Chiney to Sparks

[bballnut90]

LA has way too many top rate forwards/posts. Chiney is a good player, but doesn't make a big difference IMO. And are they still trying for Cambage? Not sure what happens to Vadeeva/Lavender/Brown at this point. Would be smart to use someone like Lavender as trade bait and ideally bring in a young wing. Kia Nurse or AO would be an excellent pickup if they found a way to land either. Get rid of a big (or 2) and bring in some guard depth.

Sun don't need Chiney either. Team played better with JJ inside and the two didn't appear to mesh well on the court. Ideally you'd want something better in return for Chiney but the Sun are still potent.

 

[HGN]

Is it time for the League to look into what they can do about stuff like this? Eventually , it could get to a point where all star players demand to be traded to bright-light cities or else sit-out. Bright light city only offer minimum for player because they know a gun is at the head of unfortunate team.

Bright-light city winds up with team of all-stars and all championship trophies. What's the remedy or alternative?

 

[Aluminny69]

Didn't Della Donna demand a trade?

 

[uconnfan68]

Is it time for the League to look into what they can do about stuff like this? Eventually , it could get to a point where all star players demand to be traded to bright-light cities or else sit-out. Bright light city only offer minimum for player because they know a gun is at the head of unfortunate team.

Bright-light city winds up with team of all-stars and all championship trophies. What's the remedy or alternative?

It’s a little late to change now. The W will be lucky to last another 5 years, and will probably lose a few teams along the way. Too many selfish players demanding trades is not a good sign.

 

[willtalk]

One of the problems is that the comparatively low salaries and other options give the players much more leverage. With Chiney it was broadcasting. Not every player has that sort of leverage, however. That is other than the larger salaries they draw overseas. This sort of elite players making demands has been happening in the NBA for years now.

 

[bballnut90]

Is it time for the League to look into what they can do about stuff like this? Eventually , it could get to a point where all star players demand to be traded to bright-light cities or else sit-out. Bright light city only offer minimum for player because they know a gun is at the head of unfortunate team.

Bright-light city winds up with team of all-stars and all championship trophies. What's the remedy or alternative?

Not sure there is much they can do besides not give in. Happens in the NBA too.

Good players recognize their worth and know they only have so many good years, so they want to prioritize them, whether that means playing close to home, with a specific player, or on a championship caliber team. Chiney/Nneka wanted to play together and made it happen. Fowles wanted to be on a title contender and forced her hand. Tina/EDD forced their hand too. I don't see this trend stopping any time soon, especially with younger players. It is up to the teams to decide if they want to give in. It was a dumb move by the Sun to basically hand her over for free instead of making Chiney sit out on her own merit.

 

[Plebe]

I'm inclined to give Chiney some benefit of the doubt here, because she knows her injury situation better than we do, and I suspect she may know that her WNBA shelf life is <5 years, and maybe even just a year or two. She's said in some recent podcast interviews that she wants to go to law school, and I suspect she picked Stanford not just to follow her older sister but because she cared about "the 40-year decision." She traded likely championships at UConn for the Stanford experience, network and doors that open with it. She's killing it on ESPN and it's palpable that she has big plans after she hangs up her sneakers.

In LA, she has far more ability to explore post-basketball opportunities in media, sports, and entertainment. She could enroll part-time in law school and live in L.A. year-round. She could try to be a regular commentator for Clippers or Lakers games. Etc. The reality is that Uncasville, CT has 1/100th the non-basketball opportunities L.A. does, and if she only has a few seasons left, why shouldn't she play them out with her sister, maybe win a championship in the process, and get her post-basketball life in order?

I totally understand why that sucks for the Sun, and it's true that they were very good to her in 2015, but since then her injury situation has likely reduced her basketball shelf life, and her extra-curricular activities are probably much more attractive than they seemed four years ago. I suspect she just made another 40-year decision...

summing things up: No good deed goes unpunished (from the Sun's perspective).

They should have refused the trade. Denying their competition the chance to use Chiney would be more valuable than a low 1st round pick in a weak draft.

 

[lanieer]

The story is well covered in the New London Day and New Haven Register as well as social media sources.

Only responding to Chiney response that she was shocked the sun were selling her in December. Actually don’t blame her. Read the Miller/ sun response and don’t believe it. First off if she was working with ESPN as other WNBA players stay for a month with their European teams who cares. The WNBA is a third option for players. They didn’t fight for a star. Miller and Sun can pound sand. I’m done as a Sun fan.

 

[lanieer]

Supporting Chiney. They were trying to rid themselves of a large contract because of their huge amount of free agents. Be honest Sun. They were dumping a contract of someone that had many injuries. They were shopping her since December and she got angry. We love you Chiney! Miller should be fired.

 

[TheFarmFan]

summing things up: No good deed goes unpunished (from the Sun's perspective).

They should have refused the trade. Denying their competition the chance to use Chiney would be more valuable than a low 1st round pick in a weak draft.

Refusing the trade and forcing her to sit out would be a lose-lose and be a pretty bad look for the league if she just stayed with ESPN and showed that commentating on basketball games was worth more than playing in them.

Chiney is one of the most popular WNBA players, is essentially the face of the brand on ESPN for the 9 months during the year where there's no WNBA games but lots of Chiney on SportsCenter, and even when returning from injury had the third best shooting percentage in the league last year.

It's one thing to refuse a trade as Dallas has done with Cambage, because while she's an excellent player, she's not a U.S. household name, and she's demonstrated extreme ambivalence about even playing in the WNBA at all. Chiney is about the best representative the WNBA has and alienating her and keeping her off the court would backfire.

