{"id":790493,"date":"2026-07-29T02:38:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/790493\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T02:38:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:38:57","slug":"breanna-stewart-puts-on-gm-hat-as-liberty-face-pivotal-wnba-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/790493\/","title":{"rendered":"Breanna Stewart puts on GM hat as Liberty face pivotal WNBA trade deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 Breanna Stewart doesn\u2019t know whether she\u2019ll want to work in a WNBA front office down the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI like kind of thinking about the formula and putting the right pieces together for success and stuff like that,\u201d Stewart told The Post after Tuesday\u2019s shootaround. \u201cI will not coach. I do not want to do that because people don\u2019t listen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Being a future general manager, however, is not out of the realm of possibility for Stewart, who constantly talks with Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb about the complexities of the new collective bargaining agreement and how the cap works.<\/p>\n

Team Coop\u2019s Breanna Stewart greets fans before a WNBA All-Star basketball game against Team Spoon in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. AP Photo\/Nam Y. Huh<\/p>\n

With Sunday\u2019s trade deadline quickly approaching, Stewart was asked to put on a GM hat.<\/p>\n

The Liberty entered Tuesday\u2019s game against the Los Angeles Sparks with a 15-12 record, sitting seventh in the standings. They view themselves as a championship contender, though injuries have marred the first chunk of the season.<\/p>\n

The Liberty remain without Leonie Fiebich (left foot injury) and Satou Sabally (concussion protocol)<\/a>. Their absences have complicated the formula for trying to find the right combinations for success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019re one piece away,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cI also feel like we have what we need to get it done. I just think that we need to just really focus on the now with it instead of thinking about, \u2018Oh, when this person comes back or this person comes back.\u2019 It\u2019s like, no, actually you just do it. We all just step up and we make it happen and I feel like the first half of the season there was a little bit of hesitancy from everybody to \u2026 fully commit and keep going even though we know we\u2019re down some people. Like, I don\u2019t want to have excuses for that \u2026 I don\u2019t know if we\u2019re one piece away because I\u2019m confident in what we have as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coach Chris DeMarco shared Stewart\u2019s confidence in the Liberty\u2019s current roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited to get going out of All-Star break, great energy right now,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s an important West Coast trip for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kolb declined The Post\u2019s interview request through a spokesperson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Liberty are one of the most interesting teams heading into what could be one of the most hectic trade deadlines in recent memory.<\/p>\n

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton dribbles up court during the second half of the Liberty\u2019s win over the Mercury at Barclays Center on May 27, 2026 at Barclays Center. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

Here are three questions across the league:<\/p>\n

Has Betnijah Laney-Hamilton played her last game for New York?<\/p>\n

It would be a shame if \u201cShoegate\u201d was the last we\u2019ve seen of Laney-Hamilton in a Liberty uniform. But she\u2019s been rumored to be a trade candidate since the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n

Laney-Hamilton has been a healthy scratch for each of the Liberty\u2019s past three games, fueling speculation she could be on the move, though DeMarco denied the team isn\u2019t playing her because of a potential trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said before, we have a super-talented roster and there\u2019s only so many minutes,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re in a good place right now and we\u2019re really happy with how our bench has contributed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Athletic reported Tuesday that trade conversations surrounding Laney-Hamilton have started to heat up again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Liberty have only $129,904 in cap room before initiating a trade, which complicates matters.<\/p>\n

Laney-Hamilton is also on an expiring one-year contract and set to be an unrestricted free agent.<\/p>\n

That means New York would probably need to add a future asset or a second player to get a trade over the finish line. If the Liberty were to trade two players for one, could they convert developmental player Marine Fauthoux to a standard rest-of-season contract?\u00a0<\/p>\n

With little clarity on the Sabally situation, New York might need to add a frontcourt piece via a midseason trade to fortify championship aspirations.<\/p>\n

Will Kelsey Plum be on the move?<\/p>\n

Plum didn\u2019t play Tuesday against the Liberty as she remains on the mend from a left leg injury. She re-signed with the Sparks on a one-year, just shy of $1 million contract.<\/p>\n

But she doesn\u2019t appear interested in returning to Los Angeles in 2027, according to The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kelsey Plum Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Sparks acquired Plum in a blockbuster three-team trade last year in which Los Angeles sent the No. 2 overall pick of the 2025 draft and center Li Yueru to the Seattle Storm and the 2025 No. 13 pick to the Aces.<\/p>\n

The Storm later picked French phenom Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 pick in last year\u2019s draft. The Aces picked Aaliyah Nye.<\/p>\n

The 10-16 Sparks are tied for 10th place \u2014 four games behind the Washington Mystics for the final playoff spot.<\/p>\n

If Plum\u2019s days in Los Angeles are numbered, it\u2019d be wise for the Sparks to try to cash in now to get future assets to build for the future, especially since they gave up so much for only two years of Plum with no postseason appearance to show for it.<\/p>\n

Shakira Austin drives to the basket during the Mystics game against the Sun on July 28, 2026 at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Should the Mystics be buyers?<\/p>\n

The Mystics are one of the youngest teams in the league but arguably ahead of schedule in their rebuilding process.<\/p>\n

They have a comfortable hold on eighth place in the league standings, sitting 3.5 games ahead of the ninth-place Portland Fire.<\/p>\n

Should Washington make a big move to secure its position as a playoff team for the first time since 2023?<\/p>\n

The Mystics have a loaded frontcourt with Shakira Austin, Kiki Iriafen, Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic and could use an additional 3-point threat and a secondary ball handler on their roster to help bolster the offense.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s something to consider adding before the deadline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 Breanna Stewart doesn\u2019t know whether she\u2019ll want to work in a WNBA front office down…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":790494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[435,160972,10504,436,99,434],"class_list":["post-790493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-breanna-stewart","tag-chris-demarco","tag-kelsey-plum","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790493","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=790493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}