The Minnesota Lynx made headlines on Sunday, as the league leaders finalized a trade to acquire 2024 WNBA Most Improved Player DiJonai Carrington from the No. 11 Dallas Wings.
In return for sending Carrington to Minnesota, Sunday's trade saw Dallas receive forward Diamond Miller, guard Karlie Samuelson, and a second-round pick in the 2027 draft.
Minnesota's move to secure Carrington comes in the wake of No. 2 New York successfully signing 2019 WNBA champion Emma Meesseman, with the Belgium international logging 11 points in her Liberty debut — an 87-78 win over the last-place Connecticut Sun on Sunday.
"She made the wrong choice," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said of Meesseman's decision, after the 2025 EuroBasket champ reportedly considered joining Minnesota for her WNBA return.
As for the Wings, Dallas now appears to be shifting gears.
After stocking up on veteran talent like Carrington and forward NaLyssa Smith during the offseason, this weekend's trade — alongside the Sunday waiving of veteran Wings center Teaira McCowan — has Dallas seemingly undertaking a more methodical, youth-focused rebuild around their 2025 WNBA Draft No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers.
In addition to this weekend's roster refresh, the Wings previously dealt Smith away to the No. 7 Las Vegas Aces earlier this summer, snagging a 2027 first-round draft pick in return.
Before grabbing top talent in 2027, however, Dallas could be on track to snag a second straight No. 1 pick, as the Wings are currently skidding toward a shot at securing the top 2026 draftee.
The Dallas Wings acquired Teaira McCowan from the Indiana Fever on Tuesday in exchange for the No. 4 and No. 6 overall picks in the 2022 WNBA Draft as well as the Wings’ 2023 first round pick.
Dallas will also receive the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft and a first round pick in 2023 from the Chicago Sky, which was previously acquired by Indiana.
We have acquired Teaira McCowan from the Indiana Fever.
— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) March 8, 2022
The Brenham, Texas kid is coming home to the Lone Star State!
“Teaira is one of the most dominant, young post players in the WNBA today,” Dallas Wings President & CEO Greg Bibb stated. “We are fortunate to add a player of her caliber to our team. Her size and skill will help solidify our interior post presence as we continue to build our talented roster.”
The former third overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft had a career season in 2021, averaging 11.3 pints, 9.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. Her 9.6 rebounds was the third-best average in the WNBA and she was fifth in the league in shot blocks. Through the past three seasons, McCowan recorded 28 double-doubles, good for third most in the league behind last season’s league MVP Jonquel Jones (33) and Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles (31).
Her 308 total rebounds in 2021 also set an Indiana Fever single-season record, which she owned from her rookie year in 2019 with 305 total rebounds.
The Fever now own the No. 2, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 10 overall selections in the first round of the 2022 draft.
In January, the team waived former No. 4 overall pick Kysre Gondrezick. She was the second top 5 overall pick to be waived by the team in consecutive seasons after the club waived Lauren Cox at the beginning of last season after just two seasons with the team.
“We thank Teaira for all she did with the Fever franchise in her three years with the organization and wish her the best moving forward. This was a trade offer that made sense for both teams as we head into the 2022 regular season and we are now focused on 2, 4, 6 and 10,” Interim General Manager and Senior Advisor for Basketball Operations Lin Dunn said.
The trade will be a homecoming for McCowan, who grew up in Brenham, Texas.