The Las Vegas Aces Swung A Huge Trade For Liz Cambage

The best big in the WNBA is on the move to what had been one of the league’s worst teams. Australian scoring champ Liz Cambage has received the trade from Dallas that she requested, though it won’t be to her reported favored team, the Los Angeles Sparks. She’ll go instead to the rebuilding Las Vegas Aces, who, thanks to Cambage and their treasure trove of recent high draft picks, could be on the cusp of a new era of actual success.

That is, if Cambage wants to stick around. The Aussie has been vocal about how the WNBA isn’t her main source of income (playing overseas is), and since she’s only under contract for 2019 and has only played three WNBA seasons since her debut in 2011, there’s no guarantee that the Aces (or any American team) will keep her for the future. Because of those issues, the Wings’ return on Cambage looks surprisingly low for an All-WNBA talent:

Jefferson, entering her fourth season, never started and averaged just 5.4 points per game in her one year with Vegas. And though center Harrison has potential, she would have become redundant anyway with the arrival of Cambage, and didn’t play at all last season due to “personal medical reasons.”

Even if it’s just for 2019, the Aces should be fun as hell to watch. Although the franchise formerly known as the San Antonio Stars have been last in the West for the past four seasons, they showed slight improvement in 2018 under Bill Laimbeer. Top draft pick A’ja Wilson came in from South Carolina, scored over 20 points per game, and won Rookie of the Year. Add Wilson and Cambage to the Aces’ other All-Star, Kayla McBride, plus 2017 top pick Kelsey Plum at point guard and new top draft pick Jackie Young from Notre Dame, and suddenly, this also-ran is a legit contender—at least for one year.