The NWSL kicked off the new year with a bang on Thursday, as Angel City FC, the Portland Thorns, Gotham FC and the Orlando Pride all participated in a blockbuster trade a week ahead of the NWSL Draft.

In the first trade of the package deal, Angel City sent Portland their natural first-round pick in next Thursday’s draft, their highest natural second-round pick in the 2024 NWSL draft and $200,000 in allocation money. In return, Los Angeles received the rights to 23-year-old midfielder Yazmeen Ryan.

Angel City then made a deal with Gotham FC, sending Ryan and $250,000 in allocation money to New Jersey in return for the No. 1 pick in this year’s NWSL draft. This deal is reportedly contingent on conditions being met, which Jeff Kassouf of ESPN and The Equalizer indicates is 18-year-old Stanford commit Alyssa Thompson turning pro and declaring for the 2022 draft. The deadline for players to register for the draft is 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 9.

In a separate trade, Gotham sent $350,000 in allocation money and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft to the Orlando Pride for the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft.

In summary, Angel City now holds the first overall pick in the 2023 NWSL draft, Gotham FC adds Ryan to their midfield and holds the rights to the No. 2 pick, Orlando adds $350,000 in allocation money, and Portland adds $200,000, the No. 5 pick in this year’s draft and a second-round pick in 2024.

Each team involved made big moves before draft day, but who are the winners here?

Angel City FC

Well, it all depends on the top prospect available in the draft, but a reported contingency plan whittles the options down to one player.

Angel City’s sights appear to be set on Thompson, as first reported by Kevin Baxter of the LA Times. The 18-year-old phenom and California native earned her first cap with the USWNT first team in October and is currently committed to play her freshman year at Stanford in the fall. But she will reportedly follow in the footsteps of Trinity Rodman and register for the NWSL draft prior to her first collegiate season.

With Thursday’s moves, Angel City set themselves up to add a young cornerstone to the franchise, but they gave up a lot of money to get there. Relinquishing $450,000 in allocation money could restrict their ability to sign other players in the transfer market. So, the question remains whether Angel City is set up to win now, or if they’re still one or two pieces away.

Gotham FC

Gotham benefits immensely from Angel City’s desire to grab a guarantee at the top of the draft order. Ryan is an excellent creative midfielder who is coming off a career-making performance in the 2022 NWSL Championship. She’s young, fills a clear club need and will no doubt help create chances for a team that struggled to score goals in 2022.

Gotham also essentially gets paid for picking up Ryan, allowing them to send just $100,000 in net allocation money to Orlando for what is likely their first-choice pick anyway. If Thompson is Angel City’s main target, Gotham is next in line for Duke sophomore Michelle Cooper who, in tandem with Ryan, would radically change the club’s goal-scoring outlook and midfield fluidity. Cooper, a proven goal-scorer at both the college and youth international levels, officially registered for the draft on Thursday. She scored 31 goals and registered 16 assists in two college seasons and recently won the Golden Ball while representing the United States at the Concacaf U-20 Championship.

When it comes to the biggest winners of this deal, Gotham made out like bandits.

Orlando Pride

The Pride also have the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft, so they aren’t entirely giving up the opportunity to grab a talented rookie through the college system. They also get a huge payday for their troubles, which can be used in the free-agency market. The Pride are in the second stage of a rebuild, with a good group of young players and a strong veteran presence in Marta, who re-signed with the club in December through 2024. The Pride’s ability to attract a superstar in the prime of their career could be what makes them a contender or not.

Portland Thorns

Ryan is a big loss, and it’s unclear how much the Thorns needed extra allocation money to move around. They still have a very strong midfield core of Crystal Dunn, Rocky Rodriguez, Sam Coffey, Olivia Moultrie and Christine Sinclair, but the main factor in their willingness to give Ryan up might be Lindsey Horan’s impending return from Olympique Lyon, where she was on loan.

The Thorns also now have two picks in the first round of this year’s draft at No. 5 and No. 12, and they have a chance to acquire more depth next year. Portland’s roster still looks stacked for a repeat NWSL Championship bid, but letting go of Ryan could come back to haunt them later.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Hailey Van Lith is reportedly on her way to TCU, says Talia Goodman of The Next Hoops.

The former Louisville star joined LSU for the 2023-24 season, but a disappointing run in Baton Rouge saw her enter the transfer portal once again at the season’s end. Van Lith opted to use her fifth year of eligibility versus declaring for the WNBA draft.

Van Lith was admittedly less effective as a Tiger. Her field goal percentage decreased from .411 in 2022-23 with Louisville to .388 at LSU. She also went from averaging 19.7 points per game to just 11.6, due in part to a change of position from shooting guard to more of a point guard role.

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At an end-of-season banquet last week, LSU coach Kim Mulkey used her speech to wish Van Lith well, calling her "one of the hardest working players that I’ve ever coached."

"Her aspirations were to get drafted this year," Mulkey said, according to NOLA.com. "And she realized, 'I need another year, and I need to go back to a place where I can relax and get back to my normal position.'

