The WNBA has witnessed its first significant trade of 2025.

The Seattle Storm have finalized a deal to send Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces in a three-team trade that will also result in Kelsey Plum joining the Los Angeles Sparks. A source familiar with the trade, who requested to remain anonymous due to restrictions on public comments prior to an official announcement, confirmed this to YSL News Sports.

In this arrangement, Seattle will receive the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft along with 6-foot-7 center Li Yueru from the Sparks. Meanwhile, the Sparks will gain the No. 9 pick in the 2025 draft from the Storm. To wrap up the trade, the Aces will also acquire the No. 13 pick in the 2025 draft from the Sparks, as reported by ESPN.

Lloyd and Plum previously played together on the U.S. women’s basketball team that secured a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Loyd, a two-time WNBA champion, has been named an All-Star six times and is a three-time All-WNBA honoree, in addition to being the league’s scoring champion in 2023. Reports indicate that she requested a trade from Seattle, where she has been since she was selected first overall in the 2015 WNBA draft.

This request coincided with an investigation into the Storm concerning allegations of player mistreatment. The Chicago Sun Times noted that Loyd was the individual who filed the complaint. Following this investigation by an external firm, the Storm released a statement indicating there were no violations of policies or evidence of discrimination, harassment, or bullying.

Loyd, 31, had an outstanding 2024 season, averaging 19.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.4 steals as an All-Star for Seattle. Her addition to the Aces will bolster their chances of remaining competitive; they claimed consecutive championships in 2022 and 2023 but were eliminated in the semifinals by the New York champions last season.

Plum, who also celebrated two championship victories with Las Vegas, has been an All-Star for the last three seasons. The 30-year-old posted averages of 17.8 points and 4.2 assists, while shooting 36.8% from beyond the arc in the 2024 season.

Li Yueru, aged 25, came off the bench for Los Angeles last season, averaging 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds.

(This story has been revised to update the headline.)