The WNBA trade deadline is fast approaching, which, of course, has us dreaming of potential trades. There's no guarantee that any of these deals actually wind up happening, but it can be a lot of fun to imagine things, right?
Let's take a look at three long shot WNBA trade deadline deals that we'd love to see happen. These deals can help push current contenders over the edge and potentially reshape the title battle in the WNBA this season.
Aaliyah Edwards to the Lynx
I know everyone is clamoring for the Dallas Wings to go after Aaliyah Edwards, and that's because they certainly should. Getting a young player with multiple years left on her contract who has experience in college with your team's star guard is a no-brainer decision.
But just because Dallas should go after Edwards doesn't mean it's going to land her. The competition should be fierce, and one team that really should find a way to get involved in the conversation is Minnesota.
Minnesota's first-round pick this year is super valuable, despite the team being the best in the league, because it's pick isn't its own: it's Chicago's pick, which is destined to land near the top of the lottery. That's right: the league's best team is very likely to end up with a lottery pick next year.
But why wait? Edwards could be a key bench contributor right away for the team and would still be under contract going forward. Isn't that more valuable for a team in win-now mode than the mystery box that is a 2026 first-round pick?
New York bringing in Emma Meesseman is something that potentially shifts the course of the title hunt. Edwards isn't an equal answer since Meesseman is one of the world's best players, but she enables the Lynx to get better at the margins, which would still be huge.
DiJonai Carrington to the Storm
The DiJonai Carrington era in Dallas hasn't gone nearly as expected and it's pretty clear that Carrington isn't in the team's future plans. What looked like a great move in free agency, especially when factoring in that NaLyssa Smith came to Dallas as well, has turned out to be a misfire.
Dallas should explore dealing all of its veterans at this point. Seattle, meanwhile, has a really good starting unit but could really use better wing production off the bench, making Carrington a nice fit there.
Yes, Carrington's shooting is a concern and her defense feels like it's slipped a notch, but the Storm have the right personnel to allow Carrington to not need to focus on the offensive side of the ball, allowing her to save her energy to be the defensive menace that she was in Connecticut last season.
She'd also get a chance to learn from Gabby Williams and Alysha Clark, which would be huge for her future development. Carrington is a better player than she's shown this season with the Wings, and a trade to Seattle could be the thing that gets her back on track.
Ariel Atkins to the Dream
Atlanta has been one of the biggest surprises in the league as the team is in the fight for homecourt in the first round. That's in spite of the team not really having the right wing personnel beyond Allisha Gray to really unlock the full potential of Karl Smesko's offensive system.
Chicago made a pretty grave error in trading for Ariel Atkins, as the team could have simply held onto its draft pick, selected Sonia Citron, and been much better off in both the near and long term. Now, at the trade deadline, the team can try to get at least something back for Atkins, though it's unlikely to be an asset as good as CItron.
Atkins, who is currently sidelined with a leg injury, isn't the greatest shooter, but she's only shot below 35 percent from 3-point range once in her career, so she'd be a positive for an offense that's fourth in the WNBA in 3-point attempts but only eighth in 3-point field goal percentage.