February 21, 2021
What Sparks add with Bria Holmes
The Sparks bring back Seimone Augustus
Welcome to The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited, and photographed by our young, diverse staff, dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives, and projections about the game we love.
Continue reading with a subscription to The Next
Get unlimited access to women’s basketball coverage and help support our hardworking staff of writers, editors, and photographers by subscribing today.
Already a member?
Login
Subscribe to make sure this vital work, creating a pipeline of young, diverse media professionals to write, edit and photograph the great game, continues and grows. Paid subscriptions include some exclusive content, but the reason for subscriptions is a simple one: making sure our writers and editors creating 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage get paid to do it.
The Los Angeles Sparks continued their offseason over the weekend by making a new addition and bringing back a familiar face. On Friday, the team announced the signing of free-agent wing Bria Holmes and on Saturday they reached an agreement to re-sign veteran Seimone Augustus.
Holmes has spent the last two seasons with the Connecticut Sun as a contributor off the bench. She put up 5.6 points per game and shot 32.5 percent from the three-point line over the course of those years. Prior to that, she spent time with the Atlanta Dream where she began her career in 2016.
Holmes brings additional size and depth on the wing as well as a defensive presence. In a statement from Sparks general manager and head coach Derek Fisher, he praised her versatility and her experience.
“[Bria] Holmes is a competitor who puts pressure on the rim, defends with intensity, and provides us with youth, size, and athleticism as both a shooting guard and a small forward,” Fisher said. “Bria also brings experience having played in the meaningful minutes in the WNBA Finals and playoffs.”
Holmes saw action in all eight of Connecticut’s playoff games during their 2019 run to the Finals. Her best playoff run performance, however, came during her rookie year with the Dream in 2016 when she started both their games and put up 15.5 points per game, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Augustus’ return also provides solid wing depth for the Sparks. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the Sparks and Augustus have come to terms on an agreement to re-sign.
Last season, Augustus was one of the team’s key contributors off the bench. She played multiple positions including making the transition to power forward in small-ball lineups. She shot 49.1 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from the three-point range.
She joined the Sparks after spending the first 14 seasons of her career with the Minnesota Lynx. She is one of the most decorated players in league history as an eight-time All-Star and a four-time WNBA champion.
The signings of Holmes and Augustus brings the Sparks’ current roster to 12, the maximum number of players teams are allowed to carry.
Written by David Mendez-Yapkowitz
David has been with The Next team since the High Post Hoops days when he joined the staff in 2018. He is based in Los Angeles and covers the LA Sparks, Pac-12 Conference, Big West Conference and some high school as well.
