How trading away Brittney Sykes helps and hurts the Washington Mystics

Just a few hours later, though, Sykes and Citron were no longer teammates, as the Mystics traded Sykes to the Seattle Storm in exchange for former Mystic Alysha Clark, guard Zia Cooke and the Storm’s first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft.

To make room for the trade to go through, the Mystics waived little-used forward Sika Koné. Soon after it was complete, they cut Cooke as well.

“We’re grateful for Slim’s contributions this season as she played a key role in our growth,” first-year general manager Jamila Wideman said in a press release, using Sykes’ nickname. “We’re proud of the individual success she achieved during her time with us. … This [trade] was a great opportunity to continue building our program and move us closer to our long-term goals.”

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The 31-year-old Sykes was named an All-Star this season for the first time in her career. She led the Mystics in scoring and assists before the trade, averaging 15.4 points, 4.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 31.0 minutes per game. She was also one of the Mystics’ “bookends,” as first-year head coach Sydney Johnson often put it, pairing with 33-year-old Stefanie Dolson to provide leadership on a team that was by far the youngest in the WNBA before the trade.

In total, Sykes spent 2.5 seasons in Washington after signing as a free agent in 2023. She arrived as an elite defender, having made three consecutive WNBA All-Defensive teams. But the Mystics unlocked more of her offense, too, empowering her to have the ball in her hands more and having her run the point at times in 2023 and 2024.

Sykes started all 83 games she played in a Mystics uniform and averaged 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 29.5 minutes per game. She also steadily developed as a leader in Washington, getting comfortable first leading by example on the court, then leading more vocally and then putting all the pieces together this season.

“We’re gonna miss Slim,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday evening, before a game against the Chicago Sky. “I mean, she gave us a whole lot on and off the court, [in the] community. … So Seattle is getting a hell of a player. … They’re really good, but they just got a lot better.”

“I think this is kind of my ‘Welcome to the W’ moment, just seeing the reality of it,” rookie forward Kiki Iriafen told reporters postgame about Sykes and Koné no longer being on the roster. “That’s probably the biggest difference from college. And Slim and Sika mean so much to our team, and obviously losing them or not having them with us anymore is really tough. So I think we’re just adjusting to that. It’s hard adjusting on a game day. But I think with this team, we have so much grit, and we’re going to figure it out.”

In the short term, the Mystics filled the leadership void that Sykes’ departure created by adding Clark, whose contract expires after this season. The 38-year-old is in her 13th WNBA season and has won three championships, has earned two All-Defensive team nods and was the 2023 WNBA Sixth Player of the Year. Her 408 career games rank 30th all-time and fifth among active players.

Johnson hopes Clark will be able to join the Mystics this week, but he didn’t know on Tuesday whether it’d be in time for Friday’s game at Minnesota.

Clark was previously with the Mystics for two seasons, missing 2021 with a foot injury and starting 29 games on the 2022 team that finished fifth in the regular season. She returns to Washington in the middle of a trying season individually. In 27 games played with Seattle this season, she averaged 3.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.7 steals in 18.0 minutes per game. She shot a career-low 37.8% from the floor and 29.1% from 3-point range and went scoreless in her final appearance with the Storm on Sunday.

“Let’s not limit it to defense. Let’s not limit it to offense,” Johnson said of how Clark can mentor the Mystics’ young players. “It’s how you prepare, how you show up to the gym, how you take care of your body, how much you think the game, how much you do these offensive and defensive reads. It’s everything. So really, really looking to tap into that.

“We have our daily habits; we have our joy. When we share that with her, my opinion is she’s going to be like, ‘Yeah, no, duh. I get it. I’ve been doing that my whole career.’ So … our players being around that, I think, is just massively important.”

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However, the main prize of the trade for the Mystics is the first-round draft pick, as they are rebuilding slowly and patiently under Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger even after exceeding expectations in the first half of the season. The Mystics went 11-11 before the All-Star break, putting them in seventh place, and even beat the league-leading Minnesota Lynx in late June. Citron and Iriafen were named All-Stars alongside Sykes.

Trading Sykes makes it less likely that the Mystics — who fell to 13-16 with Tuesday’s loss to Chicago — will push their way into the playoffs. That would’ve been a valuable developmental opportunity for much of the roster: Outside of Dolson and Sykes, the players on the roster before the trade had appeared in just five total playoff games.

But Mystics leadership decided that a playoff push was less valuable than getting additional assets for the future. That’s because the goal isn’t just to make the playoffs after missing out in 2024, or to win a playoff game for the first time since 2019. It’s to get back to contending for championships after winning the franchise’s lone title in 2019.

“We’re in lockstep in terms of what this looks like,” Johnson said of the Mystics’ leadership. “… We are trying to be great … not just kind of good, not just kind of competitive. And Minnesota and New York are damn good. …

“So we still have things to develop with our players, our coaching, our scouting, all these various components that can help add to us being damn good. And so it does take time. I don’t think Minnesota or New York necessarily built it overnight. And so we’re not looking for a quick fix.”

The trade also creates even more opportunities for the Mystics’ young players to develop this season. With Sykes gone, players like Citron, Iriafen, and point guards Sug Sutton and Jade Melbourne will all need to contribute more.

In particular, entering Tuesday, Sykes had the third-highest usage rate in the WNBA in the fourth quarter (among players who appeared in at least 10 games). That was higher than her overall usage rate, which means she had the ball in her hands more often late in games. She was also a key voice in late-game huddles. Now, younger players will get some trial by fire in those situations — and hopefully learn a lot from it.

“She had a lot of those reps, so at times, she could settle us,” Johnson said about Sykes’ vocal leadership. “But [our young players are] further on now. … We’re getting more and more reps. And so at some point, we want, I want to hear Jade’s voice. I want to hear Sug’s voice. That’s part of their growth. And so now they have those opportunities to practice that and see how that sounds and learn through mistakes and successes.”

The Mystics now have three first-round picks in 2026: their own, Seattle’s and Minnesota’s. If the season ended on Tuesday — assuming the 2026 expansion teams pick directly after the lottery, as the Golden State Valkyries did in 2025 — those picks would be in the lottery, No. 10 and No. 15 overall.

The Mystics could also make more moves ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. They have been rumored since early July to be shopping second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards, who has struggled to get consistent minutes this season. They also have over $300,000 left under the salary cap, which could be used to absorb large contracts, and an open roster spot to work with after cutting Koné and Cooke.

But even if they don’t make further moves, Tuesday’s trade was a sign that Winger and his team have a clear goal in mind and are willing to make difficult choices to get there. 

“The good [trades] are ones that kind of help both sides, if you will,” Johnson said. “Seattle got better. I think Jamila did a wonderful job … pushing us forward and closer to what we’re trying to do as well.”

Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Washington Mystics, holds a minority stake in The Next. The Next’s editorial operations are entirely independent of Monumental and all other business partners.