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The New York Liberty trimmed their roster to 11 on Sunday, waiving second-year guard Marquesha Davis hours before they defeated the Atlanta Dream, 79-72.
It’s never an easy decision, but Davis rarely saw the court for New York — even in blowouts. And she was one of a handful of players league-wide to lose their roster spots on the last day before unprotected deals become guaranteed. Jaelyn Brown and Haley Peters (Connecticut Sun), Stephanie Talbot (Golden State Valkyries), Mercedes Russell (Los Angeles Sparks), and Alissa Pili (Minnesota Lynx) have all been waived in the past two days.
“We just said that you just keep working, just keep working,” head coach Sandy Brondello said of Davis. “And I think she's learned to play, compete and be better as a pro, and what it takes to play at this level. And she'll get an opportunity.”
In nine games with New York this year, Davis averaged just under a point per game. She appeared in 20 contests as a rookie, averaging 1.2 points. The Liberty selected her 11th overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft after she spent five seasons in the SEC, first at Arkansas, then Mississippi. As a senior for the Rebels, she started all 33 games she played, averaging 14.0 points per game and earning All-SEC First Team honors.
Brondello left open the possibility that Davis could return to the Liberty down the line. If that happens, expect it to be on one or more seven-day contracts. A team can extend up to three in a season to the same player, per the league CBA.
The move now gives the Liberty some cap flexibility as the August 7 trade deadline approaches. As of this writing, New York has around $35,000 in cap space amid a flurry of player movement around the league.
It’s hard to tell exactly what the team needs without knowing when Jonquel Jones will return to the court, but as Brondello said, the front office is hard at work looking for ways to improve the reigning champions.
“You're always looking at what players are out there [that] we think could add to what we need,” she said. “[General manager] Jonathan [Kolb] is very good at what he does.”
Unless the Liberty bring in someone else, they will be playing with 10 active players moving forward as Jones continues to recover from a knee injury.
