The first major domino of the WNBA offseason fell this weekend, as the Liberty acquired Jonquel Jones from the Sun in a three-team trade. The deal, which also included the Wings, ends Jones’ six-year stint with the Sun, the team that drafted her in 2016.

In the trade, New York acquired Jones and Kayla Thornton from Dallas. In return, Connecticut gets Tyasha Harris from Dallas, plus Rebecca Allen and the No. 6 pick in the 2023 draft from New York. The Wings receive Crystal Dangerfield and Natasha Howard from the Liberty.

Just Women’s Sports assigns a grade to each team based on the deal.

New York Liberty: A

Let’s start with the obvious: The Liberty dominated this trade. They get a former MVP in Jones, who also happens to be one of the league’s most versatile players, as well as a consistent utility player in Thornton.

Howard represents the biggest loss for the Liberty in the deal, not only because of her talent (she’s a two-time All-Star and an excellent defender) but also because of her experience. The 31-year-old forward has three titles to her name.

Still, Jones is an upgrade. Statistically, she is better in nearly every category — and at 6-foot-6, Jones is a walking mismatch on offense and defense. She’s the kind of player that can push a team like the Liberty from barely making the playoffs to winning a title. With stars Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney locked in, and Marine Johannes and Han Xu likely to return, the roster already is in good shape.

And the Liberty could get even better going forward. Jones will take a big chunk of money, but not so much that the Liberty can’t sign another top free agent. That means Breanna Stewart is still on the table. And if she signs with the Liberty – the only other team besides the Storm she met with last offseason – New York will loom even larger in title contention talks.

✔️ 2021 WNBA MVP
✔️ 4x WNBA All-Star
✔️ 4x All-WNBA Team
✔️ 3x WNBA Rebounding Leader
✔️ 2x WNBA All-Defensive Team@jus242 is like THAT!🗽 pic.twitter.com/iM8LpeeCF1

— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) January 16, 2023

Dallas Wings: A

This is an A trade for the Wings as well. With Allisha Gray rumored to be on the move at some point this offseason, adding another guard in Dangerfield (albeit not one of Gray’s caliber) is good for the Wings.

With Howard, the nine-year veteran, Dallas gets a solid scorer, rebounder and defender. Last year’s Wings team was led by guards, as Arike Ogunbowale, Marina Mabrey and Gray were the top three scorers. Adding a post player to the scoring mix will give Dallas a more versatile attack and another scoring option if/when Gray leaves.

Expect a lot more movement on the Wings’ roster before the offseason ends, as Isabelle Harrison and Teaira McCowan are both free agents (Harrison unrestricted, McCowan restricted). The addition of Howard gives the team room to negotiate.

🧡🧡 Thank You Connecticut 🧡🧡 pic.twitter.com/NlTjM6J6Dx

— Jonquel Jones (@jus242) January 16, 2023

Connecticut Sun: D+

The majority of the time, if you trade a former MVP who also happens to be your best player, you’re not on the winning side of the deal. But the Sun didn’t have much choice when it came to dealing Jonquel Jones, and that’s the only reason this grade is a D+ and not a D or an F.

There have been rumors swirling in the WNBA space for a while now about Jones being ready to move on from the Sun. She re-signed last season, but after coming up short in the WNBA Finals and going through a coaching change, it makes sense that she wants to get a fresh start with a new franchise. And according to Rachel Galligan of Winsidr and Just Women’s Sports, Jones told the Sun that the Liberty was the team she wanted to join.

Jones would have been a free agent next offseason if she stayed in Connecticut, so the Sun had no choice but to get a deal done. If they chose not to honor her wishes, Jones likely would sit out or remain unhappy throughout the 2023 season only to walk in free agency, leaving the Sun with nothing to show for their 2021 MVP. They had to get something in return for Jones.

Still, a fanbase won’t be thrilled with a “it-could-have-been-worse” mindset, and they shouldn’t be. The hope was, of course, to keep Jones. But now, the Sun have to turn their attention to keeping Brionna Jones, one of the top free agents in the league. Losing both players would equal a disastrous offseason.

As for the Sun’s return in the trade, Harris has been a traditional, pass-first guard in her first three years, all spent in Dallas. Her numbers have stayed consistent since her rookie season in 2020, but she hasn’t had a breakout season. If she does, then the trade looks a bit better for the Sun.

Allen is a career 36.9% 3-point shooter, and after spending seven seasons with the Liberty, she brings a veteran presence to Connecticut. The Sun also need shooters, as without Jonquel Jones, they only have one player who gets consistent minutes and shoots over 35%. As far as role players go, Allen is a good get.

Adding to their already historic season, 2024/25 WSL champions and 2025 League Cup winners Chelsea FC handed Manchester United a 3-0 defeat in Sunday's 2025 FA Cup final, completing the club's second-ever domestic treble.

Though the Blues first claimed an elusive treble in the 2020/21 season, this year's roster did so without dropping a single match in any of the three domestic competitions.

"I could not have expected this," said first-year Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor about her debut success leading the Blues. "It is almost ideal in terms of domestic dominance."

To clinch that dominance, Chelsea upended the defending FA Cup champs Manchester United at London's iconic Wembley Stadium behind a brace from French fullback Sandy Baltimore and a header from USWNT attacker Catarina Macario.

Baltimore gave Chelsea the lead by slipping a late first-half penalty past 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove winner and USWNT goalkeeper prospect Phallon Tullis-Joyce, and the Blues never relented, with second-half sub Macario doubling their scoreline in the 84th minute before Baltimore tacked on a final goal in stoppage time.

"It's a very emotional day," an emotional Macario told the broadcast after finishing her first season following a long ACL recovery. "It's a trophy we always wanted to win."

