Las Vegas Aces lose another key bench player to free agency

An offseason of substantial turnover for the Las Vegas Aces is only continuing. Alysha Clark is headed to the Seattle Storm, ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne reported on Thursday night. Clark has spent the last two seasons with the Las Vegas Aces — winning Sixth Player of the Year and a WNBA championship in 2023 — but spent the first 9 years of her career in Seattle, where she won two championships.

At 37, Clark is one of the league’s oldest players, but she’s still one of the WNBA’s most reliable bench players. Last season, she averaged 6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, shooting 44.3% from the field and 37.3% from three.

Seattle is poised to be headlined by Skylar Diggins-Smith, Gabby Williams (who has yet to officially re-sign), Ezi Magbegor, Nneka Ogwumike, Jordan Horston, and Li Yueru. Clark brings another veteran presence to a win-now roster that also owns the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. She’s also someone who can bolster the team’s limited three-point shooting.

Clark is not exactly the player she was in her prime in Seattle, but she’s still highly effective at what she does and should help the Storm stretch the floor during her minutes.

Aces reportedly trade for Dana Evans as they work to replenish their bench

Clark’s departure from Las Vegas created another question mark for the Aces, who have lost several key rotation players this offseason. Already, the team has seen the departues of Tiffany Hayes and Kate Martin to the Golden State Valkyries, and Sydney Colson to the Indiana Fever. The team also lost All-Star guard Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks in a trade that landed them Jewell Loyd (an all-star in her own right).

But, on Friday morning, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Annie Costabile reported that the Aces were trading two second-round picks to the second-round picks to the Chicago Sky in exchange for Dana Evans. Last season, Evans averaged 7.2 points and 2.4 assists for the Sky, playing 19.2 minutes off the bench. But, she’s not the most efficient scorer, shooting just 36.7% from the field in her five-year WNBA career — a step below Clark and Hayes, the Aces’ most critical bench players last season.

As of right now, the Aces rotation could include forward Kierstan Bell, center Megan Gustafson, forward Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, rookie Elizabeth Kitley, and center Kiah Stokes. One of those players will likely start with A’ja Wilson in the frontcourt. Parker-Tyus should provide a major boost in the frontcourt — the 6’4 forward was an All-Star in 2023, and holds career averages of 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Still, the Aces Aces currently only have 9 players under contract — and don’t have a first-round pick in 2025 — so more moves to bolster the bench are inevitably coming.