What adding Kelsey Plum could mean for the Los Angeles Sparks 

Guard Kelsey Plum, a two-time WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist, will move from the Las Vegas Aces to the Los Angeles Sparks. The trade will also send center Li Yueru and the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft from the Sparks to the Seattle Storm and send Storm guard Jewell Loyd and the Sparks’ No. 13 pick in 2025 to the Aces. The Sparks will also receive the No. 9 pick in the 2025 draft and the Storm’s 2026 second-round pick. 

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After a 2024 Sparks season that lacked offensive consistency and guard play, and with a new head coach in Lynne Roberts who promises offensive efficiency and a new system, it’s not particularly surprising that the Sparks turned to a veteran like Plum. The move is further evidence that the Sparks are looking for an immediate turnaround from their dismal 8-32 record last season, after which they fired head coach Curt Miller. 

Plum had been slated to become a free agent this winter, but the Aces used their core qualifying offer on her, which gave them exclusive negotiating rights in exchange for an offer of a one-year guaranteed supermaximum contract ($249,244). However, she and the Aces could negotiate a lower salary — or a sign-and-trade, as is the case here.

On initial glance, fans may be curious about the decision to take on a major contract like Plum’s (whose new salary we will learn on Feb. 1 when contracts can be signed) for a player who may leave after only one season, as opposed to a lower-cost, high-impact player like the second overall pick. But sources told The Next’s Howard Megdal that Plum agreed to be traded to Los Angeles, and she and the Sparks are not ruling out a long-term partnership.

“For Los Angeles, it is a chance to show Kelsey Plum what a long-term partnership would look like,” Megdal wrote.

ESPN’s Alexa Philippou confirmed Megdal’s reporting, noting that Plum is “hoping to be a Spark beyond 2025.” 

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Plum averaged 17.8 points and 4.2 assists per game for the Aces in 2024 and had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.7-to-1. She started all 38 games she played in in the regular season and averaged 34.0 minutes per contest, second-best on the team behind A’ja Wilson.

Over the last four seasons, Plum has averaged 18.1 points per game and shot over 42% from the field each season, including a personal-best 47.5% in 2023. In the Aces’ 2023 championship run, she averaged 18.3 points per game.

While the Sparks benefited last season from the electric impact of guards like Aari McDonald and Odyssey Sims, the latter of whom joined the team on a hardship contract to close the season, they were never able to get into a flow. They amassed 146 missed games due to injury, contributing to inconsistent offense, particularly at the guard spot.

Nine guards started over the course of the season for Los Angeles, and the team ranked last in the league in points scored per 100 possessions and assist-to-turnover ratio. It also ranked 10th of the 12 teams in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, effective field goal percentage and points per play. In contrast, Plum’s individual points per play ranked in the 82nd percentile leaguewide last season.

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Plum’s move from an Aces franchise that has a dedicated, state-of-the-art practice facility; consistently sells out games; and won championships in 2022 and 2023 will raise some eyebrows — but it could also create more attention around the Sparks in Los Angeles. Though the Sparks almost doubled their attendance last season, from an average of 6,553 fans per game in 2023 to 11,044 in 2024, the local commitment to the team is still lacking. A player like Plum could change that. 

Not only is Plum a California native, originally from Poway in San Diego, but the three-time WNBA All-Star has proven her ability to be the face of a franchise. She has numerous endorsement deals and memeable moments on record (like her famous cigar photo after winning a title in 2022, which earned her her own cigar line two years later). She might just be the off-court personality that Los Angeles fans have been craving. 

Several Sparks took to social media to welcome Plum, including forward Dearica Hamby, who won a championship with her in Las Vegas in 2022. Hamby posted a photo of herself and Plum on X, as well as a picture of her daughter Amaya wearing a Plum jersey in her Instagram story.

Plum assisted on 33 of Hamby’s buckets in 2022, or about 28% of Hamby’s scores. No Sparks player assisted on more than 10% of Hamby’s baskets in 2024, so Plum and Hamby’s built-in chemistry could increase Hamby’s production.

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In the trade, the Sparks lose Li, the 6’7 center who played her first season in Los Angeles last year. She averaged 5.1 points in 14.4 minutes per game for the Sparks, playing behind veterans Hamby and Azura Stevens. With second-year center Cameron Brink expected to return from ACL surgery in 2025, the Sparks are particularly deep at the post position but lacking in playmaking. Enter: Plum.