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Just before the 2025 WNBA trade deadline, the Minnesota Lynx made the blockbuster trade to get Dijonai Carrington from the Dallas Wings. In a season that seemed to be a wash for the league's reigning Most Improved Player, Carrington has found a fresh restart with championship-level stakes — and she's stepped up to the challenge.
“We run the floor, everybody’s rotating, and that’s just how I instinctively play, so it’s been a pretty easy transition,” Carrington told reporters postgame after the Lynx's 83-71 win over the New York Liberty on Sunday.
Carrington's game to start the 2025 WNBA season was impacted by the Wings' rebuilding struggles, as she averaged 10.4 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting just 35.4% from the field. With her numbers down from her breakout 2024 campaign with the Connecticut Sun, Carrington was relegated to a bench role amid injury woes.
Now, her numbers are already up to 13.3 points on 62.5% shooting with the elite squad. Carrington detailed how the change in scenery from Dallas to Minnesota wasn't as big of an adjustment as some would assume.
“At the end of the day, I feel like it’s just about playing hard and competing, making it difficult, and that doesn’t have anything to do with schemes,” Carrington said.
“It’s just about heart, and about effort, and about wanting to do that. It’s just about wanting to do that. Everything else falls into place. Everyone does the same schemes, so it’s not like it’s that difficult to adjust to a new team; you’re guarding the same people.”
DiJonai Carrington today 🔥
• 15 points
• 6 rebounds
• 3 assists
• 2 steals
• 6/10 FG
• 24 minutes playedpic.twitter.com/3XEVtDCyIc— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) August 10, 2025
On a personal level, Carrington's play is swiftly getting back to being reminiscent of her 2024 MIP campaign, finishing with 15 points, six boards, three assists, and two steals on 6-of-10 shooting. She revealed what changes helped her rediscover her playmaking style, leading to her best-scoring game in almost two months.
“[I’m] just getting back to playing how I know how to play,” Carrington said simply. “Just playing free, and within a flow, not forcing anything. Nobody forces anything, so it just makes it easier to get open shots, because we’re gonna keep moving it until we get a great shot.”
As a member of the 2024 WNBA All-Defensive First Team, Carrington was the perfect fit for a Lynx team that lost its best player in Napheesa Collier a few days before her arrival. She helps fill Collier's defensive production and adds to the Lynx's league-best 95.5 defensive rating.
“It’s just playing hard,” Carrington added. “I’m able to really lock in on the ball and whoever I’m guarding, because I trust that behind me, everyone will be there rotating and they’ll have my back if I do get clipped. As long as everyone’s doing it at 100% effort, I feel like we’re going to be great.”
