Two massive trades have completely changed the makeup of the organization
The Dallas Wings kicked off the 2025 offseason in a big way, executing two blockbuster trades in 15 hours. First, they moved on from All-WNBA forward Satou Sabally, sending her to Phoenix along with Kalani Brown and Sevgi Uzun in a three-team deal with the Mercury and Indiana Fever. Dallas received Ty Harris, NaLyssa Smith, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, and the eighth overall pick in the 2025 draft in return. Wings guard Jaelyn Brown also went to Indiana in the deal.
But Dallas didn’t stop there. Early Saturday morning, they acquired reigning Most Improved Player of the Year DiJonai Carrington from the Connecticut Sun. The Wings sent guard Jacy Sheldon to Connecticut and swapped their newly acquired eighth pick for the 12th pick in the 2025 draft. (and a 2026 second-round pick swap). Carrington, a restricted free agent, signed a one-year, $200,000 deal with Dallas in the sign-and-trade.
That’s a lot of player/pick movement in a short amount of time. If your head is spinning trying to keep up, here’s a quick “at-a-glance” summary of who’s in and out for Dallas after the two trades (which were combined into one, massive four-team deal):
OUT: Satou Sabally, Kalani Brown, Sevgi Uzun, Jacy Sheldon, Jaelyn Brown
IN: DiJonai Carrington, Ty Harris, NaLyssa Smith, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, No. 12 overall pick in 2025, rights to swap 2026 second-round picks with Connecticut.
General Manager Curt Miller likely won’t stop there— the Wings are completely overhauling a roster that finished 9-31 in 2024. These are ambitious moves, ones that don’t come without risk. In any case, this is the clear beginning of a new era in Dallas. Though the Sabalaly and Carrington trades were eventually combined into one deal, I want to break them down separately, assign each a grade, and discuss where Dallas goes from here.
Satou Sabally trade: B
When you’re trading the best player involved in a deal it’s hard to get back equal value— Dallas didn’t have a ton of leverage here, as Sabally’s trade market was narrowed by her contract situation and public trade demand. Additionally, Sabally has struggled to stay on the floor throughout her WNBA career, and those injury concerns are undoubtedly baked into her value. With that in mind, Miller did a decent job.
Ty Harris is a nice get for Dallas. The veteran guard was drafted by the Wings in 2020 and became one of the best three-point shooters in the league over the last two seasons in Connecticut. She also offers strong secondary playmaking, solid defense, and good locker-room vibes. Wings star Arike Ogunbowale and Harris are good friends, and the two have already expressed excitement about reuniting. If Paige Bueckers or Olivia Miles is drafted as the starting point guard, Harris becomes one of the better backups in the league.
NaLyssa Smith is the other big name heading to Dallas. Smith comes with some red flags— right now, she is a disaster on the defensive end. On offense, she’s a bit of a black hole, preferring to operate in mid-range isolation much of the time. She doesn’t shoot threes, and you can’t play her at the five despite her 6’4” size. All that being said, Smith is an undeniably talented scorer. There’s a reason she was drafted second overall in 2022 out of Baylor. Acquiring her is a bet on talent and upside, and it could work out. Maybe a change of scenery reinvigorates her career and unlocks other parts of her game. If it doesn’t work, Smith is a restricted free agent in 2026, and Dallas can move on.
Dallas also dumped Kalani Brown’s contact in this deal. Brown was a nice story in 2023; she was cut in training camp, signed mid-season on a hardship contract, and played well enough to earn a permanent deal. Then, the Wings signed her to a questionable three-year, $386,250 contract in the 2024 offseason. Last year, Brown was not good for Dallas. She is one of the worst defensive bigs in the league and a one-dimensional, traditional center on offense. Getting off Brown’s deal is huge; almost everyone in the WNBA is set to be a free agent in 2026 in anticipation of higher salaries with a new collective bargaining agreement. Having $132,500 tied up in a net negative player during an offseason where Dallas will want to spend a lot of money to attract free agents would not have been ideal.
Did Dallas improve by turning Sabally into Harris, Smith, Hebert Harrigan, and a late first? No. Is it an underwhelming return for a top 10-15 player? Absolutely. Could Dallas have done much better? I don’t think so. There were too many factors working against them. It would have been nice to get a 2027 pick swap from Phoenix, as that draft class looks potentially generational. But the Mercury, who have zero draft picks to trade, may not have been willing to give that up. Netting a solid rotation player, an upside swing, and a decent draft pick while dumping a bad contract feels like pretty nice work, especially considering what it allowed them to do next.