And it's not like Chiney is the first (or second (or third)) player to do this to the Sun. If anything, the signal is the Sun needs new leadership or a new location to be a viable franchise for star players. Everyone who can, has gotten out.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Guessing this also means Liz C is sitting out this year — I know Dallas wanted a high price to trade her , and it hasn’t happened yet — now LA has Parker, the two O sisters, J Lavender, Vadeeva and K Brown at the 4-5 spots.

Think they’re deep enough in the paint ?!?!?

The Sparks are deeper in the paint than Sherwin Williams!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Sister comparison:

Nneka has missed 21 games over 7 seasons, been an MVP and WNBA Champion, and averaged 16.4 ppg and 7.6 rpg on shooting of .558/.360/.837.

Chiney has missed 74 games over 5 seasons and averaged 14.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg on shooting of .572/.500/.734.

 

[triaddukefan]

And it's not like Chiney is the first (or second (or third)) player to do this to the Sun. If anything, the signal is the Sun needs new leadership or a new location to be a viable franchise for star players. Everyone who can, has gotten out.

I know of a vibrant, diverse city... one that is still on the rise ... with a nice modern arena located right downtown... where the players can drive 2 minutes or hop on the light rail to their apartment after a game.... where they can walk to restaurants after practice/games..... a city where they can find plenty of Cheerwine.... and a city where fans dont care where a player went to school...

 

[Zanzman]

Nashville?

 

[triaddukefan]

Nashville?

No

 

[Undercovervol]

I'm unsure of all the politics involved in this trade.
Regardless, it now makes the Sparks arguably the best team in the WNBA, although I don't have knowledge of their cap space/whether the Sparks will have to make a trade for this to work. With a lineup of 5-Chiney, 4-Nneka, 3-Parker, 1-Gray, 2-Beard...that's a team few can beat with Stewart out. Washington matches up the best with them on paper.

 

[Undercovervol]

This trade also makes it seem very unlikely Cambage will make it to LA, unless Nneka/Lavender/Brown are traded for her.

 

[triaddukefan]

Only responding to Chiney response that she was shocked the sun were selling her in December. Actually don’t blame her. Read the Miller/ sun response and don’t believe it. First off if she was working with ESPN as other WNBA players stay for a month with their European teams who cares. The WNBA is a third option for players. They didn’t fight for a star. Miller and Sun can pound sand. I’m done as a Sun fan.

Cant blame you. They have done some idiotic moves over the last few years. Remember them trading Chelsea Gray to the Sparks for a pick that garnered them Jonquel Jones..... when they could have just kept Gray and drafted Jones themselves? I do thank them for drafting my favorite players from Duke.... and trading them to more favorable destinations the very next season .... re Elizabeth Williams and Lexie Brown

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I don't follow the WNBA very much yet there have been several stars who have seemly wanted out of Connecticut. I can't imagine the location is the only factor although it probably plays a role. The Sun have a talented roster yet I wonder about their leadership in the front office or on the bench considering this seems to be an issue every few years.

LA is stacked in the frontcourt. Chiney may never equal Nneka yet she isn't shabby. Lavender has experienced some good years as well and they drafted Brown....... I would be interested in swapping at least one of those players for a guard since Beard is in her twilight years. Vegas seems to have a plethora of guards and it would seem logical for the two sides to work out a trade.

 

[j66kicker]

Didn't Della Donna demand a trade?

Is it time for the League to look into what they can do about stuff like this? Eventually , it could get to a point where all star players demand to be traded to bright-light cities or else sit-out. Bright light city only offer minimum for player because they know a gun is at the head of unfortunate team.

Bright-light city winds up with team of all-stars and all championship trophies. What's the remedy or alternative?

Yeah Chicago has been the victim of this several times too. Isn't Chicago a "bright lights city"? Maybe it has more to do with getting away from bad organizations/mgt/coaching. It's the stars who have the leverage to do this, and these same stars are usually the ones with other alternatives (ESPN, etc). So they probably don't feel as much need to put up with a bad situation.

 

[DICKG]

Yeah Chicago has been the victim of this several times too. Isn't Chicago a "bright lights city"? Maybe it has more to do with getting away from bad organizations/mgt/coaching. It's the stars who have the leverage to do this, and these same stars are usually the ones with other alternatives (ESPN, etc). So they probably don't feel as much need to put up with a bad situation.

I think the players run this league and can make these demands all the time, because this league does not represent their major source of income. The Connecticut Sun have lost many players because they wanted to be traded for whatever reason. I still laugh at the reason Tina Charles wanted to be traded, she didn't feel like driving down Route 95, maybe a 2 1/2 hour trip si see her family.

 

[chrissaran]

How about Elena Delle Donne?

 

[willtalk]

It may be the location. There was a time when Connecticut was an ideal location for a WNBA team because it had a built-in fan base ( Uconn Womens BB fans ). However, is that worth the problems that the isolated location has for the players that do not want to be there. Certainly, other teams have been forced into trades by high profile players with the clout to make those sort of demands, but the Sun has had too many lower level players in a hurry to get out. When will it finally cause the team to think about moving?

 

[Trappa]

Is location that big of a thing when the players are only there from May through August, more or less, and part of that time is traveling.

 

[JellyBean]

Man the Sparks are going to be lethal!! With CP3, Nneka & now her sister. Throw in Kalani, Jantel Lavender, Alana Beard, Karlie Samuelson, and a Sydney Wiese...ouch!!