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This segment is delivered by Prime. Visit Amazon.com slash Prime to get more out of whatever you're into. She makes Seattle a different team. This is scary hours in Seattle. They're a different team. This is really, really, really scary for the rest of the league. This is Queens of the Court.
What's up, y'all? We are back. Welcome to a special Trade Deadline bonus episode of Queens of the Court, an Odyssey original podcast produced in partnership with the WNBA. Today's episode is delivered by Amazon Prime. And I'm your girl, Cheryl Swoops. And I'm Jordan Robinson. Court is back in session. I love it.
We're back in session, second episode of the week because it is trade deadline day and it got a little spicy. Let me just put it out there that we are recording this at 6.30 p.m. Eastern. The deadline cutoff is 8 p.m. Eastern. So even while we are recording this, we will have our...
our tabs open with Twitter, seeing if anything happens, but sure. It got a little spicy and we weren't, we weren't expecting that. We were thinking it was going to be a little quiet. Well, and you know, because it's very different from NBA, right?
trade deadline because there's like constant movement, right? And on the W side, it usually is not like that. And especially the day of last minute, but I was kind of surprised by a few moves that we saw today. I was too. And to your point about it not being similar to the NBAs, it just seems like
The rosters are really on lock. After training camp cuts, after those players are waived, a lot of teams are like, this is who we're rocking with. And so there's not a lot of mid-season trades. But when there's more parity in the league and when there's more competition and teams are coming out playing better, I think some GMs are like, hold up. Let's make some moves. Let's shake some shit up.
Because you got to, especially if you're trying to compete for a championship, you got to be prepared to make moves. And I will say this, I, as a former player, right? No, I never like worried about that part of it. Like, am I going to get traded? Am I going to get waived? But, but the fact that
It happens, right? Like I hate to see players get moved. And especially at the last minute when you've been with that team for the entire season and at the last minute, it's like, bye-bye. Bye. Yeah. And it just absolutely sucks. But that's the business. That's the business. Sorry.
That is the business. It's really, really hard. I remember I did on a previous podcast, we talked about kind of the nuances of being
being traded and how you have to find a new grocery store. Like what happens to your, your pets? You got to go find a new pet sitter. You have to up in and move your things. Are you just living out of a suitcase? Cause you just get traded in the middle of the season. There's so many little things that happen that we have no idea. I can't believe you said, of course your pets, a grocery store, but we just had this conversation yesterday and,
Screw all of that. Who's going to be doing my hair? You got to find a new hairstyle. You got to find a lash tech. You got to find a beautician.
That would have to come within my trade clause. All of those things already in it for me. No doubt. No doubt. Okay, well the people who are needing to find new hairstylists and new lash tags and all of those things, let's kick it off with the one that kicked off
the, the, the day, um, the Washington mystics trade my Isha Hines, Alan to the Minnesota links for a 2026 second round pick and Sika Kone and Olivia. He poopa who I sent this to the group text because it really kicked it off. Um, the mystics waved a poopa immediately. They also waved DD Richards. Um,
I think the Lynx won this one. I know they did. Mystics, I'm a little confused, a little confused by this. What are you, what's your gut? For sure. For sure. The Lynx won this one, but okay. Let me, let me put my G, my GM hat off for a second. Yes. Do it. Do it. Okay. Now, could it be that the Mystics are like, you know what?
We're trying to get that number one draft pick. We're thinking past this season. We're past it. Okay. All right. But it doesn't make sense to me when what they got in return was 2026. Second round. Yeah. Now, if we're talking 2025, because that is going to be a nice class, I think. Should be. But.
Yeah, the GM in me is saying they're kind of looking past this season already. And they're like, okay, let's start making some moves right now so we can try to get some better picks. Yes.
Some get better picks. Well, I'm glad you said that because I've just been scouring Twitter and seeing what people are saying about this pick. And I think this tweet was really interesting. Alfred, he kind of listed out
all of the youth that the Mystics have right now. Like, it just seems like they are fully for the future. So they got Jade Melbourne, Aaliyah Edwards, Shakira Austin, Sika Kone. They have their own first round pick in 2025. They also have Atlanta's first round pick in 2025. On top of that, they could be in the lottery because
where they are. So this is a youth movement fully. And I think that goes with your point of like, we're, we're cashing in on the future. Yeah. And that's what this kind of looks like a little bit. And, and when you look at, cause I'm all for that, but I'm also like, you gotta have a few vets, you know, you and I've had this conversation before.
