The Dallas Wings made no moves ahead of the WNBA’s Sunday afternoon trade deadline, joining several teams across the league who also made no transactions.
Wings general manager Curt Miller told reporters Monday it’s much more difficult to trade than people realize due to the hard salary cap.
“But also, when you look at our situation, we play six games in the first 12 days out of the All-Star break, so practice is very, very limited,” Miller said. “You’re always thinking as a GM — like all the GMs around the league — ‘How do you incorporate new pieces, especially in a very hard cadence around the league in August?’”
Dallas (18-11) has struggled out of the All-Star break, losing its last two games. Many commentators wondered if the Wings would make a trade to fix some of the team’s defensive woes, particularly those coming in the paint.
But Dallas is sticking with its crew — which includes Paige Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, Azzi Fudd and Jessica Shepard — through the rest of the season. The Wings are also sticking with forward Alanna Smith, tied with Ogunbowale as the highest-paid player on the roster with a salary of 1,190,000, according to the Her Hoops Stats WNBA Salary Cap Database.
Dallas signed Smith, the reigning co-defensive player of the year who previously played for the Minnesota Lynx, to a multiyear deal during free agency. She’s struggled with injuries throughout her time in Dallas, but she had a solid showing off the bench Friday against the Mystics, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds.
“I thought it was good to see Alanna Smith back on the floor and give us some good minutes,” Wings coach Jose Fernandez said Friday after the loss to Washington.
Large contracts like Smith’s or Ogunbowale’s are hard to shop, as teams are bound by a $7 million salary cap this season that they can only exceed if they’re given a hardship exception. This differs from the NBA’s soft salary cap that allows teams to exceed the cap by certain amounts.
“There’s got to be mutual partners,” Miller said Monday. “I always look for the partners that are trying to have two sides win in a trade. … Hard to have trade conversations when you run into maybe a GM or a front office on the other side that’s always trying to win a trade.”
As the Wings made no trades, it’s up to Dallas’ current personnel to help the team improve on defense. The Wings look to snap their two-game losing streak Sunday night against the Connecticut Sun (7–22) at College Park Center in Arlington.