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WNBA veteran NaLyssa Smith was traded by the Dallas Wings to the Las Vegas Aces, and she was clearly blindsided by the deal after reacting on social media.
“Sick to my stomach dawg, never seen this coming but.. I love you Dallas nation, thank you 4 everything,” she wrote on X after news of the trade came out.
It was announced on Monday that the Aces acquired Smith, who has been struggling this year, for a 2027 first-round pick.
The Wings have been struggling this year, owning a 1-11 record, and Smith hasn’t fared well with her new team. She was averaging 6.7 points and 4.9 rebounds, both career lows, over 18 games.
Smith was acquired by the Wings in an offseason trade with the Indiana Fever, as Dallas tried to build a better roster around Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale. Unfortunately, the moves did not pan out, and Dallas was quick to get assets back in return.
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It’s also worth noting that Smith was playing alongside her girlfriend, DiJonai Carrington, who also joined the Wings this offseason. They were teammates previously at Baylor, and have had a relationship ever since.
Carrington simply posted a broken-heart emoji on X when the news dropped, followed by a separate post with pictures of herself and Smith on and off the court.
Smith, though, followed up her post explaining her shock with some positivity as she headed to Las Vegas.
“On another note tho [sic] if I could’ve chose anywhere to go it would’ve been Vegas so hella excited 4 this new opportunity wit [sic] my goat,” Smith wrote on X.
While Smith didn’t specifically say who she considers her “goat,” it’s a fair guess to say it’s three-time WNBA MVP and two-time league champion A’ja Wilson, who leads the Aces in her eighth season since being taken No. 1 overall out of South Carolina in 2018.
Meanwhile, Smith was the No. 2 overall pick by the Fever in 2022, where she made the WNBA All-Rookie first team after averaging 13.5 points and 7.9 rebounds over 30.7 minutes per game. She finished third in WNBA Rookie of the Year voting.
For the first time in her career, Smith played less than 20 minutes with Dallas, but perhaps that will change now with Las Vegas.
The Aces are currently seventh in the WNBA standings, and fifth in the Western Conference, with an 8-8 record to start the year.
Smith’s presumed first game with her new squad will be against her former team, as the Fever host the Aces on Thursday night in Indianapolis.
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