But I think when they look at the vets that they do have, Ariel Atkins, Stephanie Dolson, Slim, so they still have some nice vets to go along with that youth movement that they're on right now, that this Mystics team could
be in the running next year to make some noise. I didn't say a championship. I just said make some noise. Right now they're making a peep. Right now they're just doing a little peep. It's a whisper. It's a whisper right now. Next year it can make some noise. It can have a little bass in it. Yeah. That was good. That was so good. Yeah. Yeah.
On the other side, though, because you OK, so the Mystics, they're looking towards the future. And it seems like Myesha Hines Allen was just a casualty of looking towards the future. But on the other side, you have Cheryl Reeve and the Minnesota Lynx who are they are making a lot of noise. They are banging pots and pans right now this season.
And a defensive minded team. That was something we were talking about on last, you know, the yesterday's episode. You bring in my Isha Hines Allen who can get you a bucket, but also has that defensive presence. She's coming off the bench for you guys. Um,
I mean, this is a little scary for Minnesota. Like, I'm kind of like, why did you let them get her a little bit? You know what this move alone does for me, or at least what I think it does for me, for them? Like, I think they were already, people were already talking about the Lynx as a contender this year, right? Yeah.
Myesha Hines-Allen, she absolutely puts them in that top three, four spot without question. She defensively, she defends. And I think she's a mismatch for a lot of teams at her position with her ability to step away from the basket. She can play on the perimeter. She can post up smaller forwards. I like this move a lot for Minnesota.
I have to shout out Sabrina Merchant, WNBA writer with Athletic. She made a point. She said, I'm wondering if Cheryl Reeve and Tebow were talking about this while they were in Paris because they were both on that sideline. Yeah.
for Team USA. Were they trying to cook something up back then? Because this is very well thought out, it feels like, for both sides. So I wonder. It makes me wonder as well, Sabrina. But I like it. I like it. It's a great point. I like it for Minnesota. I do too. I do too. I like it a lot. I don't know if the other teams like it for Minnesota. No.
But I like it. Yeah, I know. And I'm sure, you know what? And I'm just going to say it as a player, like as a player, you're you, if you're going to get traded, right. You're you hope that you get traded to a team that is going to make the playoffs and a team that has to win a championship. So if I'm my Isha Hines Allen right now, yes, she had, you know, I'm sure she had stuff going on in Washington, but she is probably so happy right now.
I think so too. Okay. I got a chance to go to a team and possibly compete for a championship.
Just think about how she where she jumped from the standings like she went from the bottom tier to a top team. Yes. In a few hours. Yeah. A couple of stats on my hands on this season. She's averaging eight points per game, about five rebounds per game, a career high two point seven assists per game, shooting just under 50 percent from the field.
She had that breakout season in 2020. That is where I always cling to, where she was just opportunity and preparation came together for her in 2020, where she was averaging almost 17 points a game, made second team, all WNBA. She won a championship with the Mystics in 2019. So the Lynx are getting championship awards.
caliber player and experience. Yeah. So that's already a bump up for them. And I also just want to say too, because we're talking about Cheryl Reeve and the links and like,
They do this. They make these strategic moves. Just a little history lesson. Swish Appeal did a great write-up, like why there aren't more in-season trades in the WNBA, and they brought to the attention July 2015. The Minnesota Lynx, a pair of trades to get their franchise third championship. Like this mid-season trade was,
got them a championship. And that was Sylvia Fowles coming over from the Chicago sky. And she turned out to be 30 minutes per game, almost averaging a double double. She was the 2015 finals MVP from a mid season trade. So the links definitely have, um,
um history in making these moves at the right time and like you said pushing them a little in contention in the mix yeah well you know one thing a lot of teams coaches gms because it's a lot that goes into deciding to make that trade right and a lot of a lot of teams are like
They're kind of afraid to make that move right now because a lot of them are like, listen, I know it may not look like it, but we got chemistry there. We're gelling. The players like each other. So a lot of teams are like, let's just leave things the way they are and hope for the best. Cheryl Reeve is one of those coaches, though, that's like, listen.
