The Connecticut Sun are sending 2021 WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones to the New York Liberty in a three-team trade also involving the Dallas Wings, the teams announced on Monday. The news had previously been reported by multiple outlets.

Jones requested the trade to the Liberty after meeting with multiple teams during the offseason, according to Rachel Galligan of Winsidr and Just Women’s Sports. In exchange for Jones, New York will send Rebecca Allen and the No. 6 pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft to Connecticut and Natasha Howard to Dallas. The Wings will also receive the contract rights to Liberty guard Crystal Dangerfield and will send Kayla Thornton to New York and Tyasha Harris to Connecticut.

The three-team trade sending Jonquel Jones to the Liberty has gone through, per @Winsidr

New York receives:
- Jonquel Jones
- Kayla Thornton

Connecticut receives:
- No. 6 draft pick
- Rebecca Allen
- Ty Harris

Dallas receives:
- Natasha Howard
- Crystal Dangerfield rights pic.twitter.com/idJ533Xmi1

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) January 16, 2023

Jones, 29, was in the final year of her contract with the Sun. Connecticut recently hired Stephanie White as head coach after Curt Miller left the Sun in October to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks.

The Bahamian forward will join a Liberty team with a promising young core led by guard Sabrina Ionescu, who made her first All-Star team last year after New York selected her with the first overall pick in 2020. The Liberty are coming off playoff appearances in 2021 and 2022 after missing the postseason for three straight years. The original WNBA franchise hired champion coach Sandy Brondello away from the Phoenix Mercury before last season.

In 2022, Jones led the Sun to their second WNBA Finals appearance in four years after averaging a team-leading 14.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. The four-time WNBA All-Star was named the league’s Most Improved Player in 2017 and the Sixth Player of the Year in 2018 before winning the MVP award in 2021. The 6-foot-6 forward had spent her entire career with the Sun since they acquired her draft rights from L.A. in 2016.

With Jonquel Jones off the books, the Sun plan to use the extra cap space to core forward Brionna Jones by the league deadline on Friday, according to ESPN. An unrestricted free agent, Brionna Jones will not be able to sign a contract directly with another team under the core designation. The 27-year-old was the WNBA’s Most Improved Player in 2021 and Sixth Player of the Year in 2022.

Based on the WNBA’s free agency timeline, teams can issue qualifying offers and designate core players until Friday. Free agents can begin negotiating with teams on Jan. 21 and signing contracts on Feb. 1.

The Liberty are likely to court Seattle Storm superstar Breanna Stewart again in free agency. The trade for Jones actually freed up cap space for New York, so Stewart remains a tantalizing possibility.

Stewart met with New York brass as a free agent last year before ultimately signing a one-year, supermax deal with the Storm for Sue Bird’s final season. The two-time WNBA champion and 2018 MVP is a native of Syracuse, N.Y.

The Wings will add the veteran Howard to a young team built around Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally. After making the 2022 postseason and winning their first playoff game since 2009, Dallas replaced Vickie Johnson with first-year head coach Latricia Trammell in the offseason.

The Sun return 2022 All-Star Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and DiJonai Carrington to the 2023 roster, along with Brionna Jones. The team is still searching for its first championship after falling to the Las Vegas Aces in four games in last year’s Finals.

Baseball dreams became a reality last Thursday, as the Women's Professional Baseball League (WPBL) held its first-ever draft ahead of four-team league's 2026 inaugural season.

WPBL side San Francisco selected pitcher and outfielder Kelsie Whitmore first overall, with the 27-year-old officially becoming the first member of a US women's professional baseball league since the legendary World War II-era AAGPBL folded in 1954.

No stranger to making baseball history, Whitmore has primarily played on men's pro teams throughout her career, becoming the first women to start and to pitch in the MLB partner Atlantic League in 2022 before also breaking multiple glass ceilings in the Pioneer League in 2024.

"I truly didn't know if this moment would come, to be able to have a women's professional baseball league while I'm still in the prime of my career," said Whitmore.

WPBL teams select international stars for debut rosters

While the Savannah Bananas alum is the first member of San Francisco's roster, Los Angeles used its No. 2 pick to snag five-time World Cup winner Ayami Sato — a 35-year-old pitcher from Japan — while New York took former University of Washington softball infielder Kylee Lahners at No. 3 and Boston began its lineup by picking South Korean star catcher Hyeonah Kim at No. 4.

Notably, 24-year-old center fielder Mo'Ne Davis also earned a Top-10 overall selection, with LA tapping the former 2014 Little League World Series pitching star for its debut roster.

