WNBA free agency opened at midnight. It is already off to a good start, after Dearica Hamby, former Las Vegas Aces WNBA champion, was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Aces also acquired 6-5 center Amanda Zahui B., a Sparks player, in the trade. In addition, the Aces’ receive Los Angeles’ second round pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, while the Sparks receive Las Vegas’ first round pick.
Hamby was Las Vegas’ longest-tenured player in last season’s league. She is also a two-time Sixth Player-of-the-Year and All Star forward. The 6’3 forward played a major role in helping the Aces win their first championship. She also revealed her second pregnancy during the celebrations. She will begin the 2023 season in May. The Sparks may suspend her to allow her more time, if she so desires.
In an interview, however, with Girls Talk Sports founder Khristina WilliamsHamby indicated that her goal is to be back. “I’m due in March… will I be 100% by the start of the season? If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be back pretty close to the start of the season,” she said.
She tweeted a message on Jan. 15 that seemed to express dissatisfaction with the treatment she received by her long-standing team.
The eight-year veteran holds career averages of 9.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists — but it’s the intangibles that make Hamby most valuable. After sustaining a knee injury, Hamby was able to enter game 1 against the Connecticut Sun in the Finals last season. She had already turned 10 times and was still recuperating from that. She made an immediate impact on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
“Those minutes were big, and it was the intangibles, the hustles and the rebounds,” Suns’ then head coach Curt Miller said. “She runs the floor in transition. We’ve got mismatches. Nothing shows up in a stat sheet for her that way, but her effort creates mismatches right away in transition to their advantage.”
When Hamby was the sixth overall pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft, the Aces were known as the San Antonio Stars. She famously helped send Las Vegas on to the WNBA Semifinals for the first time in a decade with the “The Hamby Heave” in 2019 —a steal and 35-foot shot late in the Aces 2019 Second Round Playoff game against Chicago.
Zahui B’s career averages are 6.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 0.75 assists. She has played in 197 games with Tulsa (New York), Los Angeles, and Los Angeles. She played in 30 games (27 start) for the Sparks and averaged 9.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game in her first season.
“Dearica has dedicated eight years of her career to this organization, and played a big role in our success since the team moved to Las Vegas,” Aces General Manager Natalie Williams said in a release. “We’re going to miss her as a teammate, and are grateful for all of her contributions to the Aces over the years.”
Follow the rest WNBA’s free agency here.
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