The Sparks are starting over again.
After trading All-Star guard Kelsey Plum to Phoenix ahead of Sunday’s WNBA trade deadline, the Sparks are back to the drawing board mere months after declaring themselves a contender this season. In adding guard Monique Akoa Makani and first and second round picks in the 2027 draft, the Sparks have a foundation to start building on young talent.
People with knowledge of Plum’s thinking confirmed to the The Times last week that she didn’t intend to re-sign with the Sparks in the offseason, forcing them to move on from her expiring contract and get as much value as possible to build from the ground up — again.
It’s no surprise the Sparks decided to blow it up two weeks after firing general manager Raegan Pebley, who had told The Times that she intended to keep the Sparks in contention through the trade deadline.
The return the Sparks got for Plum on an expiring contract is as good as they could have hoped for — a starting quality player and a first-round pick that might end up a lottery pick if the Mercury don’t make the playoffs
The Sparks traded the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft to Seattle, who turned that selection into All-Star center Dominique Malonga, to acquire Plum in the 2025 offseason to try to end their rebuild. They finished two games outside the postseason last season and have struggled this year with Plum’s injury and a league-worst defense.
How soon the Sparks can attempt to contend again might depend on this year. If they get a high enough draft pick to take JuJu Watkins should she choose to leave USC, they can build around her. If not, they are back in the same spot as 2025 when they got the second overall pick and missed out on the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes.
Watkins may choose to stay at USC another season, which would give the Sparks a second chance at her in the lottery if they aren’t back on their feet yet.
Since the Sparks will all but certainly miss the playoffs this season, they will have two lottery picks this season, giving them a chance to add some rookie-scale contracts to a roster filled with veteran deals. They have two players in Dearica Hamby and Ariel Atkins who are owed more than $1 million per season over the next two years, and Erica Wheeler is on the books for $625,000 next season.
They have young center Cameron Brink, the No. 2 overall pick in 2024, to build around. Despite rumors earlier this season, the Sparks decided not to trade Brink and are instead building around. Pending restricted free agent Rae Burrell has had her best season in the WNBA this year, and if the Sparks don’t move on from her, she can be another key piece in the next version of the team.
Those two and former No. 4 pick Rickea Jackson were supposed to be a part of the next wave for the Sparks, but they traded Jackson to Chicago for Atkins this offseason in what now appears to be an ill-conceived attempt at winning this year.
Akoa Makani will also slot in as a starter right away for the Sparks at 24 years old. Last season with a Phoenix squad that made it to the WNBA Finals, she started 11 games. She is also under team control until 2027 when she will become a reserved free agent.
Akoa Makani will be one of the better defenders on the Sparks roster and is a career 41% three-point shooter. In her 16 games this season, she is averaging 9.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals.
Phoenix’s first-round 2027 draft pick the Sparks acquired will most likely be the seventh overall, with a small chance at being first or second due to the WNBA’s two-year lottery odds format. Seventh picks in recent years have included Angel Reese, Aneesah Morrow and Veronica Burton.
The Sparks will be projected to pick around sixth without some extreme lottery luck, but even those two picks will make a big difference for a team with just one lottery pick (Brink) from the past six years of rebuilding.
Aside from Watkins at the top of the draft, LSU guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina forward Ashlyn Watkins, Kentucky center Clara Strack and LSU guard Mikaylah Williams will be viable young players.
With Plum off the books and expiring contracts for Nneka Ogwumike and Emma Cannon next season, the Sparks will have cap room to work with even with the hefty contracts at the top of their cap.
If they create a core of young players around Brink, Burrell and Akoa Makani, they will have another chance to get a rebuild right.