This shit ain't working. So let's make some moves. What we got, what are we going to do? Like she's never been afraid to do it, to make a move. And those moves typically work out perfectly for her and her team. Hence the Sylvia Fowles trade. Right. If you have the receipts for a Sylvia Fowles situation, you're like, just trust me. I know what I'm doing. Yeah. Okay. I love that one. Um,
Any other words or can we move on to the big one? No, let's go. I'm ready for the other one. Let's go. Okay. So the Seattle storm. Here's exactly how this happened. The Seattle storm waved Kiana Williams and I saw the thank you post on social media and I sent it to the group chat, sent it to Cheryl. And I was like, what are they about to do? Are they making room? Are they making room for Gabby Williams? Oh my God.
And then three minutes later, they sign France basketball star, former WNBA player. She was out of the league. We talked about it. Gabby Williams is back on the Seattle Storm. And then I screenshotted that and sent it right back into the group as well because I was so excited. Yeah.
Me too. I'm excited for Gabby. I'm excited for Seattle. I'm excited for the league. I'm excited for us that we get a chance to see Gabby. She makes Seattle a different team. This is scary hours in Seattle. They're a different team. Are you kidding?
Welcome back to Gabby Williams coming back to Seattle. And we just talked about this, but it still didn't even land for me what that starting five is. And I just think we talked about coming into this season how Seattle made so many moves in the offseason. Blockbuster brooms to bring Nneka Agumake and Skylar Diggins-Smith over to give Jewel Lloyd some help. And then you do this?
And you add Gabby Williams on top of it? Jordan, their starting five may be the best starting five in the league. Because to me, it's Skylar at the one, Jewel at the two, Gabby at the three, Ezzie at the four or five, and Nneka at the four or five, whichever way you want to play it. Because they were already playing really well. But I feel like Gabby Williams...
Is that one piece that Seattle was missing? Yeah. That's just that. I mean, they were hovering around contention, but that is top three. Because, because she makes a difference on both ends of the floor, not just offensively. What, what she's able to do on the defensive end. Let me rewind for a minute. I remember when, when Gabby was at Connecticut, what did she play? Like the three, four.
She didn't play the one. And she got to the pros. They played her at the one a little bit with her French team. She plays the one, two, three, four. Like she's going to come in and be able to play any position that Coach Quinn needs her to play. And on the defensive end can defend one through four.
Yes. She's coming in off of a silver medal, tons of confidence. She's been here before. It's not like she's new to this, right? She is what true to this. Yeah. And, and she knows the system. It's just a matter of time before she just, just like just fits right in with what they already got going on. Like this is really, really, really scary for the rest of the league. Yeah.
I bet the WNBA group chats around the league are on fire. They're like, dang, Seattle got Gabby. Also, there was talks of her potentially going to New York, which would have just been insane. That would have been scary too. The New York group chat was like, dang.
We almost had her. She went to Seattle. And let's just say, too, we talk about her defense. She won best defensive player at the Olympics. Like, coming off of a silver medal, she's still very much in her prime. She knows the system. I have...
I just think of someone trying to go up against Gabby, Ezzy, and Nneka. Like, how are you scoring over them? I'm not sure. But just in the Olympics, she averaged 15.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 2.8 steals.
during the Olympics. She is going to transition right back in and fit right in. Seattle only has one game this week, which is today on Tuesday. They're playing the Mystics, and they don't play again until Monday, which is when she's going to start playing. Perfect timing for her to come in and get some practice. Now, let me for one second...
I guess in a way devil's advocate. Okay. So, you know, when you play in the W and you go play in the Olympics, your role is very different, right? Because what you're asked to do on your WNBA team can be very different from what you're asked to do on your Olympic team. So my question, I'm putting this out here is Gabby Williams on her Olympic team. She did everything.
And I'm not saying that she can't do that on this team, but I think her role is going to be different. Right. When you watched her play in the Olympics, she was rebounding. She was pushing the ball up. She was shooting three. She was getting to the hole. She was posting up. She like she was doing all of it. My only question is how how will her game change, if at all, playing for the Storm in comparison to playing with her French team?
I love that question. And I have, so the last time Gabby Williams was on Seattle was 2022. And I'm going to read you this stat line for her in 2022. And I want you to say if this is okay, or if it needs to be more than this, or it's going to be less than this. So she was, she started all 36 games. She averaged seven and a half points, five rebounds,
three assists and 1.5 steals per game, which just to me feels solid as hell, just like rock solid for a elevated role player for Seattle. She was shooting a career best 44% from the field. Does it need to be more than that to make them a strong contender? I don't know if it needs to be more.
