The Orlando Pride have made big moves in the past few weeks – trading Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris to Gotham FC and Alex Morgan to San Diego (in a trade that isn’t yet official) – which means there will be plenty of fresh faces for new coach Amanda Cromwell. Pride general manager Ian Fleming recognizes that, and he’s embracing the challenge.
“We are respecting the wishes of some of our veteran players as we kind of look at starting this thing fresh,” Fleming said Wednesday. “But we’re gonna keep adding and we’re going to get a little bit younger.”
It’s unclear what the Pride will be getting in exchange for Morgan, as they continue to decline comment until the trade window reopens following the expansion draft. But in exchange for Krieger and Harris, the club received a 2022 First Round Pick, a 2023 Third Round Pick and $50,000 in allocation money.
Fleming alluded to those picks on Wednesday, stating that the team is looking to draft a bit higher if possible.
“We’re looking at different… ways of getting up on the draft board a little higher,” he said. “Knowing that this is the direction that we want to go and that we’re looking to sort of retool a bit.”
He also addressed the rumors of Marta leaving for Brazil, stating that his understanding is that “there isn’t anything substantial there.”