The Los Angeles Sparks have traded five-time WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA champion Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury in a blockbuster move hours before the trade deadline, ESPN reports. This is just the fourth time in league history that an All-Star has been traded midseason.
The Mercury are sending Monique Akoa Makani, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder to the Sparks in exchange for Plum, who was the top trade target in the league leading up to the trade deadline at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Plum has only played in 12 games this season -- she had an ankle injury earlier this year and has been sidelined for more than a month with a lower leg injury -- but through June, she was averaging a career-high 23.9 points and 6.4 assists on 52.7/38.3/80.6 shooting splits. The Washington alum was named to her fifth All-Star team this year despite her limited availability.
While it is not known when exactly Plum will make her season debut for Phoenix, who face the Sky on Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET, it shouldn't be long; prior to the trade, the Sparks had listed Plum as "probable" for their Sunday afternoon game against the Fire.
Plum was picked No. 1 overall in the 2017 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Stars and moved with the franchise to Las Vegas in 2018, becoming a key part of the Aces' first two championships in 2022 and 2023. She was traded to the Sparks before the 2025 season, but while Plum has excelled on the court, the team has not. In 2025, Los Angeles was two wins shy of making it to the postseason. This season, the Sparks have gone 2-9 since Plum's injury and currently sit in 11th place at 10-17, five and a half games back from the eighth and final playoff spot. The Sparks fired general manager Raegan Pebley last month, and Plum, who signed a one-year, $999,999 contract in the offseason, was not expected to re-sign with the team.
Unfortunately for Plum, she will be joining a team that is actually behind the Sparks in the standings. The 11-19 Mercury currently sit in 12th place and are in danger of becoming the second team in WNBA history to miss the playoffs the season after making it to the WNBA Finals. However, the Mercury still have Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper, who was Plum's injury replacement in the All-Star Game this year, and Plum will immediately give them the offensive firepower they've been missing.
Akoa Makani has started 16 games for the Mercury this season and is averaging 9.4 points, 2.1 boards, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals. The second-year guard from Cameroon started in all 11 of the Mercury's postseason games in 2025.