Now at 30 players each, the four debut WPBL teams will next whittle their lineups down to 15 players before the inaugural 2026 season.

With five countries — Japan, South Korea, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and the US — represented in the first nine picks in Thursday's WPBL Draft, the sport's global best will be heading to Illinois to kick off baseball's newest era in August.

"[The WPBL is] not just for me, but for a lot of young girls. They now have a platform to look up to," noted Whitmore. "Maybe my daughter one day will be able to play in the league."

The New York Liberty reportedly landed a boss, with multiple sources linking longtime Golden State Warriors assistant coach Chris DeMarco to the 2024 WNBA champions' head coaching vacancy late last week.

After first joining the Warriors as an intern in 2012, the 40-year-old worked through the Golden State ranks to serve in both an assistant and player development capacity for the NBA side.

Exiting as as front-of-bench assistant, DeMarco aided the team to an impressive four NBA championships (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022) during his tenure.

DeMarco also has experience on the international sideline, leading the Bahama men's national team from June 2019 until August 2025.

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Recent WNBA hiring trends have favored NBA vets, with Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Alex Sarama recently named head coach of 2026 expansion side Portland while Seattle tapped former Memphis Grizzlies assistant Sonia Raman as the Storm's new sideline leader.

According to ESPN, additional top candidates for the New York Liberty opening vacated by now-Toronto Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello included Toronto Raptors assistant Jama Mahlalela, ex-Brooklyn Nets and current Charlotte Hornets assistant Will Weaver, and former assistant to the NBA's Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks Kristi Toliver, the current associate head coach for the Phoenix Mercury.

As all but two Liberty players enter free agency, New York is aiming to keep stars like Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu on its roster — with the hiring of DeMarco potentially playing game-changer in some of those contract negotiations.

ESPN reported that Bay Area product Ionescu apparently reached out to Golden State Warriors icon Steph Curry to ask about DeMarco as part of the hiring process.

Dallas has once again jumped to the front of the line, as the Wings locked down the No. 1 overall pick at the 2026 WNBA Draft, scoring the top draft selection for the second straight year at Sunday's lottery.

The Wings selected UConn star guard Paige Bueckers with last year's No. 1 pick, with the NCAA champion going on to win 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year.

"We've got an exciting young group, and we really bond together," said Dallas Wings forward and 2023's overall No. 3 draftee Maddy Siegrist. "I'm excited to bring someone else in."

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In the rest of Sunday night's 2026 lottery results, the league's rich got richer, with 2025 WNBA playoff contenders the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm claiming the No. 2 and No. 3 picks, respectively, after both teams gained draft assets via trades.

The Washington Mystics will boost their already impressive young roster with the fourth draft pick in April, while the Chicago Sky snagged the fifth and final lottery spot on Sunday.

With 2026 WNBA season expanding to 15 teams, the league's two incoming expansion sides — the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire — will select in the Nos. 6 and 7 spots.

As for the 2026 class, top NCAA prospects including UConn guard Azzi Fudd, UCLA center Lauren Betts, and TCU guard Olivia Miles — as well as international star Awa Fam from Spain — are likely to earn early selections in April's WNBA Draft.

The first Top 10 classic of the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season delivered on Friday, as No. 1 UConn survived No. 6 Michigan 72-69 — just barely keeping their unbeaten streak alive.

Guards on both sides stood out, with Husky senior Azzi Fudd scoring a game-high 31 points while Wolverine sophomore Syla Swords put UConn on notice with 29 points of her own.

"Those are two of the best shooters in the country playing tonight against each other," Huskies boss Geno Auriemma said postgame. "They both put on quite a show."

UConn started strong in the first half, but a dominant third quarter from the Wolverines saw the Huskies' 17-point lead dwindle before Fudd got hot from behind the arc.

"I was proud how we stuck together, and we figured it out in the end," Fudd said afterwards.

While defending national champ UConn remains on top of the early 2025/26 NCAA field, the star is rising for Michigan and their 5-1 record, as the Wolverines jumped eight spots in last week's AP Poll — with another leap possible when the rankings update on Monday afternoon.

Elsewhere, the weekend's lineup featured a few other successful upset bids, with No. 24 Notre Dame taking down No. 11 USC 61-59 behind a gritty 22-point performance from Irish star guard Hannah Hidalgo on Friday and unranked mid-major Rhode Island stunning No. 16 NC State with a 68-63 Wolfpack loss on Sunday.