[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"header-nav":3,"footer-nav":29,"article-sparks-trade-kelsey-plum-to-mercury-for-first-round-pick":82,"category-counts-nav":96,"related-sparks-trade-kelsey-plum-to-mercury-for-first-round-pick":106},[4,8,11,14,17,20,23,26],{"label":5,"to":6,"exact":7},"Home","\u002F",true,{"label":9,"to":10},"World Cup","\u002Fworldcup",{"label":12,"to":13},"Standings","\u002Fstandings",{"label":15,"to":16},"Football","\u002Fcategory\u002Ffootball",{"label":18,"to":19},"Basketball","\u002Fcategory\u002Fbasketball",{"label":21,"to":22},"Tennis","\u002Fcategory\u002Ftennis",{"label":24,"to":25},"F1","\u002Fcategory\u002Ff1",{"label":27,"to":28},"Long Reads","\u002Fcategory\u002Flong-reads",{"brand":30,"columns":32,"tagline":80,"copyright":81},{"description":31},"In-depth sports journalism covering football, basketball, tennis, F1, and beyond. Daily analysis, long reads, and expert opinion.",[33,51,59],{"heading":34,"links":35},"Leagues",[36,39,42,45,48],{"label":37,"to":38},"Premier League","\u002Ftag\u002Fpremier-league",{"label":40,"to":41},"La Liga","\u002Ftag\u002Fla-liga",{"label":43,"to":44},"NBA","\u002Ftag\u002Fnba",{"label":46,"to":47},"Formula 1","\u002Ftag\u002Fformula-1",{"label":49,"to":50},"Champions League","\u002Ftag\u002Fchampions-league",{"heading":52,"links":53},"Content",[54,56,57],{"label":55,"to":16},"Analysis",{"label":27,"to":28},{"label":58,"to":16},"Data & Stats",{"heading":60,"links":61},"Company",[62,65,68,71,74,77],{"label":63,"to":64},"Terms of Service","\u002Fservice",{"label":66,"to":67},"Privacy Policy","\u002Fprivacy",{"label":69,"to":70},"Editorial Policy","\u002Feditorial",{"label":72,"to":73},"Contact Us","\u002Fcontact",{"label":75,"to":76},"About Us","\u002Fabout",{"label":78,"to":79},"Website Disclaimer","\u002Fdisclaimer","Built for the love of sport","© SportPulse. All rights reserved.",{"title":83,"slug":84,"category":85,"badge":86,"author":87,"excerpt":88,"date":89,"readTime":90,"image":91,"imageAlt":83,"tags":92,"body":94,"_path":95},"Sparks Send Kelsey Plum to Phoenix for 2026 First-Rounder","sparks-trade-kelsey-plum-to-mercury-for-first-round-pick","basketball","WNBA","Tyler Johnson","Los Angeles cashes in on Plum before the deadline, acquiring a future first-round pick and Monique Akoa Makani from Phoenix.","2026-08-02 19:01:50","4 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fi.guim.co.uk\u002Fimg\u002Fmedia\u002F29fb92bfd34d0222deb739809da0de90772b8991\u002F545_0_5043_4037\u002Fmaster\u002F5043.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=a8e20a029dbff5a0320073de5b8aedad",[86,93],"Offseason","The Los Angeles Sparks have traded All-Star guard **Kelsey Plum** to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for a **2026 first-round draft pick**, **Monique Akoa Makani**, and a **2028 second-round selection**, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been officially announced.\n\nThe deal, completed ahead of Sunday's WNBA trade deadline, reworks a Sparks roster sitting outside the playoff picture. Los Angeles acquired Plum last offseason in a three-team trade that sent Jewell Loyd to Las Vegas and their own 2026 first-round pick to Seattle. Now the Sparks hold their original selection again plus Phoenix's.\n\n## Los Angeles Reclaims Its Pick and Pivots\n\nThe Sparks entered 2025 with new head coach Lynn Dollen and a roster overhaul built around Plum and rookie **Kameron Brink**, selected **No. 2 overall** in the 2024 draft. Injuries wrecked those plans.\n\nPlum has not played since **June 21** due to a lower leg injury, and the Sparks sank to the bottom of the league standings without her. General manager Raegan Pebley (or her successor, depending on front-office decisions) chose to reload through the draft rather than wait out a lost season.\n\nTwo first-round picks in the **2026** class give Los Angeles the capital to draft elite young talent or package the selections for an established star. That flexibility matters with a rebuild centered on Brink and **Rickea Jackson**, the **No. 4 overall** pick in the 2024 draft.\n\nBetween Plum's extended absence and Brink's season-ending ACL tear suffered in June, Los Angeles lost both players the offseason plan was built around. Trading Plum concedes that 2025 was a setback, not a foundation.\n\nThe front office now faces its own evaluation period. The next coaching hire, the 2026 draft strategy, and the development of Jackson and Brink once healthy will shape whatever comes next. The Sparks have the cap flexibility and the draft assets to accelerate that timeline.\n\n## Phoenix's Bet on a Healthy Plum\n\nFrom Phoenix's side, adding Plum is a win-now move for a Mercury team chasing its current window. The roster has undergone its own transformation this season under new head coach Nate Tibbetts, with a backcourt rotation that includes **Natasha Cloud** and a frontline anchored by veteran center **Brittney Griner**.