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Aces waive top pick Mya Hollingshed after trading up draft board

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Mya Hollingshed (21) was selected No. 8 overall in the WNBA Draft. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Aces have waived Mya Hollingshed and Khayla Pointer – the No. 8 and No. 13 overall picks from this year’s WNBA draft, respectively – the team announced Monday.

Las Vegas acquired both picks in a pre-draft trade with the Minnesota Lynx. The Aces swapped their first and second round picks in 2023 in exchange for the 2022 selections.

“This trade with Minnesota gives us the opportunity to acquire the players to further strengthen our talented veteran team,” Aces general manager Natalie Williams said in a statement at the time.

Yet the selection of Hollingshed raised eyebrows on draft night. In a mock draft for Just Women’s Sports, analyst Rachel Galligan slotted the Colorado forward as a third round pick. She averaged 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in her final season with the Buffaloes and shot 39.6 percent from 3-point range.

Pointer averaged 19.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in her final season for LSU before her selection by the Aces, which reunited her — if briefly — with her aunt and former LSU coach Nikki Fargas, now the president of Aces.

The Aces entered the draft with five draft picks. No. 11 overall pick Kierstan Bell and No. 23 overall pick Aisha Sheppard remain with the Aces, while No. 35 Faustine Aifuwa was cut on April 19.