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How Diamond DeShields’ first WNBA free agency led her to Phoenix

After winning a championship with Chicago in 2021, Diamond DeShields is ready to prove herself again. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The call came late at night. Diamond DeShields was sitting in her hotel room in Istanbul, having just played a game for her Italian club, Famila Schio. January was almost over and WNBA free agency was in full swing.

A restricted free agent, DeShields had recently taken Zoom meetings with multiple teams and was keeping her cell phone nearby in case others called. When she picked up and heard her agent, Mike Cound, on the other end telling her she needed to make a decision, she began pacing the floor. The Phoenix Mercury had made an offer, but it involved a few moving pieces that wouldn’t come together unless DeShields was all in.

“Phoenix?” DeShields said as she crossed the room from one end to other. “Phoenix?”

The name of the city sounded foreign as soon as it left her lips. DeShields, 26, had just won a WNBA championship with the Chicago Sky after taking down the Mercury 3-1 in the Finals. It had been a physical and contentious series from the jump, and those memories still lingered.

DeShields considered other possible scenarios, such as playing one year at the veteran minimum for another team, or not signing at all and waiting it out. The Dallas Wings had also made serious inquiries. But with teams already making moves to fit increased player salaries under a limited salary cap, time was of the essence.

“Phoenix,” Deshields said again, still pacing. But the more she said it out loud, the more she liked the sound of it. Sometime around 3 a.m., the decision was made.

***

Like the rest of her teammates, DeShields was on a natural high after the Sky won their first championship in franchise history. She rode that feeling through the celebratory parade and the days that followed. But when player exit interviews came and went, the reality that the Sky might be willing to let her go set in. On Nov. 23, she left for Italy, uncertain about her WNBA future.

“It wasn’t until I left to come overseas that it started to settle in that, like, OK, you’re a restricted free agent and might not be back in Chicago,” DeShields says. “It was kind of a hard pill for me to swallow at first, to be honest.”

DeShields’ decision to play overseas this offseason wasn’t about making extra income, as it is for most players. It was a personal one.

In 2020, DeShields played in only 13 games for the Sky before leaving the bubble in Bradenton, Fla., citing personal reasons at the time. Still recovering from a knee injury, she filled a limited role for Chicago, averaging 6.8 points in 17.2 minutes per game. Only a year earlier, she had been playing the best basketball of her career, leading the Sky with 16.2 points per game and being named to her first WNBA All-Star team. DeShields continued coming off the bench for most of 2021, and even though she was happy to do whatever it took to help the Sky win, she lost confidence in herself along the way.

“Obviously, it wasn’t a secret that my role had changed drastically on the team into something that I’d kind of never done before, with coming off the bench and not playing as many minutes as I was used to,” DeShields says. “And this is the second season that I was kind of going through that. I know I’m a dynamic player and I’m a team player. Like, sure, I’ll do this for the team, whatever you need from me to win. But I know I can do so much more. I know who I am.”

Playing for Schio gave DeShields a chance to find her rhythm, regain her confidence, work on her game and, perhaps most importantly, remind herself of the player she is. Through eight games in EuroLeague play, the 6-foot-1 guard is third on the team with 11.3 points per game to go along with 6.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 26.9 minutes per game.

Much like the distance between the United States and Italy, DeShields feels miles away from the player she was the last two seasons as she leads Schio into the EuroLeague playoffs, beginning Tuesday with a best-of-three quarterfinal series against USK Praha. But being overseas also made it difficult as she embarked on her first free agency.

DeShields, as a restricted free agent, could explore offers from other teams, but the Sky maintained the right to match those offers to try to retain her. While she knew they might let her walk, she had never anticipated leaving Chicago. From the start, it felt strange.

“I had made so many meaningful connections with the community and the organization. I had started to really have firm roots in the city and, emotionally, it’s just hard to part with that,” she says.

Even with her heart still in Chicago, DeShields mentally accepted that it was time to move on. She learned everything she could about WNBA free agency rules, the CBA and salary cap restrictions. Every meeting she had with interested teams happened over video, and other than her agent an ocean away, there was no one to help guide her through the ins and outs of the process.

DeShields’ mind swirled with all kinds of questions:

What do I say?
How do I go about these conversations?
What if I’m not really interested in this place or that place?
What if I am interested?