\n\nPlum fits for concrete reasons. She is a career 37.3% three-point shooter over eight seasons, and that gravity commands defensive attention away from the paint, opening driving lanes for Phoenix's slashers. Though labeled a pure scorer, she has averaged over 4.5 assists per game in multiple seasons, including a career-high 5.3 with Las Vegas before coming to Los Angeles. She won two titles with the Aces in **2022** and **2023**, playoff experience a Phoenix roster in transition can use.\n\nThe question mark is health. Plum has not appeared in a game since late June, and the Mercury are acquiring her without certainty on when she will return. If the lower leg injury lingers into the playoffs, Phoenix surrendered a valuable first-round asset for a player who contributed nothing down the stretch.\n\nThe Mercury are betting a healthy Plum elevates them from a middle-of-the-pack playoff team to a contender. For a franchise that won a championship in **2014** and has not been back to the Finals since, the urgency is real. Griner is in the latter stages of her career. Cloud is in her prime. The window is open, but only for so long. Phoenix mortgaged a piece of its future to chase it.\n\n## Reading the Return for Los Angeles\n\nThe centerpiece is that **first-round pick** in 2026. Given the Sparks' position near the bottom of the standings, their own first-round pick is likely to land in the top three. Acquiring Phoenix's first-rounder gives Los Angeles two lottery-adjacent selections in what projects to be a loaded draft.\n\n**Monique Akoa Makani** is a 6-foot-4 forward from France who provides frontline depth and international experience, a developmental piece alongside the young core. She is a low-risk flyer with legitimate upside.\n\nThe **2028 second-round pick** is a distant sweetener, standard fare in deadline deals where the acquiring team wants to maintain future flexibility while the seller maximizes current value.\n\nThe Sparks bought low on their own future and sold high on a star they could no longer build around. The Mercury paid the price to win right now.","\u002Farticles\u002Fsparks-trade-kelsey-plum-to-mercury-for-first-round-pick",[97,85,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105],"analysis","cricket","f1","football","general","golf","mma","long-reads","tennis",[107,121,133],{"id":108,"stem":108,"path":109,"title":110,"category":85,"badge":111,"badgeType":112,"author":113,"authorRole":114,"authorInitials":115,"date":116,"readTime":117,"image":118,"imageAlt":110,"tags":119,"excerpt":120},"jaylen-brown-trade-sixers-narrative-broken","\u002Farticles\u002Fjaylen-brown-trade-sixers-narrative-broken","The NBA Media's Jaylen Brown Problem","Feature","category","Chloe Bennett","SportPulse Contributor","CB","2026-07-08 07:07:47","7 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fmedia.zenfs.com\u002Fen\u002Fsb_nation_articles_115\u002F0e506d1c4129dd8f1235ad6719f4cb5a","NBA, Offseason, Eastern Conference, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers","A championship Finals MVP traded and suddenly painted as a liability. The analytics brigade has lost the plot.",{"id":122,"stem":122,"path":123,"title":124,"category":85,"badge":111,"badgeType":112,"author":125,"authorRole":126,"authorInitials":127,"date":128,"readTime":129,"image":130,"imageAlt":124,"tags":131,"excerpt":132},"england-netball-commonwealth-games-semi-final-defeat-new-zealand","\u002Farticles\u002Fengland-netball-commonwealth-games-semi-final-defeat-new-zealand","England's Gold Medal Dream Ends in New Zealand Semi-Final Defeat","Sarah Martinez","Transfer Correspondent","SM","2026-08-01 10:19:23","1 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fichef.bbci.co.uk\u002Face\u002Fstandard\u002F976\u002Fcpsprodpb\u002F1f32\u002Flive\u002Fa4c5f5c0-8d90-11f1-800e-433295bded5e.jpg","Commonwealth Games, Netball","A powerful New Zealand side ends England's Commonwealth Games gold-medal ambitions with a 61-54 semi-final loss.",{"id":134,"stem":134,"path":135,"title":136,"category":85,"badge":43,"badgeType":112,"author":137,"authorRole":138,"authorInitials":139,"date":140,"readTime":141,"image":142,"imageAlt":136,"tags":143,"excerpt":144},"og-anunoby-knicks-championship-uk-basketball-boom","\u002Farticles\u002Fog-anunoby-knicks-championship-uk-basketball-boom","Crown Jewel: How OG Anunoby's Knicks Glory Could Transform British Basketball","Maya Rodriguez","NBA Correspondent","MR","2026-06-24 23:50:30","5 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fichef.bbci.co.uk\u002Face\u002Fstandard\u002F976\u002Fcpsprodpb\u002F790a\u002Flive\u002F12451390-68cc-11f1-b307-77b59a4311c2.jpg","NBA, Basketball","A London-born champion believes UK basketball is on the verge of a seismic shift — and he might be right."]