Golden State Valkyries Daily

August 2, 2026

Kelsey Plum Traded to the Phoenix Mercury, Not the Valkyries

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The deadline's top target went to the team that just beat Golden State. Las Vegas lost Saturday, the Valkyries are half a game out of second, and Toronto visits Chase Center tonight at 5:30.

The deadline's blockbuster landed in Phoenix

The WNBA trade deadline does not officially close until 3 p.m. ET, noon on the West Coast, but the centerpiece already moved. The Los Angeles Sparks traded five-time All-Star Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury late Saturday night for guard Monique Akoa Makani, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder, as ESPN's Shams Charania and Kendra Andrews reported (ESPN, The Athletic).

It is just the fourth time in league history an All-Star has been traded midseason. The last was Sylvia Fowles in 2015, sent from Chicago to Minnesota, who then won a championship and the Finals MVP that same year (ESPN).

For the Valkyries, the outcome is the one their own posture telegraphed. ESPN reported Thursday that Golden State was "reluctant to part with multiple 'key contributors'" and could push a Plum pursuit to free agency (ESPN), and Friday's issue carried Veronica Burton and coach Natalie Nakase pointing to the locker room over the market. CBS Sports had listed the Valkyries as the most natural landing spot, noting they "desperately need offense" but have no cap space and would have had to trade at least two players to match Plum's $999,999 salary while keeping Gabby Williams off the table (CBS). Golden State kept its depth. Phoenix paid the price.

The sting is geographic. Phoenix is the team that beat the Valkyries 91-89 on Wednesday, the second straight loss that dropped Golden State to third. The Mercury are 11-19 and six games out of the last playoff spot, so this is less a 2026 title push than a recruitment play. Plum and Kahleah Copper share an agent, and Phoenix essentially surrendered a first-round pick and a starter to get Plum in the building ahead of her unrestricted free agency, betting the head start lands a long-term deal (The Athletic). Plum has been out since June 21 with a lower left leg injury but is averaging 23.9 points and 6.4 assists, both career highs, in 12 games, second in the WNBA in scoring (ESPN). It is unknown whether she will be available when Phoenix plays Monday at Chicago.

The noon cutoff could still bring more. The Sparks, now 10-17 with a six-game losing streak, are expected to keep shopping veterans Nneka Ogwumike, Dearica Hamby, Erica Wheeler and Ariel Atkins before the deadline (The Athletic). Toronto already landed forward Aneesah Morrow from Connecticut on Friday in the deadline's first deal (USA Today). No Valkyries move had been reported as of Sunday morning.

Las Vegas lost, and the gap for second shrank

While Golden State sat idle Saturday, the team directly above it stumbled. Rookie Sydney Taylor hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 0.9 seconds left to give the Chicago Sky an 84-83 win over the Las Vegas Aces at Wintrust Arena, erasing a 10-point deficit in the final three minutes (AP, ESPN). Taylor, undrafted this spring and playing in Poland five months ago, finished with 29 points. A'ja Wilson had 36 points and 12 rebounds for Las Vegas and put the Aces up two with a layup at 3.2 seconds before Taylor's answer (ESPN).

The standings consequence for Golden State is real. The Aces dropped to 20-9, and the Valkyries are 19-9, so the gap for second place is down to half a game after sitting at a full game for most of the week. Minnesota, at 24-6, remains four games ahead of Golden State for first. A win tonight over Toronto would pull the Valkyries even in the loss column with Las Vegas and keep pressure on the Aces, who continue their trip Monday in Atlanta.

Tonight: Valkyries host Toronto, with the deadline ending five hours before tip

Golden State (19-9) closes its two-game homestand against the Toronto Tempo (10-18) at 5:30 p.m. PT at Chase Center, with the noon trade deadline clearing five and a half hours before the opening tip. The game airs on KPIX+ in the Bay Area, KMAX 31 in Sacramento and TSN in Canada, with radio on 95.7 The Game, ESPN 1320 and the Audacy app, plus League Pass and Prime Video (Valkyries, Chase Center). A rematch follows Tuesday at 7 p.m. PT on KPIX and KOVR.

Toronto comes in on a five-game skid and with its new acquisition on hold. Forward Aneesah Morrow, acquired from Connecticut on Friday, is listed as out for Sunday with an estimated return of Aug. 4, pending a physical, so her Tempo debut is more likely to come in Tuesday's rematch (ESPN). The Tempo are also without Brittney Sykes (foot) and have Isabelle Harrison day-to-day with a knee injury; Harrison scored 24 in the first meeting. Guard Marina Mabrey, averaging 18.3 points over the last 10, is a game-time decision with a neck issue (ESPN).

The Valkyries won the first meeting 83-75 in Toronto on July 8, when Janelle Salaun went for a career-high 26 on 7-of-10 shooting and 5-of-6 from three and the bench out-scored Toronto's 52-20 (ESPN).

The Williams variable, and what it means for Mabrey

The biggest roster question for Golden State is whether Gabby Williams returns. She is listed as day-to-day with "reconditioning" and carries an estimated return date of Aug. 2, making tonight her first chance to play since she was ruled out of Wednesday's loss in Phoenix (ESPN, StatMuse). Williams is the team's leading scorer at 14.8 points per game and its top perimeter defender, and the Phoenix loss traced directly to her absence: Kahleah Copper, whom Williams had helped hold to 7-of-26 shooting across the two earlier Valkyries wins, went 9-of-14 for 27 points with Williams out.

That is the pattern to watch against Toronto. The Tempo's offense runs through Mabrey when she is available, and Golden State's league-best defense is built on point-of-attack pressure from Veronica Burton with wing help from Williams (ESPN). If Williams sits again, the floor that Phoenix exposed rises. If she returns, the defense that clamped Copper twice has its wing-stop back for a Toronto guard who has topped 18 a night for the last month.

Tracking

That’s the reading for this issue.