Washington Mystics forward Aaliyah Edwards remains buried in the team's rotation. Last time out against the Sparks, Edwards saw just 10 minutes of playing time, her second-lowest minutes total of the season.
Edwards, who was injured to start the season, looked like a key part of Washington's future one year ago, but now appears destined to find a new home via trade soon. It's clear that getting a future draft pick for her is more important than playing her at this point.
Which teams could grab Edwards from Washington? Here are three that really need to be on the phone with the Mystics, trying to work out a deal.
Dallas Wings
This is the obvious destination for Edwards, as it would offer her a chance to reunite with college teammate Paige Bueckers. It would also fill an important need for Dallas, as the team's frontcourt has been a mess all season.
The Wings have settled on a Luisa Geiselsöder and Li Yueru starting frontcourt, neither of whom were in the opening night lineup for the team.
But while there's some interesting potential in that duo, the Wings have a -12.3 net rating in the 92 minutes that those two have shared the floor. Keeping Li in the lineup but putting the more versatile Edwards beside her could provide an instant boost to this roster.
Indiana Fever
The 12-12 Fever haven't been quite as good this year as expected, largely because of injury concerns with Caitlin Clark, who has been in and out of the lineup.
But the complete failure of the DeWanna Bonner signing has factored in, too. Expected to get a reliable scoring forward out of Bonner, the team instead got essentially nothing from the veteran and has already moved on from her.
The Fever could really use another player who can give them minutes at the four, because the team's bench really lacks that right now. Going small with Sophie Cunningham at the four when Natasha Howard hits the bench isn't an awful strategy, but it would be nice to get a little more size in there to allow the team to offer different looks.
Golden State Valkyries
Look, the Valkyries deserve credit for how they've played this year. The team has won a lot more games than expected already, and head coach Natalie Nakase has proven to be one of the league's best coaches already.
But only two players on this roster are under contract next season: Carla Leite and Kate Martin. Everyone else is a free agent.
Golden State's 2026 offseason will be fascinating. With most of the league hitting free agency, can the Valkyries convince a big-name player or two to sign with them? There's plenty of reason free agents should want to come to the team, but there's also no guarantee that happens.
That's why having some high-end young talent on the roster would be huge, and it's why the team should explore an Edwards trade. It might be tough to find a workable deal since Golden State really, really needs to hang on to its future picks, but if you're the Valkyries, you have to make a call. Players like Kayla Thornton and Temi Fágbénlé have been good this year, but you don't want to trust your entire future on aging veterans. Golden State needs young players, especially at forward.