By Sabreena Merchant, Ben Pickman and Rebecca Tauber

In a massive three-team deal, the Seattle Storm are trading Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces in an agreement that will see star guard Kelsey Plum move to the Los Angeles Sparks, a league source confirmed Sunday.

The Storm will also receive the Sparks’ No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft and former Los Angeles center Li Yueru, as well as the Aces’ 2026 first-round pick. The Sparks will receive Seattle’s No. 9 pick in the 2025 draft and its second-round pick in 2026. The Aces will get the Sparks’ No. 13 pick, the source confirmed. ESPN was the first to report the deal.

The deal cannot be made official until Feb. 1.

Loyd, a six-time All-Star, requested a trade from the Storm earlier this offseason. News of her request became public after the Storm’s investigation into possible violations of workplace conduct for alleged player mistreatment by the Seattle coaching staff resulted in no evidence of wrongdoing. Per the Chicago Sun-Times, it was Loyd who filed the harassment and bullying complaint.

Loyd had established herself as one of the league’s premier guards in Seattle, winning Rookie of the Year in 2015, securing a scoring title and making three All-WNBA teams and two U.S. Olympic rosters. But this past season, as the Storm went 25-15, Loyd struggled by her standards. Although she averaged 19.7 points, her 36 percent field goal mark was the lowest of her career and her 3-point percentage (27.4 percent) was her lowest since her rookie season. She shares the same agency representation as her three new star teammates, A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young.

The agreement marks the first time in WNBA history that a trade has involved multiple No. 1 overall picks. Unlike Loyd, Plum never publicly expressed a desire to move from the Aces. However, she was the lone member of the franchise’s recent core four not to sign a recent extension, setting up the possibility that she would be dealt. Las Vegas issued the core designation to Plum earlier this January, meaning that the only way she could have been moved was via a sign-and-trade.

“We love Kelsey Plum. There’s no doubt about that,” head coach Becky Hammon told the Las Vegas Review-Journal this December. “(We’re) just giving her space, and she’s evaluating where she is in her career. We’re going to get to a position where, hopefully, everybody’s happy, but we certainly value Kelsey. I don’t think we win two championships without her. So she’s definitely an integral part of our organization.”

Plum was the No. 1 pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft and moved with the franchise from San Antonio to Las Vegas upon relocation ahead of the 2018 campaign. Though it took her until her fourth year to average double-digit scoring, by 2022, Plum began establishing herself as one of the WNBA’s top guards. She finished No. 3 in WNBA MVP voting that season as she helped the Aces win the first of two consecutive titles. She has made three consecutive All-Star teams and is poised to be the franchise centerpiece in Los Angeles for at least the upcoming season.

It is unclear what the terms of Plum’s new agreement will be, but unlike the Storm and Aces, the Sparks are looking to establish themselves as perennial postseason contenders.

Los Angeles hasn’t made the playoffs since 2020, and it hasn’t won a postseason game since 2019. The franchise has arguably been an afterthought in the WNBA as other organizations with better player amenities have become the league’s go-to destinations. However, with sophomores Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson giving the Sparks some young star power, this is their opportunity to begin to change their perception to free agents.

Yueru, a 25-year-old center, played 38 games for the Sparks last season, averaging career-highs in minutes (14.4), points (5.1) and rebounds (3.7). She’s a reserved free agent and can thereby only sign with the Storm.

What this means for the Sparks

Los Angeles has missed the postseason for four consecutive seasons and is already without its 2026 first-round pick, having dealt it away in return for the No. 4 pick in the 2024 draft, which became all-rookie selection Jackson. As such, competing in the short term became imperative for one of the league’s original franchises.

That required sacrificing a prime asset — the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft — for the rights to Plum, a two-time WNBA champion, three-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist.

The second pick would have come with four years of cost control, but the Sparks are banking on two things: First, this draft will be weaker than expected with several college players opting to wait until the 2026 draft because of the financial windfall from the new collective bargaining agreement. Second, acquiring Plum will help make Los Angeles attractive to future free agents. As a core player, the star guard had to agree to go to the Sparks; even if she is only signing a one-year deal right now, the expectation from league sources is that Plum, a southern California native, is willing to commit to a long-term future in Los Angeles.

The Sparks now have Plum reunited with her former Aces teammate (and multi-time All-Star) Dearica Hamby as their one-two punch, with sophomores Jackson and Brink — once she returns from her ACL injury — filling in around them.  —

What this means for the Storm

Heading into last offseason, the Storm had aspirations of re-asserting themselves as championship contenders. Both Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike signed via free agency. But those moves only happened, coach Noelle Quinn has said, because Loyd inked an extension in Sept. 2023, reinforcing her commitment to the franchise.

A year later, a lot has changed. Loyd, Seattle’s No. 1 pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft and the last remaining member of the franchise’s two-time title-winning Big 3, requested a trade and is now on the move. With it, a new era of Storm basketball begins. Diggins-Smith remains under contract for another season, while Ogwumike is a free agent and could presumably sign elsewhere. Seattle hopes that in receiving the No. 2 pick it will have the opportunity to draft another franchise centerpiece, and it’s possible another guard — Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles — could be the choice at No. 2.

Before that, however, Seattle has a number of decisions that will dictate how competitive it is in 2025. Ogwumike is a free agent and it’s possible that forward Gabby Williams could also be moved in a sign-and-trade after being cored. If the Storm want to remain competitive, however, they have also gained nearly $200,000 in cap space, which could be used for another transaction.

What this means for the Aces

The Aces have essentially swapped out one All-Star Olympian guard for another and received the No. 13 pick in this year’s draft for their troubles. Las Vegas forfeited its first-round pick in 2025 due to a league investigation involving impermissible benefits but essentially gets back into the same range with this deal.

Although Loyd and Plum play the same position, they aren’t exactly like-for-like replacements. Plum is a more efficient shooter (career 39.0 percent from 3-point range compared to 34.8 for Loyd), while Loyd is a more athletic finisher. Plum also had more ballhandling responsibilities in Las Vegas, while Loyd is regarded as a better point-of-attack defender.

The Aces needed to shake things up after experiencing a bit of post-championship malaise in 2024. Getting a player of Loyd’s pedigree, plus the draft asset, is a good bit of business, though they have to hope that Loyd’s shooting numbers will progress to her early-career marks when surrounded by Wilson, Young and Gray. Loyd shot 37.0 and 36.0 percent from the field in 2023 and 2024 but was significantly more efficient during the Storm’s title-winning years in 2018 and 2020. —

What this means for the free agent market

The first — and perhaps biggest — domino of the WNBA offseason has fallen, with two Olympian guards having been dealt in the same transaction. The move is likely to set off a chain reaction across the league, as the outlooks for Seattle and Los Angeles look especially different following the deal and potential Loyd targets, like the Chicago Sky, are left still trying to fill their lead guard role.

Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas could be the next stars moved via a sign-and-trade, and it’s unlikely that Las Vegas or Seattle would serve as landing spots for either star. The Sparks still have ample cap space after the three-team blockbuster, however, and immediately become a more appealing landing spot for any of the other All-WNBA players who are on the market.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Seattle Storm, Los Angeles Sparks, Las Vegas Aces, WNBA

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