The Kelsey Plum trade became official hours before the WNBA trade deadline, with the Los Angeles Sparks sending the five-time All-Star and two-time champion to the Phoenix Mercury. It marks just the fourth time in league history that an All-Star has been moved during the season. In return, the Sparks received Monique Akoa Makani, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder, according to league sources.
Plum, the top target ahead of the 3 p.m. ET Sunday cutoff, has appeared in only 12 games this year. She missed time with an ankle problem earlier in the season and has been out for more than a month due to a lower leg injury. Through June, she averaged a career-best 23.9 points and 6.4 assists on 52.7% shooting from the field, 38.3% from three and 80.6% at the line, and she was selected to her fifth All-Star team despite the absences.
Her debut date in Phoenix has not been set. The Mercury face the Sky on Monday at 9 p.m. ET. Prior to the deal, the Sparks had listed Plum as probable for their Sunday game against the Fire, indicating she may be close to a return.
Drafted No. 1 overall in 2017 by the San Antonio Stars, Plum moved with the franchise to Las Vegas in 2018 and was central to the Aces’ back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023. She was traded to Los Angeles before the 2025 season. While her individual play remained strong, team results lagged. The Sparks finished two wins short of the postseason in 2025 and have gone 2-9 since Plum’s injury this season, sitting 11th at 10-17, five and a half games behind eighth place.
The club dismissed general manager Raegan Pebley last month, and Plum, who signed a one-year, $999,999 contract in the offseason, was not expected to re-sign. The WNBA operates under a salary cap system overseen by the league office, and teams like the Mercury and Sparks must balance star contracts with roster depth in a way similar to other professional leagues such as the NBA’s women’s counterpart.
Kelsey Plum trade grades and impact
Mercury grade: D
- Phoenix receives: Kelsey Plum
After last season’s surge behind the trio of Alyssa Thomas, Kahleah Copper and Satou Sabally that carried Phoenix to the WNBA Finals, optimism was high. The offseason undercut that momentum. Sabally departed to the Liberty in free agency, and the Mercury did not add a comparable replacement. Phoenix enters the stretch run at 11-19, 12th in the standings and six games out of the final playoff berth with only 14 to play, putting the club at risk of becoming only the second team to miss the postseason the year after a Finals appearance.
Plum immediately boosts a lagging offense. Her 23.9 points per game would trail only A’ja Wilson among qualifiers, and Phoenix ranks 11th in scoring at 83.5 points per game and 12th in offensive rating at 104.7. Pairing her with Thomas and Copper should raise the ceiling and make the Mercury more dangerous in close games.
Even so, the path is narrow. Winning out would still require help from teams ahead of them to slip into the bracket, where a first-round meeting with the Lynx would likely await. The chances of a repeat run are remote.
There is also the contract reality. Plum will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. Phoenix surrendered tangible assets for what could amount to a 14-game rental when the franchise might have pursued her in free agency regardless. In addition, barring significant offseason maneuvers, the Mercury will again be without a first-round pick in 2027, extending a years-long drought.
Sparks grade: A
- Los Angeles receives: Monique Akoa Makani, Mercury’s 2027 first-round pick, Mercury’s 2028 second-round pick
Given Plum’s expiring deal and expectation she would not return, the Sparks needed to move her rather than risk losing a premier guard for nothing. Despite limited leverage, Los Angeles extracted a solid package. Akoa Makani has started 16 games this season and is averaging 9.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals. The second-year guard from Cameroon also started all 11 of Phoenix’s 2025 postseason games.
The 2027 draft is widely regarded as deep, and Phoenix projects as a potential lottery team. Securing that first-rounder, plus a future second, represents meaningful capital for a franchise that must reset its timeline.
The outcome is not the one either side envisioned when Los Angeles acquired Plum in a three-team deal that cost the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft. The Sparks hoped for immediate contention, and Plum sought a primary role outside the Aces’ constellation. Instead, the Sparks watched Dominique Malonga, taken second overall in 2025, thrive with the Storm.
This offseason they moved 2024 No. 4 pick Rickea Jackson to the Sky for Ariel Atkins, and while signing Nneka Ogwumike was a coup, injuries and age have clouded the roster’s trajectory. Multi-team deals like this one echo the kind of maneuvering seen in MLB, such as the Rangers trade for Logan O’Hoppe, reliever Chase Silseth, where franchises balance present needs with future assets.
Los Angeles is headed for a sixth straight year without a playoff berth, but this trade signals a necessary course correction. By embracing a rebuild and adding a promising young guard along with two picks, the Sparks gave themselves a clearer path forward.