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Deadline Winners: The Impact Players Changing WNBA Contenders

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The WNBA's 2025 trade deadline brought four game-changing signings that significantly impact championship contenders! Each signing offers unique value to their new teams without requiring major roster sacrifices, positioning these squads for deep playoff runs. Which acquisition was the best signing this 2025 season?

• Dijonai Carrington to the Minnesota Lynx brings Marcus Smart-like defense and scoring to a Finals team, though her one-year rental status creates uncertainty
• Brittany Sykes joins the Seattle Storm, providing All-Star talent without the pressure of being a first option
• Dewana Bonner's addition to the Phoenix Mercury creates a four-star lineup and reunites her with partner Alyssa Thomas
• Emma Meesseman, the 2019 Finals MVP, gives the Liberty unprecedented depth without them surrendering any assets


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Speaker 1:

What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, trayne. As usual, I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day Now.

Speaker 1:

Today we're going to talk about the WNBA's 2025 trade deadline, but before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment, tell anyone about the show, trying to get the ratings up a little bit. You know, just a little bit good one. I don't know if y'all know this, but it did just pass. The trade deadline did just pass. Now, as y'all can see here, we do have a couple of things that happened, but just know, from really the start of the season, which was around this time frame Up until August 7th, that's the trade. Then, all right, so you had that amount of time to make trades. Now you can still sign some players, but that was, that was, that was the date for the trade deadline.

Speaker 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, now there were four. There were four signings that I'm going to talk about specifically, because I think these signings had the biggest impact, not only to the teams but the WNBA. I'm talking about contenders, I'm talking about champions. Ladies and gentlemen, that's what we're going to be looking at and, of course, with this top four. There's got to be a winner out of everybody, right Out of everybody. So, with that being said, ladies and gentlemen, can we go to the top signings? And, matter of fact, I'm going to just get on soapbox right fast. I personally believe that these are good signings, okay, so I need you all to stay with me. Now, in no specific order, by the way, too, we're going to give the winner at the end.

Speaker 1:

Let's bring up the first signing, Dijonay. Now, look, dijonay, my bad character. She got traded to the Lynx from the Wings and I had question marks about Dijonay on the Wings. If she were about 6'1", 6'2", I might not have as many question marks, but because she's a shorter guard about 5'10", I like her on this Wings squad Because I think she does pair well for the present day team.

Speaker 1:

Now, one year rental. We got to have a question mark because she could go elsewhere next year. She might resign, especially if the Lynx go far. Right, they just went to the final. So if they go back, why would she not want to spin the block right? What if she goes elsewhere?

Speaker 1:

That's my only caveat to this signing of Desjardins, because they lost Diamond Miller, who that's someone who I was a big fan of personally Like when Nafisa Khalil wasn't here her rookie year Diamond Miller's. She was hooping. She was getting a little buck at about 12, 13 points a game as a rookie ain't bad. Efficient as well too, but at least pretty efficient. And I mean for me that's a future core player that you lost. She was signed up until about 2027, if I'm not mistaken. So, granted, you lose that caliber player. She has not played that much. Got to figure out why you bring in Dijon A If she leaves. That's my only thing.

Speaker 1:

Outside of that, this was a wonderful signing for the Lynx Because again you get another guard or another perimeter defender at the guard position who can also get a bucket. It's low-key, hard to come by. It's low-key, hard to come by. She kind of gives you a little Marcus Smart vibes. A little Marcus Smart vibes. That's all I'm going to say. But I do like that signing for the Lynx. We're not going to talk too much about it. Shout out to the Stud Buds edition, because I do like that edition to the team. I will say this to the dildo fans out there this might be the only team I can see you throwing a dildo at only because they mentioned it on their show StudBuzz. That's the only reason, strappy Lappy, that's the only reason why I was in outside of that. And even then, don't throw no more. Can we stop throwing the dildos, please? I appreciate that. I know there was an article that came out about that. We'll talk more about that, but I had to throw that in there right quick.

Speaker 1:

Now, going on from the Lynx, let's talk about another team, shall we the Storm? They brought in my girl, brittany Sykes. Ladies and gentlemen, I have said all season long, brittany Sykes is a WNBA star without the cachet, and I'm glad she has been proving me right this season again. Like she was an all-star and initially she wasn't supposed to be. She didn't get voted in initially, which I thought was a slight to Brittany. Like she was the best player on the Mystics, but she ended up making the all-star team because of injuries and she showed out she played well.

Speaker 1:

Well, she gets to play alongside two no three, no four really good players on the Storm Squad and it makes me wonder, damn, can they be contenders again? Because I think with her addition she is that star piece that can help Nneka, that can help Skylar. She doesn't have to carry a team. She can, though let's not forget, the Mystics were in playoff contention about the middle of the pack with her at the helm. Now we're lessening her role. She can do quite well. I've seen her on my sparks before. Do well white. Well, I've seen her on my sparks before. Do well Now.

