioned earlier, Kelsey Plum fits this Sparks roster.
The only problem possible, maaaybe problem that could potentially be an issue is the Sparks young core making rookie dollars knowing the team will have to give Plum a bag after the season—making it tough to keep the vets on their roster—instead of using the no. 2 pick to bring another rookie in to grow with Brink and Jackson (and be as cheap as they are.)
HOWEVER, this is a draft where I’m okay with a team punting on the No. 2 pick.
The top 2 prospects, Olivia Miles and Paige Bueckers, may return to school for another season.
The big international prospect, Dominique Malonga, may stay in France for another year of baguettes.
You know who I know will be available on opening day of the 2025 WNBA season? 3-time All-Star Kelsey Plum.
You could make the argument LA could have waited for the end of this season to sign Plum in free agency without giving up the no. 2 pick but I’m all for teams getting aggressive and making moves to win now instead of sitting back and hoping a free agent suddenly knocks of their front door.
As a Knicks fan, I have felt the pain of clearing up cap space to sign all of the top free agents only to end up with Andrea Bargnani or Bobby Portis.
Plus, the Sparks gave their 2026 first-round pick to Seattle last year so there’s no incentive to bottom out this year. Might as well get Plum now and see what this squad looks like and what types of players you’ll need next.
5. Seattle Storm
Seattle hated Jewel Loyd—and although they couldn’t get their hands on Plum, Brink of Jackson—the Storm should feel pretty good about walking away from this deal with the no. 2 pick.
If you keep your ears to the streets (refresh your Twitter 5 times in a row) you’ll hear murmurs of Paige Bueckers’ reluctance to be drafted to the Dallas Wings.
She could use her year of college eligibility as leverage to avoid playing for the Wings. Like, nothing is less fly than playing for the Dallas Wings. Paige Bueckers isn’t getting invited to the Met Gala to dress like Billie Eilish in Space if she plays for the Dallas Wings.
Seattle was the home of Sue Bird, one of the most white marketable players in the league’s history. I could see Paige wanting to play there.
And the Storm equipped with the no. 2 pick as well as some veterans that may not love seeing 6-time All-Star Jewel Loyd gone and suddenly finding themselves in the midst of a rebuild—this team may be able to put a package together to bring in the no. 1 pick and Paige Bueckers.
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, Seattle got the best player in the trade.
Li Yueru (9/1/24) pic.twitter.com/CT7NYIxsy5
— @balapattyszn (@balapattyvids) September 2, 2024
Don’t sleep on my girl Li Yueru.
And now, onto the Losers…
1. Darren Waller
Former NFL tight end, Darren Waller, was so upset about his breakup with wife Kelsey Plum that he got into the booth and dropped an R&B CLASSIC about it.
With Plum playing in a bigger market of Los Angeles alongside one of the most popular faces in the league—Darren Waller will be seeing a lottttttt of his ex around.
We are about to get the CTE version of 808s and Heartbreak, hopefully ending Junior Seau-style.
2. Megan Gustafson
What do I need to do to get my girl Megan Gustafson on a guaranteed contract? She’s a former COLLEGE PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Before Caitlin Clark, Gustafson was the GOAT of Iowa basketball.
Megan Gustafson was clutch in @IowaWBB‘s win against Maryland for the Big Ten title. pic.twitter.com/EaadVwTs0v
— espnW (@espnW) March 11, 2019
She’s a better shooter than Lexie Brown.
And she can’t keep a roster spot in the WNBA and will be gone by the end of summer as the Las Vegas Aces just acquired one of the highest-paid players in the league.
3. The WNBA
It sucks that the WNBA doesn’t care about growing their business. If they did, Caitlin Clark would have been involved in some way. The most popular woman on the planet, generating millions of views every time she steps on the court, and you call this a blockbuster trade?
This Kelsey Plum trade is cool or whatever but why didn’t the league involve Clark at all? She could’ve broke the news on her social media accounts or hosted a live ESPN event but nope, the WNBA is run by morons who aren’t as business saavy as me, a guy who has like -$30 in my bank account. And I will murder the president for Bonnie Blue.
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