The Los Angeles Sparks are trading five-time WNBA All-Star Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania and Kendra Andrews, marking one of the biggest midseason moves in recent league history.
In exchange for the dynamic scoring guard, the Sparks receive 25-year-old guard Monique Akoa Makani, Phoenix’s 2027 first-round draft pick, and a 2028 second-round selection. The deal, completed late Saturday night ahead of Sunday’s trade deadline, is just the fourth time an All-Star has been traded during a WNBA season.
Plum, a two-time WNBA champion and former No. 1 overall pick, arrived in Los Angeles via a 2025 offseason blockbuster that cost the Sparks the No. 2 pick in that year’s draft. The move was meant to accelerate the franchise’s return to the playoffs after years of rebuilding. Results fell short. Los Angeles missed the postseason in 2025 and entered this year’s deadline at 10-17, sitting 5½ games out of the final playoff spot while mired in a six-game losing streak.
Injuries limited Plum to only 12 games in 2026. She still produced career highs of 23.9 points and 6.4 assists per game and earned her fifth All-Star nod. A lower left leg injury has sidelined her since June 21, though she was listed as probable for the Sparks’ Sunday game before the trade.
Akoa Makani, a Cameroonian guard in her second WNBA season, has averaged 9.7 points, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 18 games for Phoenix this year. The Mercury, currently 11-19 and outside the playoff picture, add a proven offensive creator who becomes an unrestricted free agent after the season.
For Los Angeles, the deal signals another pivot. The Sparks recoup assets and a young rotation player while Plum heads to a new chapter in Phoenix. The rare midseason All-Star trade underscores both the urgency of the deadline and the shifting ambitions of two Western Conference franchises still searching for traction.