Karlie Samuelson hopes to find a home with Lynx

Not surprisingly, Karlie Samuelson had doubts her WNBA dream would come true. Perhaps ironically, it only happened after she let that dream go.

Samuelson is a 6-0, sharpshooting guard acquired by the Lynx in a trade with Washington. She played at Stanford with Lynx center Alanna Smith, and their paths to permanence in the WNBA are similar.

Both were rather long.

Samuelson went undrafted in 2017. Over the next five years — she didn’t play in the league in 2020 — she played for four teams.

“I’ve signed a lot of hardship [contracts] in my life,” Samuelson said Wednesday.

She appeared in only 42 games over five years, was out of the league in 2020 and played only one game, for Phoenix, in 2022.

“I had doubts,” Samuelson said. “You start to think, ‘OK, I’ve gotten better every year. I’ve played overseas. Maybe the odds are against me.’ I just got to the point where I just love to play.”

Samuelson decided the joy of playing — even if it was only overseas — would be enough.

But then, a chance. She signed a training camp deal with L.A. in 2023, but was waived. Re-signed, she was released again. Finally, a difficult injury-filled year for the Sparks provided an opportunity for Samuelson.

And she delivered: She started 23 of 34 games, averaged 7.7 points and shot nearly 43% on three-pointers. One night Washington — then coached by Eric Thibault — was playing the Sparks. Samuelson left an impression on him.

“I turned to the bench and said, ‘She’s just a good player,’ ” said Thibault, now the Lynx’s associate head coach. “Like, forget what the contract status is or what their team was going through. She made shots, she knew where to be. She made few negative plays. She’s just where it’s supposed to be.”

The result: The Mystics signed Samuelson to a two-year deal last spring after Eric and his father, Mike — then the Mystics’ GM — went to London to recruit her.

“They came to take me to dinner during free agency,” she said. “I didn’t believe they were actually coming until I saw them. I’m so grateful for that.”

Last season Samuelson averaged a career-high 8.4 points, shooting 39.8% on threes. On April 14, the Lynx traded a 2026 first-round pick to Washington for Samuelson.

Here she will get much of the role Cecilia Zandalasini filled last year — before Zandalasini was selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA expansion draft in December — coming off the bench and being able to hit a three.

“I’ve learned you can’t control outcomes,” Samuelson said. “You can only control what you do every day. Things have worked out by following that passion.”

Said Thibault: “A lot of times a player gets cut, they get waived, they bounce around and you can very easily put them in a box or a category and not see what they could be in the right situation, with a little trust.”

Lynx fans will be able to see all of the team’s 44 regular-season games on one of many platforms.

The Lynx announced their TV and broadcast schedule. FanDuel Sports — with the broadcast team of Marney Gellner and Lea B. Olsen — will cover 30 of 44 regular-season games and both preseason games.

Sloane Martin will be the radio voice for the team on KFAN (100.3 FM).

The rest of the team’s games can be found on TV on either Ion, CBS, NBA TV, ESPN/ABC or Amazon Prime.

Rookie Aubrey Griffin, the UConn forward taken by the Lynx in the third round of the 2025 draft (No. 37 overall) will have an arthroscopic procedure on her left knee Thursday. A timetable has not been set for her return.

Limited because of injury in her final season at Connecticut, she returned and played in the final 16 games during the Huskies’ run to the NCAA title.