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When speaking with the media after the final game of her team’s 2024 season, Becky Hammon, head coach of the Las Vegas Aces, alluded to her team experiencing major roster changes before their 2025 campaign began.
“It’s not going to be the same group probably next year, it just won’t. And I’m sad about that because I really liked that group,” Hammon said. “They’re a pain in my a**, but I was a pain in their a** too. But I liked that group. I loved that group.”
Becky Hammon was asked about potential offseason moves:
“It’s not going to be the same group probably next year, it just won’t. And I’m sad about that because I really liked that group […]”#AllInLV #WNBA | 🎥: @LVAces pic.twitter.com/8rltl7ehwZ
— Isabelle (@IsabelleMM2) October 6, 2024
Despite this sentiment, even Hammon could not have predicted how right her words would be.
On February 6, news broke that WNBA veteran Alysha Clark signed a contract to return to the Seattle Storm, where she has won two WNBA championships. Clark was a crucial part of the Las Vegas Aces’ roster over the past few seasons and won a 2023 WNBA title there.
Three-time WNBA champion Alysha Clark is returning to the Seattle Storm, her agent Jessica Holtz of CAA told ESPN. Clark won championships with the Storm in 2018 and 2020, then played a vital role for the Las Vegas Aces as they won a title in 2023. pic.twitter.com/UofaLb0VsK
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 6, 2025
Clark is far from the only Aces player from last season to find a new team in free agency. Earlier on Thursday, veteran guard Tiffany Hayes’ deal with the Golden State Valkyries was announced, and on February 4, former Aces player Sydney Colson’s joining the Indiana Fever was made official.
Therefore, the Aces have lost three key bench players over the past three days. And that doesn’t include them losing Kate Martin to the Valkyries in the WNBA Expansion Draft plus Kelsey Plum getting traded to the Los Angeles Sparks.
It is certainly a changing of the guard for the Aces, who entered the 2024 WNBA season trying to three-peat as champions. While they still have a star-studded roster (while also bringing Jewell Loyd and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus on board), they’ll need to keep filling their bench before next season.