“No one really explains it to you,” DeShields says. “It was kind of like, [Mike] called me [and said], ‘When can I start reaching out to teams?’ I’m like, ‘I guess whenever you can.’ And then all of a sudden, it’s Zoom meetings — boom, boom, boom.”

DeShields had a checklist of things she was looking for in her new destination. She wanted to go to a team where she could contribute right away, a team with a solid mix of veterans and young players, a team that could contend for a championship and an organization that treated its players well and offered top-notch facilities and amenities. Lastly, she wanted a fresh start, a situation where she didn’t have any history with her teammates and coaches.

After DeShields spoke with about seven teams, there was mutual interest with four that fit her criteria, including Phoenix, Dallas and Los Angeles.

“[Diamond] was in a position where she could reinvent herself to get back to that 2019 [season] where more than half the teams would have offered the max contract for multiple years,” Cound says. “But we weren’t really there. Plus some teams that would have done it didn’t have it because of some decisions they’d made.”

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(Courtesy of Diamond DeShields)

Despite the difference in time zones and being restricted to Zoom calls instead of meetings in person, inquiring teams did the best they could to shower DeShields with praise and attention. Some teams had their entire staff on the call, others had her speak with the general manager one day and the coach the next. The methods were unique, but they compounded to create one lasting effect.

“It was pretty hot. I definitely felt wanted,” DeShields says. “It was nice to talk with teams who still believed in me as the player that I believed that I could be.”

***

One of Jim Pitman’s first phone calls during the opening weekend of free agency was to DeShields. The Mercury general manager wanted her to know he thought she’d be a great fit with the team.

“We really felt that we needed a bigger athletic wing to complement the pieces we already had on our team,” Pitman says. “We had always liked Diamond’s skill set, and when she became available, we made a play to get her. We believe she is one of the most athletic players in the league. Her ability to score and defend from the wing position, her skills in transition and her competitive spirit really fit with what we have put together in Phoenix.”

As soon as he got word from Cound that DeShields was on board, Pitman began working on the intricacies of what would become a three-team trade between Phoenix, Chicago and the Indiana Fever.

“After several calls with James Wade regarding a sign-and-trade deal and then eventually with Tamika Catchings as part of a three-team deal, we were able to agree on terms to get the trade done,” he says.

The Mercury, in return for DeShields, sent Bria Hartley plus their second-round picks in 2022 and 2023 to the Fever. The Fever received the Sky’s No. 7 pick in this year’s draft and their first-round pick in 2023, while the Sky acquired Julie Allemand from the Fever and the Mercury’s 2023 first-round pick. Once the trade was done, DeShields signed a fully protected, two-year contract with the Mercury for $150,000 in 2022 and $154,500 in 2023.

It wasn’t the max contract she appeared to be heading toward after her 2019 All-Star season, but given the challenges of the past two years and the WNBA’s salary-cap limitations, DeShields and Cound considered it a big win. It also didn’t hurt that DeShields was joining arguably the most stacked roster in the league with championship aspirations.

DeShields says the biggest lesson she learned is not to take these negotiations personally. There’s so much that is out of players’ control. Sometimes, decisions come down to the numbers and what teams are able to do under the salary cap.

“Having a job in the WNBA is one thing. Keeping a job is something totally different,” DeShields says. “And you have to understand your value in the league and the way the rest of the league sees you, right? They might not see you the way that you see yourself. You just gotta keep a level head in the process. You can get emotional highs and lows. But the best thing for me, what I did, I just let my agent do his job.”

Now that DeShields’ near WNBA future is settled, she can sit back and digest it all — even the part about playing with the same Mercury players who traded verbal and physical barbs with the Sky during the Finals.

“I’m sure we’ll have laughs about it and we’ll talk about it. I don’t know. Maybe they’re still pissed about it and they don’t want to talk about it,” DeShields says with a laugh. “I didn’t play as much in the Finals as I wanted to. So it wasn’t really hard for me to detach myself from that experience and put myself in the mentality of like, OK, now you’re on this other team and that’s it.”

DeShields is focused on the future and not the past. She wants to compete and knows that every time she steps in the gym with Skylar Diggins-Smith, Brittney Griner (whose situation in Russia is still pending), Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles and the rest of the Mercury’s stars, the competitive energy is going to be on fire. She’s excited to have fun again, take full advantage of the talent around her and even put up some triple-doubles.

