With only a handful of game remaining in the 2025 WNBA regular season, the Los Angeles Sparks are firmly in the playoff hunt. After a frustrating start to the season, the Sparks have since turned things around with a stretch that began right before the All-Star break. As the season winds down, the Sparks had a little housekeeping decision to make regarding the contract of former first round pick Alissa Pili.
The Sparks made the decision to sign Alissa Pili to a contract for the remainder of the season following the conclusion of her third 7-day contract. WNBA teams are permitted to sign a player to up to three 7-day contracts before signing them for the rest of the season or releasing them.
Pili was signed to her initial 7-day contract back at the beginning of the month following her release from the Minnesota Lynx. Pili was reunited with Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts who was her coach during her final two seasons in college at Utah.
The Sparks signing Pili for the remainder of the season makes sense in that she’s familiar with the coach and system, and at this point in the season there isn’t really player out there that would help any more as the 12th player on the roster.
The No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Pili wasn’t able to carve out a consistent role with the Lynx, a veteran team with championship aspirations. She appeared in a total of 36 games with the Lynx while averaging 2.2 points and shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from the three-point line.
With the Sparks, Pili has appeared in only one game so far. But the Sparks are a team that can afford to be patient with her. She brings a unique skill-set to the table in that she is a big forward who has guard-like skills in being able to handle the ball, make plays off the dribble and even be a playmaker.