But I think it will be more because when when Gabby was with Seattle, I think I think she was still trying to figure out like her role. Right. And in position that to me, if I remember correctly, she was playing a lot of one. Yeah, I feel that. And so I think I think that's why her numbers change.
We're like that. But now I don't, I don't think she's going to be asked to play a lot of one, although she can, cause you got Skylar. Maybe she will play some of it. But the reason why I say, I think it'll be more is because,
There's way more talent around her, but she's gotten so much better. Yeah, she has. Like she she could she can just shoot the basketball. You know, I don't I don't know. Did you say what it was from the three? I don't know what it was from the three, but I don't remember her being that type of a three point shooter back then. So but even if she stayed at those numbers. Yeah, that's pretty solid. Yeah, that's pretty solid for the Seattle team.
I love it. And I love these notes our producer James put together of, you know, her being that defensive spark when Seattle needs it because they allowed 48% from three to
in this loss to Indiana just the other night. So automatically they were saying, if we make a move, we need a defensive specialist on the wing. Gabby Williams fits that. Seattle also, for strength of schedule-wise, they're 7th out of 12. So all of the hard stuff has kind of already happened.
Now they need just this last kind of push and you get better and you get a Olympic silver, man. She can guard on the perimeter because she's quick enough. I love her size on the perimeter, her length, her speed, her quickness. And then she can go inside cause she, her jumping ability, her leaping ability, her,
She can post up smaller players. And when I look at the players around her, like she's just the perfect fit. She's the perfect fit. So well done, Ellie. Well done. Many people think of Prime as just a fast free delivery subscription or simply a place to stream sports films and TV.
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We also talked about this technically isn't a trade, so it didn't need to be a part of the trade deadline day. They just signed her. They didn't trade anybody for her. But Seattle, we're going to talk some money here. Seattle had twenty four thousand one hundred and ninety five dollars in cap space left.
Yesterday, the prorated vet minimum to sign someone was $24,249. Today...
It's $23,491. This is Richard Cohen who put these numbers together. So that's why this is happening today. It just so happened to be trade deadline day, but they were watching the money drop each day. So that's why it happened today, which I think is so funny. Meant to be. It's meant to be.
I like it. Yeah. Meant to be. I love it. That excites me. Like I was already excited about the second half of the season, but bringing Gabby Williams back and with Seattle. Yeah. Yeah. It's good. It's good. That is going to be good. Seattle dropped those two games in a row and they were like, overhaul. We need a whole new, we need everything else. Start over. Yeah.
Gabby said this about rejoining her team. She said, I'm so excited to be joining the storm for the rest of the season. I feel more ready to finally return to Seattle. I've missed the organization, my teammates and the fans so much. I absolutely can't wait to come back and finish the season strong. All right. I love it for, I love it too.
I got me hype. I'm so excited. That was the biggest storylines. And I just started just thinking about the rest of the league, just being so upset, which also just makes me happy. I just think that's funny. All right. There was one more right before we hopped on of a trade. The, the,
Washington Mystics, again, they acquired Suge Sutton and a 2025 third round draft pick from the Phoenix Mercury for the rights to Clara Lindquist, who is a Swedish basketball player. The Mystics signed her in 2021. Suge Sutton was averaging about 15 minutes per game this season and about three points per game. But I think that kind of goes in with our earlier conversation of now they have a
Two first round draft picks in 2025. Now another third round draft pick potentially in the lottery, just going all in for the future, which I don't mind it. I don't either. And listen, let's just very briefly talk about the elephant in the room. Like what is Elena Deladon going to do? Oh my God.
You know what I mean? So I think they're like, well, we don't know. Is she coming back? Don't know. Don't know. I forgot about that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just a quick refresh. Elena Deladon just decided to sit out this season. She wanted to be traded. They didn't trade her. And she just said, I'm not playing. So her contract is still a part of the Mystics cap space and all of those things. But yeah,
Will she come back next season? Is she that vet that you were talking about? The vet presence? Cheryl, I honestly forgot about Elena Deledon, a part of this roster, because she hasn't been playing. Shoot. Yeah. So it's going to be real interesting with the draft picks that they got and Edie D sitting out there. Maybe she's sitting back looking like we are. Like, let me see what they're trying to put together. Yeah. I think that's fair. She's like, I'm trying to win. She's like, I'm trying to win. Oh, that's a good point. I guess...
