Wings land Diamond Miller, Karlie Samuelson, 2027 pick
The Dallas Wings traded forward DiJonai Carrington to the league-leading Minnesota Lynx Sunday, receiving forward Diamond Miller, guard Karlie Samuelson and a second-round pick in 2027, according to a press release from the team.
The deal fortifies 24-5 Minnesota, runner-up for the championship last year, as it prepares for another Finals run. Carrington averaged 10.4 points per game on 35.4% shooting, playing a variety of roles for the Wings in her fifth WNBA season. She brings Finals experience to the Lynx, having reached the brink of a title with Connecticut in 2022.
Miller, a 6’3” forward who was the second pick of the 2023 draft, brings some floor-stretching potential as her accuracy from deep has skyrocketed this year to a career-high .538 in a role that has been reduced significantly since her rookie season. After averaging double figures in 2023 she was all but out of the rotation in the Lynx’ playoff run last year after a knee injury. Although Miller’s marksmanship has come on only one attempt per game this year, the Wings need all the shooting help they can get. The Wings have been prevented at times not only from making threes, but from taking them, as evidenced by Friday’s 2-15 showing from deep.
Following Friday’s 88-78 home loss to an Indiana team playing without Caitlin Clark, the deal for 8-21 Dallas seems an acknowledgement that trying to erase a 6.5-game deficit for eighth place with 15 games remaining would be a difficult ask for the team as currently constructed.
Carrington was one of two Baylor alums the Wings brought aboard this offseason while building around top overall pick Paige Bueckers. The other, NaLyssa Smith, was dealt to Las Vegas June 30 for a first-round pick in another forward-looking move.
To free up roster space for the new acquisitions, Dallas waived center Teaira McCowan, who averaged double figures for three of her four seasons in Dallas and whose old-school skill set often stood in contrast to league-wide styles of play trending towards speed and athleticism. McCowan’s .570 field goal percentage as a Wing is a record for the franchise.
Samuelson, limited to 16 games this season after a left foot injury June 29 and subsequent surgery, is not expected to play again in 2025. The veteran is a career .392 shooter from deep. She previously played for the Wings in 2019 and her sister Katie Lou Samuelson played for the Wings in 2020.