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The WNBA offseason experienced plenty of shake up across the board, with the Sparks right in the middle of it. With a new head coach in Lynne Roberts and a massive trade bringing Kelsey Plum to Los Angeles, there has been a lot to keep up with.
As training camp begins, here’s a look at who has left the team and who the new additions are.
The players the Sparks acquired:
Kelsey Plum
Mercedes Russell
Emma Cannon
Shaneice Swain
Maria Kliundikova
Anneli Maley
The biggest change for Los Angeles is the arrival of Plum. She was part of a three-team trade that sent Li Yueru to the Storm, along with their No. 2 pick for the 2025 draft. Plum is a superstar player with all the accolades and prestige this franchise has been sorely missing in its backcourt.
Los Angeles also made marginal upgrades, bringing in a pair of centers in Kliundikova and Russell. Kliundikova has spent the last five years overseas and will be back after being originally drafted by the Sparks back in 2018. She is a center who averaged 9.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia this past season.
The players that have left the Sparks:
Kia Nurse
Lexi Brown
Li Yueru
Layshia Clarendon
Zia Cooke
These departures are a combination of players leaving, not fitting Robert’s vision or the team moving on from their talents.
Brown can be explosive as a guard, but she has struggled to remain healthy the past two seasons. Yueru is a young big, but she needed to be dealt to bring in Plum. Cooke has potential but never broke through the rotations during her two seasons as a Spark.
With L.A. at the bottom of the WNBA standings last year, a change was inevitable. So far, this is what the roster looks like weeks before the WNBA draft.
The new, full Sparks roster
Kelsey Plum
Dearica Hamby
Cameron Brink
Rickea Jackson
Rae Burrell
Mercedes Russell
Emma Cannon
Shaneice Swain
Anneli Maley
Odyssey Sims
Aari McDonald
Julie Allemand
Azurá Stevens
Maria Kliundikova
The Sparks have 14 players on the roster right now. At the end of training camp, you have to bring the roster down to at least 11 players with a maximum of 12. Until then, they can have as many as 18 on the roster.
What’s Next?
Unless a trade out of the blue happens, this will essentially be the roster when training camp begins on April 27.
The draft is still set for April 14 with the Sparks having a pick in all three rounds. Los Angeles currently holds the No. 9, No. 21 and No. 28 pick.
Now that the dust has settled via free agency, we’ll see if these changes and upgrades, along with a new coaching staff, finally begins a proper rebuild in Los Angeles that leads to a revival for the franchise.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