DiJonai Carrington trade: A-
Last year, the Wings had one of the worst defensive ratings in WNBA history. Enter Carrington, who was just named to the All-Defensive First Team. She will join the Wings as the best defender the franchise has employed since moving to Dallas. It cannot be overstated just how much she will help them on that end.
Carrington has also made strides offensively, evidenced by her winning the Most Improved Player of the Year award last season. She upped her scoring average from 8.3 to 12.7 points per game in 2024 and thrived as a tertiary option in Connecticut. Carrington is not much of a shooter (28.5% in her career from three) or playmaker (1.2 assists per game), but she is a tremendous glue player on a winning team. She can attack the gaps, move the ball, and pick her spots to score.
I was a big believer in Jacy Sheldon’s game, and I’m sad to see her go. The fifth overall pick in the 2024 draft didn’t have a great rookie season, but you could see the vision. Swapping her for Carrington signals that the franchise is not interested in tanking again; they want to surround Ogunbowale with winning pieces. If that’s the organization’s goal, this trade is an excellent step in the right direction. Carrington is a much better player than Sheldon right now, and moving down four spots in the draft to make that swap is great business. The only concern is Carrington leaving for nothing next year if it doesn’t work out.
What does the rest of the offseason + draft look like?
There are still moves to be made for Dallas, especially if they want to get back to the playoffs and win in 2025. Saturday night, the team signed forward Myisha Hines-Allen to a one-year deal. Hines-Allen is a pretty good shooter and can play some small-ball five. She’s a talented post-defender and offers some lineup flexibility for Dallas. With her in the fold, the Wings likely need to acquire a backup center after moving Kalani Brown. Is Awak Kuier coming back to the WNBA? Dallas retains the rights of the talented Finnish big, who opted out of the 2024 season. She could be an option to back up Teaira McCowan if the Wings don’t like any external options.
The biggest factor in deciding how successful this offseason is will be the 2025 WNBA draft. Dallas is armed with the No. 1, No. 12, and No. 14 overall selections. It is widely presumed that Paige Bueckers will be selected with the top pick, but there have been rumblings about Bueckers possibly forcing her way out of Dallas. It’s hard to discern the legitimacy of these rumors; nothing has been said from Bueckers or her camp to indicate this. However, where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so the possibility can’t afford to be ignored.
If Bueckers does spurn Dallas, Olivia Miles out of Notre Dame would be a great consolation prize. Miles is one of the better point guard prospects in recent memory, but she could also return to school. Reading between the lines, the Los Angeles Sparks trading the No. 2 overall pick for Kelsey Plum could indicate that Miles is no lock to declare. If both Bueckers and Miles are not options for Dallas, they should look to select Dominque Malonga, a 6’6” center out of France. Malonga, at just 19 years old, is putting up absurd numbers in the top French league. An incredibly raw prospect, Malonga is a high-risk, high-reward swing. But Dallas needs to go for maximizing talent in this draft, as you don’t get the opportunity to wield the number one pick very often.
Looking down the board, I like several players in the 12-14 range, in which Dallas will have two picks. Some names to watch:
- Ajsa Sivka, Big Wing, Slovenia
- Janiah Barker, Big Wing, UCLA
- Saniya Rivers, Wing, NC State
- Sania Feagin, Big, South Carolina,
- Bree Hall, Wing, South Carolina
- Rayah Marshall, Big, USC
As we get closer to the draft, expect profiles for each of these prospects and more. Most of these players are athletic, long defenders; Dallas needs as many of those as possible. Of course, since Dallas has picks 12 and 14, they could also package those picks to move up if there’s someone they like earlier in the first round. There are a ton of interesting possibilities in this draft, and how Dallas plays it will ultimately make or break their offseason.
Winning now?
Trading a superstar player like Satou Sabally usually signals a complete rebuild. But it appears as though Dallas is not interested in that— the moves they’re making signal a mandate to win soon. Is that a wise direction to go in? I’m not sure. I understand the desire to surround Arike Ogunbowale with a winning team. I know that Curt Miller isn’t exactly a fan of rebuilding. If Bueckers joins the organization, everything gets a lot easier. If not, Miller and company have a tall task on their hands. There is work to do in rounding out the rest of the roster, but they deserve some credit for navigating the first part of the offseason with poise and extracting value from their situation. Time will tell if it was worth the risks.