"All the credit to my players," said Bompastor. "We showed our mentality and our values in this game so we ended the season in an almost perfect scenario – we won, we were playing at Wembley, the stadium was nearly sold out, and we had a strong performance and result against a strong opponent."

"It is an almost ideal way to finish the season."

FA Cup crowds prove sustained demand for women's soccer

Chelsea FC's undefeated treble-winning season wasn't the only notable victory on Sunday, as the FA Cup final drew a crowd of over 74,000 fans for the third straight year.

Sunday's 74,412 attendance mark was just shy of both last year's crowd of 76,082 and the 77,390 fans who watched Chelsea defeat the Red Devils in 2023 — all well beyond the tournament final's previous record of 49,094 attendees achieved in 2022.

Fueled by the football fervor following England's 2022 Euro victory — the country's first international trophy, men's or women's, since the 1966 men's World Cup — the 2023 FA Cup final still stands as the largest crowd at a domestic women's soccer match across all nations.

With Sunday's match joining the over-74,000 attendance club, it's clear the post-Euros enthusiasm wasn't a blip, but a boost to the continued growth and sustained success of the women's game.

While most WNBA stars hit the court running this weekend, a few saw their 2025 campaigns already shortened as teams released season-opening injury reports.

Phoenix forward Kahleah Copper will miss four to six weeks of play, the Mercury reported on Saturday, after the 2024 Olympic gold medalist underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on her left knee last week.

Another knee injury has LA's Rae Burrell sidelined for the next six to eight weeks, after the fourth-year guard took a knock to the right leg just 41 seconds into the Sparks' 2025 debut win over Golden State.

On Friday, the Mystics released updates on both second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards and rookie guard Georgia Amoore. While another assessment of the Unrivaled 1v1 runner-up's back injury will occur in two more weeks, Washington confirmed that the Australian standout will miss the entire 2025 WNBA season after undergoing a successful surgery to repair her right ACL.

Seattle's Katie Lou Samuelson is also out for the full 2025 campaign, with the 27-year-old Storm forward recovering from last week's successful surgery after tearing her right ACL in practice on May 1st.

Kitley makes long-awaited WNBA debut as Brink eyes return

In more uplifting news, LA's Cameron Brink is on track to return to the Sparks sometime next month, one year after her standout rookie season came to a halt in a left ACL tear.

Already celebrating, however, is 2024 second-round draftee Elizabeth Kitley, who battled back from injury to make her WNBA debut and score her first league points in Las Vegas's Saturday loss to New York.

The Aces took a draft chance on Kitley, despite the center suffering an ACL tear in her final NCAA postseason. In response, the former Virginia Tech star successfully translated her year-long delayed shot at a pro career by surviving Las Vegas's brutal 2025 roster cuts.

Notably, Kitley's close friend and collegiate on-court counterpart with the Hokies is the aforementioned Amoore, who will aim for a rookie-season redo of her own next year.

The No. 1 Kansas City Current strengthened their grip on the 2025 NWSL Shield race on Friday, taking down now-No. 3 Orlando 1-0 on the road to earn a four-point lead atop of the NWSL table.

Reigning league MVP Temwa Chawinga scored the top-table game's lone goal. With five goals in nine matches, Chawinga now sits in a four-way tie for second place in the 2025 Golden Boot race.

"If you don't come with heart, you have no chance," Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the match. "And today I think we showed heart."

Kansas City now stands 7-2-0 on the season, putting the NWSL Shield firmly within their grasp.

Kansas City's rise aside, the weekend's biggest drama hovered near the playoff line.

Gotham FC fell to No. 2 San Diego 1-0 on Friday, sending the Bats skidding to No. 8 on a three-game winless streak while boxing No. 9 North Carolina out of playoff contention — despite the rising Courage securing their third win in four games with Saturday's 2-0 victory over last-place Chicago.

"Obviously, we were hot for a little bit, and teams have slumps all the time, so now it's just finding a way," Gotham midfielder Jaelin Howell said of the team's recent struggles.

While some rebuilds soar, last year's postseason contenders are still finding their way as the league moves into the second third of the 2025 season.

Indiana's 35-point blowout win over Chicago wasn't Saturday's only newsmaker, as a controversial foul on Sky forward Angel Reese by Fever guard Caitlin Clark sparked intense off-court conversations and a WNBA investigation into subsequent fan misconduct.

Clark's third-quarter foul against Reese incited a brief dust-up between the second-year stars, with Clark's offense upgraded to a Flagrant 1 while Reese and Fever center Aliyah Boston picked up a pair of offsetting technicals for their reactions.

"Basketball play. Refs got it right. Move on," Reese said after the game, while Clark told reporters, "It was just a good play on the basketball. I'm not sure what the ref saw to upgrade it, and that's up to their discretion."

Immediately following the flagrant ruling, however, Indiana fans allegedly directed racially charged remarks toward Reese, prompting the league to open an investigation on Sunday.

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Officials acknowledged allegations of racist abuse inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, saying the WNBA "strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms," and that they're "looking into the matter."

"We stand firm in our commitment to providing a safe environment for all WNBA players," said Pacers Sports & Entertainment CEO Mel Raines, who oversees the Fever, in a statement.

"We will do everything in our power to protect Chicago Sky players, and we encourage the league to continue taking meaningful steps to create a safe environment for all WNBA players," echoed Sky CEO and president Adam Fox.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Fever-related fan misconduct has taken center stage, as last season's storylines start to spill over into the 2025 WNBA campaign.

In anticipation of the issue, the league launched "No Space for Hate" on Thursday, describing the campaign as "a multi-dimensional platform designed to combat hate and promote respect across all WNBA spaces — from online discourse to in-arena behavior."