“I see my entire skill set being displayed this summer,” DeShields says. “And that’s something I’m really looking forward to.”

Lyndsey D’Arcangelo is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports, covering the WNBA and college basketball. She also contributes to The Athletic and is the co-author of “Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League.” Follow Lyndsey on Twitter @darcangel21.

New York Liberty Lead 2025 WNBA Power Rankings

New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu celebrates a three-pointer during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
The New York Liberty lead the WNBA power rankings ahead of the 2025 season tip-off. (Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)

The New York Liberty will open the 2025 WNBA season at the top of the league's power rankings, drumming up high expectations despite a short-staffed roster.

Trailing the reigning champions at No. 2 are 2024 runners-up Minnesota, followed by 2023 champs Las Vegas at No. 3.

Fueled by this year's overall No. 2 draft pick Dominique Malonga, the Seattle Storm claimed No. 4 in the WNBA rankings, with the revamped Indiana Fever eyeing a 2025 turnaround at No. 5.

The betting market similarly reflects the league's latest forecast, with sportsbook FanDuel setting the Liberty's title odds at +210, followed by the Aces at +360, and the Lynx at +370.

The lines also support Indiana's promise, giving the Fever the fourth-best championship odds at +390 — far higher than the fifth-best Phoenix Mercury at +1,300.

On the other hand, the Dallas Wings, LA Sparks, Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun, and Golden State Valkyries occupy the rankings' bottom half, as 2025's potential lottery teams prepare to prove themselves against top-line squads this season.

The up-for-sale Sun and brand-new Valkyries have the longest title odds on FanDuel, clocking in at +50,000 each.

While preseason action has provided some quality sneak peeks, Friday's opening tip-off represents a fresh start for the league, one where anything can — and likely will — happen.

Seattle Storm and France international teammates Gabby Williams and Dominique Malonga smile before a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
France's Gabby Williams and Dominique Malonga will skip the 2025 Eurobasket to stay with Seattle. (Scott Eklund/NBAE via Getty Images)

European WNBA stars drop out of 2025 EuroBasket

Several European WNBA standouts announced they will skip out on this summer's FIBA EuroBasket, opting to prioritize league play following a pivotal 2024 Olympics.

Reigning Olympic silver medalists Gabby Williams and Dominique Malonga both confirmed they will not represent France at the European tournament in June, opting to remain with the Seattle Storm.

The duo's France teammate Carla Leite is also forgoing the trip, instead remaining with the Golden State Valkyries for the entirety of the expansion side's debut season.

As a major international tournament, the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket is exempt from the WNBA's prioritization rule, meaning eligible players can miss regular-season league play to compete in the overseas contest without being in violation of WNBA protocols.

The 2025 regional FIBA competition between Europe's top national teams will tip off on June 18th.

Alex Morgan Rejoins San Diego Wave as Minority Owner

San Diego Wave minority owner Alex Morgan wears a pink suit and smiles while sitting in gray stadium seats.
Alex Morgan retired from professional soccer in 2024. (San Diego Wave FC)

US soccer legend Alex Morgan is back in the game, becoming a minority owner of her former NWSL club by investing in the San Diego Wave FC on Tuesday.

One of the 2022 expansion side's first signings, Morgan captained the Wave to their 2023 NWSL Shield win before retiring in September 2024 as the team's all-time leader in both goals (28) and assists (11).

"San Diego is where I've built my home, where I am raising my children, and found a purpose beyond my playing career," Morgan said in a club statement. "I believed in Wave FC before a single match was played, and I still believe this club has the power to change the future of women's sports."

Morgan joins an ownership group led by the Leichtman-Levine family. The Leichtmans purchased the team from founding owner Ron Burkle at a reported $113 million valuation last year.

"Alex has always fought to positively impact this game beyond the pitch," said Wave FC controlling owner Lauren Leichtman. "Her decision to invest is not only a continuation of her leadership but also a reflection of her belief in what we are building."

The two-time World Cup champion appears to be making good on her desire to shape the women's sports landscape after hanging up her boots, also buying into Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball ahead of the league's early 2025 debut.

