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![\"Connecticut](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26131482299658.jpg\")
Connecticut Sun forward Aneesah Morrow during a game against the New York Liberty in New York on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo\/Adam Hunger)<\/p>\nThe Los Angeles Sparks traded All-Star guard Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury for a first-round pick next year, Monique Akoa Makani and a second-round draft choice in 2028.<\/p>\n
The deal was finalized late Saturday night ahead of Sunday\u2019s 2 p.m. trade deadline and was first reported by ESPN. It\u2019s rare for an All-Star to be traded in the middle of the season, only happening a handful of times before Saturday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cKelsey is one of the league\u2019s most dynamic players,\u201d Mercury GM Nick U\u2019Ren said. \u201cShe is a fierce competitor with a winning mentality who impacts the game on both ends of the floor. Her combination of shooting, explosiveness and decision-making allows her to create offense at a high level and makes her one of the league\u2019s most complete guards. We have wanted Kelsey here for a long time, and we\u2019re excited to finally bring her to Phoenix as we continue to build on our foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plum will wear No. 0 for the Mercury. She is a free agent at the end of this season and has been sidelined since June 21 because of a lower leg injury. She practiced earlier this week and was expected to play Sunday in the Sparks\u2019 game against Portland before getting traded. Phoenix\u2019s next game is Monday at Chicago.<\/p>\n
The Chicago Sky did not make any moves at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n
Plum was averaging a career-best 23.9 points and 6.4 assists before getting hurt. The Sparks have struggled without her, including its last six games.<\/p>\n
Phoenix is currently 11-19 and six games behind the New York Liberty, who sit in eighth place. New York edged Phoenix 94-92 on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Mercury are coming off a WNBA Finals appearance last season, but have seldom looked like that team despite returning stars Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper.<\/p>\n
Akoa Makani is averaging 9.4 points and 2.5 assists this season in 16 games. She was injured earlier in the season with a hamstring issue.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles acquired Plum before last season in a blockbuster deal that sent the No. 2 pick to Seattle. The Sparks had hoped they could accelerate a rebuilding effort. Seattle used that pick on Dominique Malonga, who was an All-Star this season.<\/p>\n
Aneesah Morrow traded to the Toronto Tempo
\nConnecticut Sun forward Aneesah Morrow during a game against the New York Liberty in New York on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo\/Adam Hunger)<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Tempo acquired forward Aneesah Morrow from the Connecticut Sun for Toronto\u2019s second-round draft pick in 2028 and the rights to Maria Kliundikova.<\/p>\n
A Chicago native, Morrow starred at Simeon and DePaul before transferring to LSU, advancing to the Elite Eight in two seasons with the Tigers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to welcome Aneesah to our organization,\u201d Tempo general manager Monica Wright Rogers said. \u201cShe\u2019s a relentless competitor who impacts the game in so many ways, particularly with her ability to rebound at a high level. We believe she\u2019s one of the emerging frontcourt talents in this league, and we\u2019re excited to see her play in a Tempo uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morrow is averaging 11.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in 23 minutes a game this season. She\u2019s had nine double-doubles, which is tied for eighth in the WNBA.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are incredibly grateful for the time Aneesah spent with the Connecticut Sun and for the professionalism, commitment, and buy-in she showed from the moment we drafted her,\u201d said Sun president Jen Rizzotti. \u201cShe embraced our vision, was a tremendous ambassador for our franchise both on and off the court, and built meaningful relationships with our fans, her teammates, and staff. We wish Aneesah nothing but continued success in the next chapter of her career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kliundikova was selected with the 11th pick in the 2018 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks and played with them for two seasons, averaging 5.2 points and 2.8 rebounds and shooting 50.6% from the field in the 40 games played. In 2025, the Russian native played with the Minnesota Lynx for 34 games and averaged 4.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 11 minutes. She was chosen in the expansion draft by the Tempo.<\/p>\n
The Tempo are 10-18 this season, currently sitting in 12th place in the standings. They\u2019ve been hampered by injuries to starting guard Brittney Sykes (foot) and rookie Kiki Rice (ankle). Rice just returned after missing two months with a left ankle sprain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Sparks traded All-Star guard Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury for a first-round pick next…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":976600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,2476,5643,1587,1497,5610,1589,1502,76705,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,391446,3357],"class_list":["post-976599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-aneesah-morrow","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-chicago-sky","tag-kelsey-plum","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-toronto-tempo","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-wnba-trade-deadline","tag-womens-basketball"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117028334369562857","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/976599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=976599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/976599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/976600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=976599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=976599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=976599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}