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On Monday night, 38 players will be selected in the 2025 WNBA Draft and find out which team they will play for this season if they make it onto the final roster.
Those rookies, like projected No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers from UConn, have a quick transition from the end of the college season.
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Bueckers’ Huskies won a national championship eight days ago, but at least she knows her big move to a new team — most likely the Dallas Wings — is coming.
That was not the case for Karlie Samuelson, who boarded a plane on Monday as a Washington Mystics player and found out when she landed that she was a pawn in a draft day trade.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) rushes up the court against Washington Mystics guard Karlie Samuelson (44).Brett Phelps/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
It may have been a surprise, but it was good news for Samuelson, who was sent to the Minnesota Lynx in return for a 2026 first-round draft pick. Minnesota made the 2024 WNBA Finals behind star forward Napheesa Collier, falling to the New York Liberty 3-2 in the WNBA Finals.
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“Traded mid 10 hour flight with no wifi is crazyyyyyyyy,” Samuelson said on X, revealing how she learned about the blindside trade.
Samuelson had the best season of her career for the Mystics in 2024, averaging 8.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 29 games.
However, Washington in full rebuilding mode after a 16-24 season. It has three of the top six picks in the 2025 WNBA Draft (No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6), giving the franchise a chance to draft young players to build around with more long-term value than Samuelson, who will turn 30 next month.
For the Lynx, it is the second pre-draft trade in the last 24 hours, coming after a pick swap with the Chicago Sky on Sunday. They acquire a career 39.7 percent three-point shooter in Samuelson, who will compliment a championship-caliber roster around Collier, Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams.
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Samuelson has played over 100 games for five different WNBA teams, including four separate stints with the Los Angeles Sparks. She is the older sister of Katie Lou Samuelson, an NCAA champion with UConn and the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.
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