WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx have acquired DiJonai Carrington in a trade from the Dallas Wings for Diamond Miller, Karlie Samuelson and the Lynx's second-round pick in 2027.
Carrington averaged 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 20 games for the Wings, who acquired her from Connecticut in February as part of a four-team trade. This is the fifth WNBA season for the 5-foot-11 guard/forward.
WCCO's Henry Lake says on the WCCO Morning News the Lynx are getting a valuable veteran in Carrington, but says that Miller never lived up to expectations due to injury issues.
"Carrington is an unbelievable, defensive guard," Lake says. "I just think that realistically, Diamond Miller just never really truly recovered after the injuries. She had the injuries last season, has not been able to get back to being the player, or develop into the player, that they thought they were getting when they selected her second overall a few years ago."
Miller, the No. 2 overall pick by the Lynx in the draft two years ago, is averaging 4.1 points a game this season. Since scoring 12.1 points a game as a rookie in 2023, the 6-3 forward from Maryland has averaged only 3.5 points in 47 games the past two seasons.
The Lynx, last year's runner-up to the New York Liberty after a hard-fought, very controversial five-game series in the WNBA Finals, have been the league's top team all season long. Lake says this move clearly makes them the favorite.
"They wanted to make a move to try to really solidify them being a championship contender and look, we know that the Lynx, we've watched them all year long," says Lake. "They're a championship contender. Their a team that's going to be there at the end. They wanted to solidify that even more."
Samuelson hasn't played since June 29 because of surgery on her left foot after playing only 16 games for the Lynx, who got the 6-foot guard from Washington in April. She played four games for Dallas in 2019.
The Wings waived 6-7 center Teaira McCowan, a seven-year WNBA veteran, to make room on the roster for the additions. McCowan averaged 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17 games this season.
Minnesota is 24-5 this season. The Wings, with No. 1 overall draft pick and Hopkins, Minnesota-native Paige Bueckers, have lost eight of their last 10 games and are 8-21.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.