On this February 10th, the Seattle Storm made a total four trades prior to noon. Some big names were moved, a big name was acquired, and Seattle even had the #1 overall pick for a point. I will break down everything that happened in this post, and it will be talked about in next weeks podcast episode
The First trade: Seattle sends Natasha Howard to the New York Liberty for the 2021 #1 Overall pick, Phoenix's 2022 1st Round pick, and the Liberty 2022 2nd round pick
Right off the bat, this is a huge trade. Seattle had cored Natasha Howard (Coring is something that you can do to a player twice in their career. It essentially means that the team has exclusive negotiating rights with that player after they have already become a free agent. Thank you to my friend Hannah for the help on that.) so with that action, I would have expected that they would come to a deal with Howard. But, heading into this offseason with three major free agents (Alysha Clark who signed with Washington, Sami Whitcomb, and Howard), I did not expect to see Seattle be able to retain all three due to cap space issues. Howard had an amazing year last season and I expect her to continue to grow and show out. In regards to the haul that Seattle got for Howard, what would you do with it you ask? Well....
The second trade: Seattle sends Phoenix 2022 1st round pick to Minnesota for Mikiah "Kiki" Herbert Harrigan.
Seattle wasted no time in using a piece of their trade with New York, sending that 1st round 2022 Phoenix pick to Minnesota for Kiki Herbert Harrigan. Herbert Harrigan is a second year player out of the University of South Carolina, spending last season with Minnesota. She is a forward that scored 79 points in the regular season, and added 48 rebounds, 7 assists, 8 steals, and 9 blocks. While that isn't the biggest sample size, she was a winner at South Carolina, being part of the 2017 NCAA national championship, 2018 elite eight, 2019 sweet 16, and several other titles for the SEC. She joined Alaina Coates and A'ja Wilson as the only gamecocks to put up 1,000 points and 200 blocks in their career. Herbert Harrigan is a young talent that certainly can benefit under the championship experience of the Storm, and with the Candice Dupree signing will have a mentor at the forward spot. Herbert Harrigan will be a young player to watch going forward.
The third trade: Seattle sends Sami Whitcomb to New York Liberty in exchange for the rights to Stephanie Talbot.
This trade hurts the heart a little bit, just like the Natasha Howard trade. Sami Whitcomb has been a fan favorite, beloved by fans, and an amazing spark off of the bench. Whitcomb also went to college at the University of Washington, so in total Seattle has watched Whitcomb play for 7 years. This is a tough loss to swallow, but again, it would be hard to see Seattle keep all the pieces of a championship team together. Taking a look at Stephanie Talbot, she is a forward going into her 4th year (did not play 2020 season). She played 2017-2018 with Phoenix, and 2019 with Minnesota. In her career, Talbot has amassed 434 points, 230 rebounds, 137 assists, 28 blocks, and 68 steals. She looks to be a bench piece with Seattle. She is still young, so it is not out of the picture that she will improve.
The fourth and final trade: Seattle sends the #1 overall pick to Dallas in exchange for Katie Lou Samuelson and Dallas' 2022 2nd round pick.
This part of the trade is what interests me the most. I had been a fan of Katie Lou for a couple years prior to this trade, so seeing the Storm acquire her was cool, but sending the #1 overall pick to Dallas for her is interesting. Do I believe that her trade value is that pick? No. Is she going to be a contributor on this team: absolutely. She will join other University of Connecticut alumni in Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart. Lets take a closer look at Samuelson: 6-3 forward, going into her third year in the WNBA. Made a 2.6 PPG increase from 2019-2020, with all other major stats increasing. Has amassed 158 points, 70 rebounds, 37 assists, 21 steals, and 10 blocks. She is a young forward that will now gain valuable experience in a top tier organization. She has drawn great buzz and considering that she is only going into her third year, this addition is exciting.
I want to take the time now to thank Natasha Howard and Sami Whitcomb for their time in Seattle. Both of them were huge pieces in bringing home the latest two WNBA championship trophies, and they both are amazing women on and off of the court. They will always be remembered as great players, and great people here in Seattle. Best of luck to Natasha and Sami in New York.
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