😵‍💫 Layup Lines: Phoenix's crazy bet

Happy Monday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA.

• I’ve written close to 150 of these newsletters and got more feedback on my take that there’s a .001% chance Barack Obama becomes the WNBA comissioner than any other edition so far.

  • The note of, “I don’t know what you’re smoking out there in New York, but it’s laced with angel dust,” did feel a little personal, but hey, that’s the hot take game. Cook or be cooked!

This 568 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

👋 Trade deadline comes and goes

• All eight current WNBA playoff teams stood pat at the trade deadline, but we did see some jostling with those on the outside looking in.

  • Connecticut traded forward Aneesah Morrow to Toronto for an overseas stash and a second round pick. I loved this deal for the Tempo, who pick up a talented young big averaging 11.6 points and 8.9 boards per game this season for almost nothing. Toronto might have a hard time signing free agents and Morrow is under contract through 2028. These are the kind of bets the Tempo need to make.

  • I did not feel the same positivity about Los Angeles trading Kelsey Plum to Phoenix for Monique Akoa Makani, a 2027 first rounder and a 2028 second rounder.

    • Plum is a great offensive player and the pick-and-roll fit with Alyssa Thomas could be incredible. However, the Mercury are likely already out of the playoffs — they could go 14-0 to close out the season and still not qualify — and Plum is a free agent.

      • If she re-signs, this deal makes some level of sense, but if she doesn’t, it’s a bizarre bet for an old team on a 31-year-old guard who has been hurt most of the season.

    • For the Sparks, this puts the cherry on top of the disastrous tenure of former GM Raegan Pebley. Trading the pick that the Storm used on Dominique Malonga, one of the most promising young centers in the league, for 1.5 playoff-less seasons of Plum is really rough.

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📺 What’s on this week

• The Aces have a massive travel week coming up if they want a chance at catching the Lynx (winners of 10 straight after an awesome win over the Fever yesterday) for the No. 1 overall playoff seed. It’s about as hard a four-game road trip as you could design. Las Vegas probably needs to go at least 3-1 against:

  • Tonight: Atlanta (7pm ET, Peacock)

  • Thursday: Indiana (7pm, Prime Video)

  • Saturday: Minnesota (1pm, CBS, Paramount+)

  • Sunday: New York (12:30pm, ABC)

• If that doesn’t stir your drink, Dallas @ Washington on Wednesday (7:30pm, League Pass) could also be a fun watch.

  • If you’re looking to wager this week, I like* Seattle / New York over 183.5 points scored and Phoenix -1.5 vs. Chicago tonight.

    • *I am 18-17 on bets I like this year.

👎 Court design to go

• The Valkyries decided to turn their home court into the souless lobby of a corporate bank for two games.

  • Here’s hoping that court design marketing activations like this don’t spread. Hideous!

Layup Lines is written 100% by a human being. I very much appreciate you reading!

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor