After finishing with the WNBA's worst record last season, the Los Angeles Sparks made a huge splash this offseason, trading for former No. 1 overall pick Kelsey Plum.
Will the addition of Plum be enough to get this team back to the postseason? Or is Los Angeles headed for another disappointing campaign?
Here are three key questions for the Sparks in 2025.
Is Kelsey Plum ready to be the lead scorer?
After a college career that saw her just absolutely dominate on the scoreboard, Kelsey Plum found herself playing a more secondary role in the WNBA. Drafted in 2017, Plum didn't average double-digit points until 2021.
In 2022, she broke out, averaging 20.2 points per game for the Aces. That mark led the team, but just by 0.7 points per game over A'ja Wilson, the true star of that Aces squad.
In Los Angeles, Plum won't have Wilson to take the pressure off. She has to be the best player on the floor at all times.
Is she up for that? Probably! Plum's an elite shooter who can operate with the ball in her hands, and while she'll likely be asked to create her own shot more than she has been in the past, she has the skillset to do it. There are a lot of questions about this Sparks roster, but Plum's ability to be the lead guard shouldn't be one of them.
Can Rickea Jackson take the next step?
Rickea Jackson's scoring ability translated seamlessly to the WNBA last year as she averaged 13.4 points per contest. Now with Plum running the show, Jackson should face softer defensive looks, putting her in position to take a leap in efficiency.
Jackson projects to be a really good second or third scorer in the WNBA, though she still needs to add more dimensions to her game. She's not much of a playmaker at this point, nor is she crashing the boards or forcing turnovers.
The scoring was never really a question, though. It was everything else that worried draft evaluators. Can she improve on her off-ball play? Can she become a plus defender? Those are big questions that the Sparks need answers to.
When will Cameron Brink return to the court?
Cameron Brink got off to a strong start to her WNBA career, averaging 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 2.3 blocks per game before a torn ACL ended her rookie year after just 15 games.
Brink's ability to alter shots at the basket makes her arguably the second-most-important piece in Los Angeles after Plum. Brink can score when she needs to, but her ability to anchor the Sparks defense is really the big thing that Los Angeles needs out of her.
Once she's back on the floor, she should be able to provide that. The knee injury won't hamper her best skill, which is having a really long wingspan which allows her to protect the rim.
But when will the Sparks get Brink back? Brink said the organization isn't pressuring her to come back too soon, which is obviously good news for her long-term basketball outlook, but it does suggest that she might miss more of the 2025 season than Sparks fans might have originally expected.
This team is still fairly far from contending, so having patience with Brink is the right move. Let the knee heal. Let Brink work her way back slowly once it is healed.
And it's not like they'll have to wait forever. ESPN's Holly Rowe mentioned during the WNBA Draft that Brink should be back at some point in June. Maybe she'll only miss about a month of the season? Even if she ends up coming back toward the end of June instead of the middle, the Sparks would still have Brink for the stretch run and a potential push for the No. 8 seed.