"And what do you do? You hug her, and you wish her well."

The decision to commit to TCU may come as a surprise after Van Lith paid a visit to Mississippi State last weekend. The Horned Frogs finished out the 2023-24 season 21-12 overall, coming in 9th in the Big 12 and scoring an average of 69.5 points per game. The program also made headlines in January when they held mid-season open tryouts in response to an onslaught of sidelining injuries.

For the first time in the NWSL's 12-year history, fans can now buy their own goalkeeper jerseys. And while replica goalkeeper jerseys representing all 14 NWSL teams hit the market on Wednesday, some didn't stick around for long. 

Fans across women's soccer have long vocalized their discontent over the position's lack of availability on social media, often comparing the shortcoming to the widespread availability of men’s goalkeeper jerseys. And as the NWSL has grown, so has demand — and not just from those in the stands. 

"To have goalkeeper kits available for fans in the women’s game as they have been for so long in the men’s game is not only a long-awaited move in the right direction, it’s just good business," said Washington Spirit goalie Aubrey Kingsbury in an team press release. "I can’t wait to see fans representing me, Barnie [Barnhart], and Lyza in the stands at Audi!"

just went looking at #nwsl goalkeeper kit stock out of curiosity — Alyssa Naeher's $145 kit already sold out S-XL (league announced GK jerseys on sale 3 hours ago)https://t.co/8bYA7tlwcx

— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) April 17, 2024

Business does, in fact, appear to be booming. Alyssa Naeher’s Chicago Red Stars kit sold out less than three hours after the league's announcement. Jerseys for other keepers like DiDi Haračić, Abby Smith, Michelle Betos, Katelyn Rowland, and Bella Bixby aren’t currently available via the Official NWSL Shop, though blank goalkeeper jerseys can be customized through some individual team sites. Jerseys start at $110 each.

"This should be the benchmark," said Spirit Chief Operations Officer Theresa McDonnell. "The expectation is that all players’ jerseys are available to fans. Keepers are inspiring leaders and mentors with their own unique fan base who want to represent them... I can’t wait to see them all over the city."

Decorated gymnast Simone Biles took to the popular Call Her Daddy podcast this week to open up about her experience at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, revealing she thought she was going to be "banned from America" for her performance.

After Biles botched her vault routine due to a bout of the "twisties," she withdrew from the team final as well as the all-around final in order to focus on her mental health. She later reentered the competition to win bronze in the individual balance beam final.

In her interview with podcast host Alex Cooper, Biles admitted to feeling like she let the entire country down by failing her vault attempt.

"As soon as I landed I was like 'Oh, America hates me. The world is going to hate me. I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now,'" she recalled thinking. "I was like, ‘Holy s---, what are they gonna say about me?'"

"I thought I was going to be banned from America," she continued. "That’s what they tell you: Don’t come back if not gold. Gold or bust. Don’t come back."

Widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time, Biles has hinted at a desire to join her third Olympic team in Paris, though her participation won't be confirmed until after the gymnastics trials in late June. She holds over 30 medals from the Olympic Games and World Artistic Gymnastics Championships combined, and if qualified, would be a sure favorite heading into this summer’s games.

Caitlin Clark is reportedly close to cementing a hefty endorsement deal with Nike.

The Athletic was the first to break the news Wednesday evening, commenting that the deal would be worth "eight figures" and include her own signature shoe. On Thursday afternoon, the publication tweeted that the deal would top $20 million, according to lead NBA Insider Shams Charania. Both Under Armour and Adidas are said to have also made sizable offers to the college phenom and expected future WNBA star.

The new agreement comes after Clark's previous Nike partnership ended with the conclusion of the college basketball season. She was one of five NCAA athletes to sign an NIL deal with the brand back in October, 2022. 

Considering Clark's overwhelming popularity and Nike's deep pockets, the signing's purported value doesn't exactly come as a shock. New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu’s deal with the brand is reportedly worth $24 million, while NBA rookie and No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama’s deal is rumored to weigh in at $100 million. And in 2003, LeBron James famously earned $90 million off his own Nike deal. 

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Clark’s star power continues to skyrocket, with the NCAA championship averaging 18.9 million viewers and the 2024 WNBA Draft more than doubling its previous viewership record. Following the draft, Fanatics stated that Clark's Indiana Fever jersey — which sold out within an hour — was the top seller for any draft night pick in the company’s history, with droves of unlucky fans now being forced to wait until August to get their hands on some official No. 22 gear.

In Wednesday's Indiana Fever introductory press conference, the unfailingly cool, calm, and collected Clark said that turning pro hasn’t made a huge impact on how she’s conducting her deals.

"If I’m being completely honest, I feel like it doesn’t change a ton from how I lived my life over the course of the last year," she said. "Sponsorships stay the same. The people around me, agents and whatnot, have been able to help me and guide me through the course of the last year. I don’t know if I would be in this moment if it wasn’t for a lot of them."