Speaker 1:

When I look at what the Storm had to give up Alicia Clark, zia Cook plus a 2026 first round pick their own, by the way, got to throw in that Alicia Clark didn't play that much. Weirdly, zia Cook young didn't play that much either. So, and that first round pick, it's's their own. They're going to the playoffs. Ladies and gentlemen, they've been fairly consistent in the playoffs. They have my sparks pick, so they're cool. They still have another pick left and they. They just got dominique malanga, the number two pick in this year's draft from my, because my lost it, because we've got Kelsey Plum. So the Storm are cool.

Speaker 1:

Bringing in Brittany Sykes. That fits their immediate future or immediate present. She could possibly play for the future, or let's see what happens. Maybe they make more trades later on. Either way, I do like this addition for the Storm Because you can start Brittany, you can bring her off the bench, she can be in the death lineup, meaning the closing five.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of things you can do with that, but let's move on, though, because we got more signings to talk about. That's two out of the four. So the third signing that I want to talk about, dewana Bonner. Whoa, okay, now, this one was good. Now, this one was interesting because it was a pure signing.

Speaker 1:

You got to remember, the Indiana Fever had Dewana Bonner. Then they cut her. Oh, I wish I had some scissors around. Oh, I got some right here. And they read too. You know what I'm saying, saying I gave her the boot, bro, and she also wanted to go too. And I get it, because I also thought they weren't utilizing her properly. You have what's about six, one, six, two, six, three. Lanky can shoot the ball form. You can say it's ugly, I'll give it to you, but she'd be making that thing, she'd be getting a bucket. So with that and she's also shown that she can lock down younger players still Shout out Kaitlyn Clark, because she did lock your ass down in the playoffs.

Speaker 1:

Now, trust me, I recorded the highlights. So when the Mercury signed her, you got to remember who they have Kalia Copper, satu Savali and, of course, alyssa Thomas, the triple-double queen. Ladies and gentlemen, that's a star-studded squad right there. That's four players who can get you a bucket and defend, but most importantly, they all don't have to start. Like Dewana Bonner's already shown on the Indiana Fever, she can come off the bench. So again, this is a pure signing. They lost nobody. And you're pairing DeJuanna Bonner, who has a chip on her shoulder, with her boo, who's a triple-double queen, in Alyssa Thomas, who I call top five in the WNBA.

Speaker 1:

Again, ladies and gentlemen, that is a tough signing to get, and I did say last year I did want Dewana and Alyssa to kind of go separate ways. Right, if so, god like to see. But if they go to the same squad, I ain't mad at it. You know what I'm saying. So we tried this direction. Now we're going to bring it back to unit. Y'all see what I'm doing, y'all see where I'm going with that one. We got love in there. So again, I'm loving this signing for the Mercury because, loving basketball reasons, nobody did it. But let's go ahead and talk about the next one, because I think this one again is a really good one as well too, and that's Emma Mieseman for the New York Liberty.

Speaker 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, again, this is a pure signing. The Liberty did not lose Not a thing. And keep in mind, too, the Liberty have actually been going through a lot of injuries over this season. Sabrina Inescu's been out, john Quayle Jones has been out, vienna Stewart has been out and is still out. It's nice that they can have a treasure trove of players Like they. Only Phoebus was out for a little bit of time just to go play football for you I mean basketball in the EuroLeague and then come back Like they've been without some talent. Now Gotta give them credit.

Speaker 1:

But signing Emma Mieseman, the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP, that's crazy. No trade. She won on a team which is also insane to think about. So getting her on this squad, you can bring her off the bench, you can start her. She's at 6'4", she can play your power forward, she can play your center. Right now, she's giving you about 12 to 14 points with, like, full rebounds, full assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks. If that holds up, that's insane to think about having at your disposal. In addition to the players that they got Sabrina, natasha Cloud, leone Phoebus, breanna Stewart, finals MVP herself Jonquil Jones Ridiculous.

Speaker 1:

So again, this New York Liberty team signing Emma Mieselman, not losing a player Crazy's just insane and like, I hate to say it, but if they're able to retain this, this roster, you know for a fact, the expansion draft is definitely going to be targeting this squad. Oh, I'm I'm selecting players, bro, and they're good players. It's crazy, it's wild. But, ladies and gentlemen, we got to talk about the winner. I gave a top four. Y'all have heard the people right. We got to talk about Emma Mieseman, dewana Bonner, brittany Sykes, dejanay Carrington. All four players will do wonders for their team. All four teams are contenders and are stronger contenders now just because of these signings.

