The Minnesota Lynx have been far and away the best team in the WNBA this season while the New York Liberty have struggled with injury and the rest of the league tries to find its groove, but Cheryl Reeve and company weren't satisfied with that. With just days to go before the WNBA trade deadline, the Lynx made their big move.
In a stunning deal, the Lynx acquired guard DiJonai Carrington from the Dallas Wings for Diamond Miller, injured veteran Karlie Samuelson and a 2027 second-round pick. While losing Miller along with draft capital may hurt Minnesota in the future, adding Carrington gives them the best chance to win now.
On Tuesday night, Carrington made her Minnesota debut in a 91-87 win over the Seattle Storm. After the game, she spoke about how thrilled she is to be with her new team, via Christan Braswell.
“I’m grateful to be right where I am…it’s been great,” Carrington said. “People are probably like, omg it happened so fast. But I’m right where I need to be.”
The former Connecticut Sun guard and 2024 WNBA Most Improved Player showed off all of her skills in her first game in a Minnesota uniform, impacting the game on both ends of the floor and proving why the Lynx wanted to pay such a steep price to bring her in. She finished the night with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and four rebounds in just 18 minutes. Carrington also added two steals and a block on the defensive end for good measure.
Those contributions, along with 20 points from Courtney Williams, helped the Lynx get a hard-fought road win over a playoff team in Seattle even without Napheesa Collier. Everyone in Minnesota is going to have to step up over the next few weeks while Collier recovers from an ankle injury, and Carrington is included in that.
The Baylor product struggled at times this season with the Wings, who were struggling to win games for much of the year. However, she has been a key contributor to winning basketball before during her time with the Sun, and all indications are that the Lynx have found a key piece of their championship chase as the 2025 season winds down.
