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The 2025 WNBA trade deadline has come and gone, and while you typically don’t see the flurry activity that you see at the trade deadlines of other pro sports leagues, a few WNBA teams made notable moves this year.
In the days leading up to the deadline, there were three trades, and it just so happens that each of them have some kind of fantasy basketball implications for the remainder of the season. Let’s run through the trades and talk about which players will benefit the most from a fantasy perspective.
Carrington gets a shot at a championship with the Lynx
The Dallas Wings kicked things off by trading DiJonai Carrington to the Minnesota Lynx for Diamond Miller, Karlie Samuelson and a second-round draft pick in 2027. Samuelson, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in June, was then waived.
Carrington is by far the biggest name in this trade, and there’s optimism surrounding her new role in Minnesota after a brief stint in Dallas didn’t work out. The 2024 Most Improved Player got off to a strong start to the season, averaging 20.9 fantasy points per game in May and 26.1 in June, but a rib injury slowed her down significantly, and by the time she was ready to return to the court, it was clear that she wouldn’t be in Dallas much longer.
In Minnesota, Carrington will get the opportunity to play for a championship contender, which is both good and bad news from a fantasy perspective. The Lynx clearly value her skills as a perimeter defender, so she should still be playing a good amount of minutes, but they’re also deeper than the Wings (and last year’s Sun, when Carrington truly broke out), so she probably won’t be posting the 23.7 percent usage rate she was in Dallas. The Lynx will be without Napheesa Collier for the next couple of weeks, which will give Carrington time to settle into her new environment, but once the MVP candidate comes back, Carrington will be a tertiary offensive option whose fantasy value will come primarily from rebounds and defensive stats.
Miller, on the other hand, will get a fresh start on a Wings team that is entering a full-on rebuild. The former No. 2 overall pick never truly found her footing in Minnesota, and with the Lynx going all-in for a championship, she didn’t have a place on the team. Miller showed that she can put up numbers as a rookie, averaging 12.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists (21.7 fantasy points) per game in 2023, but that was two years and several knee procedures ago. The Wings also have plenty of other young perimeter players they’re evaluating, such as Aziaha James and Haley Jones, so Miller isn’t guaranteed rotation minutes. She should play more than she did in Minnesota, but until the Wings make a commitment to her, she’s best left on the waiver wire.
Rebuilding Mystics trade Sykes to Seattle
Elsewhere, the Washington Mystics continued their own roster upheaval, trading Brittney Sykes to the Seattle Storm for Alysha Clark, Zia Cooke and a 2026 first-round pick. Cooke was waived shortly thereafter.
Sykes has been one of the more productive guards in fantasy basketball since 2022, and while her defensive numbers have slipped in recent seasons, she was more than making up for it as the Mystics’ primary ball handler. Prior to the trade, Sykes was averaging 15.4 points and a career-high 4.4 assists per game, with spotty scoring efficiency buoyed by a monstrous five made free throws per game (No. 5 in the WNBA).
Chances are that Sykes’ role in Seattle will look a little different. She won’t be expected to initiate nearly as much offense as she did in Washington, and it’s unlikely that she’ll be anything greater than a tertiary scoring option behind Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins. That being said, there should still be plenty of room for Sykes to contribute. The Storm are a team in win-now mode and have been in need of more offensive production on the perimeter, so her offense won’t shrivel up entirely.
As for Clark, she’s at the tail end of her career, and nothing that the Mystics have done this season suggest they’ll be interested in playing her much. The draft pick they’re getting from Seattle is probably the main reason they made the trade; Clark will likely function as more of a coach on the floor when she does play as Washington continues to develop youngsters such as Shakira Austin and Kiki Iriafen.
Mystics and Sun swap Edwards for Sheldon
It had previously been reported that the Mystics were interested in trading Edwards, so it wasn’t shocking to see them deal her right before the deadline passed. The second-year forward has struggled to stay healthy and had apparently become expendable with Iriafen now on the roster, and Washington was able to trade her to Connecticut in a deal that made sense for both teams.
In Edwards, the Sun get a talented forward who had a promising rookie season, averaging 7.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 defensive stats (17.7 fantasy points) in 21.8 minutes played per game. There’s no guarantee that she’ll get that kind of playing time in Connecticut, though, at least not right away; the Sun have Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aneesah Morrow competing for minutes next to Tina Charles, and it’s unlikely that Connecticut will just stop playing one of them to accommodate Edwards. If she’s on your league’s waiver wire, it’s safe to leave her there until we see what the team’s new rotation looks like.
Sheldon’s rest-of-season outlook is a little clearer. She was having a solid sophomore season prior to the trade, averaging 7.5 points, two assists and one steal (15 fantasy points) in 24.1 minutes per game, and there may be even more for her to do in Washington. With Sykes no longer on the team, the Mystics will need some of their remaining guards to shoot the ball more; All-Star rookie Sonia Citron will probably have even more on her plate, as will Jade Melbourne, but there will still be some shots left over for Sheldon, too. That’s going to be key for her fantasy value, since she hasn’t been a high-volume player so far in her career.