Speaker 1:

So, because of this, ladies and gentlemen, who the winner? It's a tough one. I got to go Emma Miesemann. I got to go Emma Miesemann. Reason why? Notice how, even in the statements, I was saying they ain't trade nobody, they ain't give nobody up. Ladies and gentlemen, that's a lot, that's a lot to think about.

Speaker 1:

And again, I had slight depth concerns for the Liberty when they lost Phoebus right, because I didn't know if she was going to come back or not. Did she get injured? We'll see what happens. They already out Benadji Laney, but they got Natasha Cloud. Like I spoke on the injuries. You got to get the cohesion Emma Meese have been coming to, coming to the squad now that just adds to the depth.

Speaker 1:

Again, ladies and gentlemen, for me this was a no-brainer. I also thought about Dawana Bonner because of the chip that she has on her shoulder. Like again, ladies and gentlemen, I get it, dawana, but the Indiana fever caused a problem and I really want to see the fever versus the mercury in the first round. I really, truly do. If we could get that, oh my God, that would be amazing. That's what happened last year between well, I guess it was the sun and the fever, but still similar thing, and that would be entertainment drama across the board.

Speaker 1:

But the depth, I don't have as much value in for the Mercury as I do the Liberty, and I get you. You might even be able to say, well, damn, can't that mean that the water matters more? You can. That's fair, that's a. That's a very fair point. Emma Mieseman, for me, can be finals MVP and on the depth of this team, she can start, she can finish, and I think the Liberty can go a little further than the Mercury.

Speaker 1:

Again, when I'm thinking about the Mercury, ladies and gentlemen, like who we got? Monique Okoa Makani, khalil Copper, Satu Sabali, alyssa Thomas and Natasha Macca as the starters and then with Sammy Whitcomb, dewana Bonner and Kalani Brown coming off the bench. That's about an eight woman roster deep. Okay, when we talking about the Liberty, I got Sabrina Ionescu, leone Phoebus, brianna Stewart, emma Mieseman and Jonquil Jones. You can run that roster, you can, or you can even throw, and then you can have Natasha Cloud, rebecca Gardner, maureen Johannes, isabel Harrison and Nayara Sabali as the bench unit and you can put Natasha Cloud in that starting unit and bring him off the bench. You very well could. I just wanted to have two bigs for both units and then you got Natasha Cloud with her boo, Isabel Harrison. I see y'all, you know what I mean. So again, they can run easily 10 deep Easily, and then adjust the rosters the mercury don't as much and again, not giving up their depth is what sold it for me.

Speaker 1:

Because when you're looking at all right the storm, right the storm. Have skylar diggins, you can go britney sykes, gabby williams, neko gumake, ezi magma gore, and then you got erica wheeler, tiffany mitchell, skylar Diggins, you can go Brittany Sykes, gabby Williams, nneka Ogumike, ezzie Magbogor, and then you got Erica Wheeler, tiffany Mitchell, lexi Brown and Dominique Malunga. I do like that squad. They're about nine deep. You're relying on a rookie right now, dominique Malunga. I got to have them develop a little bit more, but they can go deep as well too. I do like that addition.

Speaker 1:

But again, if they kept Alicia Clark, if they were able to keep Alicia Clark, I think I might have considered Brittany Sykes a little bit higher. Now, if we're talking about here Dejanay and the Wings, right, we got Courtney Williams, Kayla McBride, nafisa Collier, bridget Carlton and Alana Smith, and then you got Dejanay Carrington, natisha Heideman and Jessica Shepard. That's about an eight deep roster right there. So again, and you lost your young piece too. That one hurts.

Speaker 1:

That could be about number four on the signing. For me, number three would be Brittany Sykes again would vault up to number one. Number two, if you didn't give up Alicia Clark and you just gave up Zia Cook and a first rounder. I ain't mad at that, it happens. But yeah, the Dewana Bonas signing and the Emma Mieseman signing, yeah, those were the two at the top because, again, they didn't give up anybody and these are the contenders.

Speaker 1:

So I really hope that we get to watch these girls get a bucket, like imagine if they play in the WNBA finals, liberty versus Mercury, two different signings. Would be kind of interesting to see how they battle out. But, ladies and gentlemen, that does about conclude the end of the episode. So I'm very curious One did I miss a signing Like, let me know? But, ladies and gentlemen, that does about conclude the end of the episode. So I'm very curious One did I miss a signing Like, let me know, it's got to be during the WNBA season, by the way, not talking about the off seasons During the WNBA season?

Speaker 1:

Did I miss one? Am I bugging? Was my win or wrong in your opinion? Let me know. But, ladies and gentlemen, I mean, like I said, the trade deadline. That episode is over. So I definitely hope you continue to support the wmba, but also continue to support my show. So, like I said, my uh, my name is trey. I'm the host. Get a bucket, please make sure you like subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. I guess I said all right, my name is Trey. Hope you all are having a good one, take care.