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The LA Sparks recently acquired former No. 1 pick Kelsey Plum in a three-team trade with the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm. The Sparks now have a solid foundation of core players under new head coach Lynne Roberts, but some fans are worried about the team’s overall defense.
Plum was supposed to be an unrestricted free agent, but was cored by the Aces. She needed a fresh start and had a hand in her trade to Los Angeles, while the Sparks sent the No. 2 pick to Seattle. The Storm parted ways with Jewell Loyd, who replaces Plum in Las Vegas.
With Paige Bueckers likely to get picked by the Dallas Wings at No. 1, the Sparks decided to accelerate the rebuild and went all in for Plum. The two-time WNBA champ is from California, so she may be staying in Los Angeles for more than one season.
However, several Sparks fans are not impressed with the front office’s latest move. They thought that the team’s defense would get worse with Plum on the team.
Cameron Brink has already shown that she’s a defensive anchor for the LA Sparks, but she’s currently recovering from a knee injury. Brink also had problems with staying out of foul trouble, which is one of the aspects of her game she needs to work on.
Still, some members of the Sparks fanbase are not convinced of the team’s roster.
“They gonna get torched,” a fan tweeted.
“RJ stays getting cooked on defense. I absolutely love me some CB, but she fouls out almost every other game,” one fan commented.
“Jackson ain’t playing no defense in Unrivaled! She needs to be aggressive!” another fan responded.
Some fans pointed out that coach Lynne Roberts is not known for her defense.
“It’s giving shoot to death and hope for the best, which is no surprise if you look at how Utah has played for the last 3 years,” a fan wrote.
“That defense is trash as hell. They going to be giving up 80 a night,” one fan claimed.
“They will be able to score with any team. Not to mention they still have the 9th pick,” another fan remarked.
The LA Sparks had the third-worst defense in the WNBA just ahead of the Dallas Wings and Indiana Fever. They also didn’t have Cameron Brink for the majority of the season, so they did pretty well without her despite having the worst record in the league.
WNBA insider weighs in on LA Sparks’ acquisition of Kelsey Plum
While some fans of the LA Sparks are not thrilled about Kelsey Plum and prefer a slow rebuild with the No. 2 pick, WNBA insider Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times explained the organization’s decision.
Costabile reported that the Sparks were having second thoughts on drafting Olivia Miles and were convinced by Plum’s willingness to stay beyond the 2025 WNBA season. Plum is just 30 years old and at the prime of her career though she’s coming off a down season.
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Edited by Gio Vergara
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