"I was on board [with Unrivaled] from day one," Morgan told Boardroom in January. "Fans want to see what a player's personality is and who they vibe with, what drives them, and I think that being able to mesh that with competition, it already [is] a home run here with Unrivaled. So it would be really exciting to do something with other women's sports as well."

Minnesota Enters Game 4 with 2-1 PWHL Semifinals Lead Over Toronto

Defender Lee Stecklein celebrates a goal during the 2025 PWHL semifinals with her Minnesota Frost teammates.
Minnesota holds a 2-1 series advantage over Toronto. (Michael Chisholm/Getty Images)

The Minnesota Frost offense is ruling the ice, as record-setting scoring has the reigning PWHL champions on the brink of returning to the Walter Cup finals, entering Wednesday's Game 4 on a 2-1 series lead over the Toronto Sceptres in the best-of-five semifinals. 

Just two days after No. 4-seed Minnesota leveled the series with a 5-3 Friday win — recording the most combined goals ever scored in a PWHL Playoff game — the Frost found yet another gear, winning the highest scoring game in the second-year league's history in Sunday’s 7-5 Game 3 defeat of No. 2-seed Toronto.

In Sunday's barnburner, 21 players earned points across the two teams, but it was Minnesota who claimed victory, never relinquishing their early lead after netting a trio of goals in the game's first eight minutes.

"Minnesota's a great team," Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said after the loss. "If you're putting yourself in a situation where you've got to chase them, it's an uphill battle."

"I think it’s a fan's dream and a coach's nightmare, a 7-5 playoff game," said Minnesota boss Ken Klee. "We found a way to win and that's the most important thing."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Minnesota skaters now own the league's 2025 Playoffs stat sheet, with four Frost players topping the points race.

More eyebrow-raising, however, is that the league's postseason offensive leader is a defender, as the Frost's Lee Stecklein has burned up the ice with three goals and three assists in the playoffs so far.

Calling her "outstanding" and "world-class," Klee sang Stecklein's praises while acknowledging that the postseason means Minnesota must "find different ways to score goals and different people have to contribute."

"[Stecklein] knows that, she exemplifies that, and that's why she's one of our leaders and one of our best players."

How to watch Minnesota vs. Toronto in the PWHL Semifinals

The defending champion Frost will hope to secure their spot in the 2025 PWHL Finals while the Sceptres aim to stave off elimination in the pair's next semifinals game on Wednesday.

The puck drops on Game 4 of the best-of-five series at 7 PM ET, with live coverage streaming on the PWHL YouTube channel.

Marta Comes Out of Retirement to Join Brazil National Team Roster

Marta looks up before the 2024 Olympic gold-medal match between Brazil and the USWNT.
Despite her 2024 international retirement, Marta will return to the Brazil team this month. (Cao Can/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Soccer legend Marta is officially returning to the canary yellow kit, earning a Brazil national team call-up just over nine months after her planned retirement from international duty.

Brazil head coach Arthur Elias named Marta to the world No. 8 Seleção's roster on Tuesday, with the 39-year-old icon returning for the team's upcoming home friendlies against No. 5 Japan on May 30th and June 2nd.

"I was with Marta recently and spoke with her," Elias told reporters on Tuesday. "She said she is available to help the team while she is playing at a high level, as she is now."

Stellar club form fuels Marta's Brazil return

Marta, who hung up her international boots after snagging a third silver Olympic medal at the 2024 Paris Games, hasn't missed a beat since, captaining the Orlando Pride to the club's first-ever NWSL Shield and Championship last fall.

In the process, the scoring phenom claimed the league's Best XI First Team honors, as well as finalist nods for both the 2024 NWSL MVP and Midfielder of the Year awards.

Unsurprisingly, the Pride inked Marta to a two-year contract extension in January.

While Marta's consistently impressive form fueled Elias's request to lure her out of retirement, the manager is also hoping her unmatched leadership will bolster younger athletes as Brazil takes aim at a record-extending ninth Copa América title this summer — and, as the host nation, a deep 2027 World Cup run.

Joining the legend on Tuesday's roster are fellow Brazil veterans Lorena and Debinha, from the NWSL-leading Kansas City Current, and Marta's Orlando teammate Angelina.

"[Marta's] presence in some call-ups is very important for the younger players, for the renewal that is taking place in the national team," explained Elias. "We really want expectations to rise for the women's national team and for football in our country."

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