{"id":585352,"date":"2026-04-15T08:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/585352\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T08:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:40:08","slug":"las-vegas-aces-nikki-fargas-adds-role-as-general-manager-aces-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/585352\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Aces\u2019 Nikki Fargas adds role as general manager | Aces"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contrary to popular belief, the Las Vegas Aces<\/a> haven\u2019t been without a general manager throughout WNBA<\/a> free agency.<\/p>\n

The job title has quietly been assumed by Nikki Fargas, who has been the three-time league champions\u2019 president since May 2021.<\/p>\n

Fargas\u2019 relabeling comes after the Aces parted ways with former general manager Natalie Williams<\/a> in October 2024 and hadn\u2019t formally announced a replacement.<\/p>\n

As Fargas addressed reporters at the Aces\u2019 headquarters in Henderson following the WNBA draft<\/a> on Monday, she was asked how the team has navigated yet another season without a general manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re looking at the GM,\u201d Fargas answered.<\/p>\n

Based on a review of official correspondence from the Aces, it appears that she was first referenced as \u201cpresident and general manager\u201d on Feb. 24.<\/p>\n

Fargas told the Review-Journal a month after Williams\u2019 ouster that the front office was exploring multiple options in its restructuring. At media day ahead of the last season in May 2025, Fargas said the team was not involved in a search for a general manager. On the same day, Aces coach Becky Hammon didn\u2019t correct a reporter that referred to her as the general manager.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Fargas) does all the stuff I don\u2019t want to do, which is, like, jump on phone calls, talk to all these people. I\u2019m a basketball person. Keep me in my lane,\u201d Hammon said. \u201cWe were definitely a good tag team in that aspect (this offseason).\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked on multiple occasions since, Aces brass never indicated an interest in making any adjustments.<\/p>\n

How has the front office structure changed?<\/p>\n

Essentially, the organizational structure of the Aces front office has not changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just an added title. We\u2019ve always been a collaborative front office,\u201d Fargas said Monday. \u201cI\u2019ve got some really good coaches that go out and help in evaluating the talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aces made a few coaching changes this offseason. They hired former Dallas Wings assistant Nola Henry in place of former assistant John Lucas III. The team also welcomed two former G League staffers, adding Matt Comer as lead performance coach and Micah Fraction as a player development coach last week.<\/p>\n

Hammon\u2019s title has not changed, but she remains a prominent voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Hammon is also heavily involved,\u201d Fargas said. \u201cWe talk through every decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

A former head coach at LSU and UCLA, Fargas earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in public relations from Tennessee as her playing career there ended in 1994.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my background, it just seemed a little bit natural for me to slide into (the general manager) responsibility,\u201d Fargas said. \u201cI\u2019ve got an amazing front office staff that allows me to be able to do both. \u2026 I love that we collaborate in such a way that when we leave the conference room, we\u2019re all on one page. We all understand what the expectations are going into the season, and then what we expect during free agency. And that\u2019s just kind of how we\u2019ve been this whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does Fargas evaluate free agency moves thus far?<\/p>\n

Fargas\u2019 front office had to quickly adapt to an abbreviated and delayed free agency period due to marathon negotiations between the WNBA and the player\u2019s union on a new collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

Although four-time MVP A\u2019ja Wilson hasn\u2019t officially re-signed, Fargas lauded the team\u2019s ability to effectively retain its core (Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd) while adding new faces amid a period where nearly the entire league are free agents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey stayed in contact with each other. A\u2019ja and Jackie were still communicating and talking with their teammates,\u201d Fargas said.<\/p>\n

The Aces\u2019 only losses in free agency from last season were Megan Gustafson, Kiah Stokes and Aaliyah Nye. Everyone else who played in the team\u2019s 2025 championship run will be back, and the team will introduce forwards Stephanie Talbot and Brianna Turner. The team did lose out on forward Gabby Williams, who reportedly considered the Aces but ultimately signed with the Valkyries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re in this window, it\u2019s really short. Do we wish that there was a longer time for people to make decisions? Of course we would, but this is a historical moment,\u201d Fargas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve done a nice job of making sure we\u2019re bringing the right pieces to the puzzle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Callie__Fin on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Contrary to popular belief, the Las Vegas Aces haven\u2019t been without a general manager throughout WNBA free agency.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-585352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}