Yeah. Are they acquiring all these things to package with EDD for a big trade in the off season? Maybe. All right. Okay. Then now, before we wrap up, was there anyone else that you wanted to see make a move during this trade or before the trade deadline? There's so we could go down the line, different teams, but I'm going to say this. I really was hoping, I guess, that,
that Vegas would have made some kind of a move. And to me, that move needed to be a score and a defender. Like right now, Asia to me is having to do everything. And that's on both ends of the floor. I really would have loved to have seen Vegas go get another score for sure. Yeah, for sure. Um,
I could go back to Dallas, but what I think Dallas needs, they had, right? Point guard. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know. I look at it like, I feel like a lot of these teams who can actually compete for a championship made some pretty good moves to help them with that quest and
You got Seattle, you got Minnesota. I think New York is just playing really well right now. Then you got Vegas and they're the only ones that didn't really make a move. So what do I know? No, I think that's a great point. And I'm like, was their big move signing Tiffany Hayes? Like, was that their big move a few a month? Was that a month ago or a couple months ago? I think signing Tiffany was a big part of that. Right. But, you know, when you...
When you get to the playoffs, Jordan, it's just a different ballgame. And what Asia has done and what she continues to do is incredible. Like, I don't want to downplay that at all. I don't think Asia's getting enough credit that she deserves right now. But
I don't want her to be so tired and worn down because she's having to do so much right now that when they get to the playoffs, she ain't got a whole lot left in her tank. That's a great point. And you throw the Olympics. She had to do that for the Olympic team as well. 100%. Yeah. 100%. That's a great point. I would say, you know, I didn't know Chicago had already made the big move of,
Trading Marina Mabry, but I feel like that was a win more for Connecticut. Without a question. They didn't get much in return, getting Mariah Jefferson and Rachel Bannum. Rachel Bannum, yep. A couple people were talking on Twitter, asking Annie Constable, who was on our show, Chicago Sky Beat Writer,
If there was any rumblings that they might do something, she responded that it's more of a matter if they can get anything done. Both games against Phoenix demonstrated how badly they need to add a shooter, which we talked about. Whether they are looking to execute a trade and whether they will be able to execute a trade are two very different questions with very different answers. Yeah.
The money has to work out flat out. Do people want to go play for Chicago? You know, who knows? Because of just when we talk about practice facilities and all those things that they're trying to get people to buy in on. But I guess that's more for free agency. But they needed a shooter.
I'm sure they were in making those phone calls, but they just couldn't. They don't have the assets to really trade for something bigger right now. Right. And probably what teams would want. It's like, no, we're not giving that up. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's all part of it. That's that's kind of where we are right now.
That's where we are. But that was exciting. I will say I was surprised. I was really downplaying the trade deadline. It's not usually as festive, but I was like glued to my phone, sending screenshots and replying to things, saving them for later. And that doesn't always happen. So that was fun. Yeah, because usually there is no news for us to talk about. And you know what's going to be really funny is if
in an hour we're like oh no that's why we have to just we just have to give ourselves grace and get you know put it out there that we are ending this at about yeah almost seven or no yeah 7 p.m eastern so there's still an hour for something to go down but uh we'll talk about it eventually i'm sure yeah yeah all right all right that was fun also just another excuse to
Hop on and chat with you. Always makes my day. And see your smiling face. It's always fun. It's always fun. All right. Well, this was a special bonus episode.
delivered by Amazon Prime. Please continue to follow, rate, and review the show. It's available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also send us your questions, your stories, your reactions to this trade deadline news at queensofthecourtatodyssey.com.
Yeah, and y'all know where we are on social media because we know where you are on social media. But in case you don't, you can find me at airsweeps22 and she, her, Jordan is at heyjordanr.
Oh, I love that one. Also, just a side note, I made another Instagram post today and I'm just realizing when I look at my Instagram feed that it is full of Sheryl Swoopes. Like it's really a Sheryl Swoopes fan page at this point on my Instagram because this was from your brunch. It was from when we hung out before.
from the other event at All Star, from the podcast. There's nothing wrong with that. I just wanted to point it out. It's turning into a fan page now.
But anyway, Queens of the Court is an Odyssey original created in partnership with the WNBA. The show is produced by James Jackson. The executive producers are Asha Saluja, Maddie Sprung-Kaiser, and Leah Reese Dennis. Social media assistance from Isabella Apple. Music from T-Storm Battle. And a special thanks to Alex Ozzie and Lena Moss Glazer. And court. And court. Is adjourned. Is adjourned.
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