Locked On Women’s Basketball: Grading deals made before the WNBA trade deadline

On Sunday, the Minnesota Lynx traded forward Diamond Miller and injured guard Karlie Samuelson plus a 2027 second-round draft pick to the Dallas Wings for guard DiJonai Carrington. The Wings had to waive center Teaira McCowan to complete the trade and also ended up waiving Samuelson.

Leite looks back on the anticipation before the trade of what Minnesota might do to shore up its roster and make another run at a WNBA championship after losing in the WNBA Finals in 2024:

“Everybody was just waiting for the shoe to drop with Minnesota, waiting for them to make a move. They lost out on Emma Meesseman, who decided to sign with New York when she was debating between New York, Minnesota and Phoenix. … It seemed very clear that [the Lynx] were going to try and upgrade their roster heading into the second half of the season and into the playoffs. …

“They did the same thing last year. I mean, at the trade deadline, they [got] Myisha Hines-Allen, who ends up being a huge depth factor into their long playoff run. And the same thing is happening with DiJonai Carrington, and it is a fantastic move for her, who ends up going to a team that has a coach who is defensive-minded. She is a defensive-minded player.”

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On the other side of the trade, Leite explains why she expects Miller to flourish in Dallas:

“The Wings receiving Diamond Miller, again, perfectly aligns with their rebuilding, perfectly aligns with the fact that they are going younger. Diamond Miller pairing with Paige Bueckers, with Arike [Ogunbowale], with their young core players, [with] Maddy Siegrist, I think could be really good.

“And Diamond has always been a player that we know, again, has a big ceiling, but hasn’t exactly had the time to be able to develop. And that’s because, I mean, Minnesota, for most of the time that she has been on the team has been a playoff team [that] isn’t really going to play those young, underdeveloped players like Diamond Miller. She’s been injured in and out. She had a really great run in her first season as well. So, I mean, with more playing time, Diamond Miller’s just going to thrive. And I think she’s been put into a situation now in Dallas where she’s just going to have that time on the court.”

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Read more on recent WNBA trades:

• How trading away Brittney Sykes helps and hurts the Washington Mystics
• How Brittney Sykes bolsters Seattle’s championship chances
• What trading for DiJonai Carrington means for the Minnesota Lynx

Listen to the full episode to hear the grades for every other trade this season, from midseason deals to ones in the hours before the deadline. And make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!