Karlie Samuelson finally gets Wi-Fi, finds out she’s a member of the Lynx

Her season in Europe over, Karlie Samuelson was making her way from Madrid to North Carolina on Monday.

She had just finished playing — along with Lynx starter Bridget Carleton — in the EuroBasketball Final Six for CBK Mersin, which won the tournament.

It was a long flight on which, unfortunately, the Wi-Fi didn’t work.

So she didn’t know she’d just been traded to the Lynx.

“It was probably the first time the Wi-Fi on the plane didn’t work, which is funny,” Samuelson said via Zoom on Thursday. The Lynx had an on-line introduction with their three WNBA draftees – Anastasiia Kosu, Dalayah Daniels and Aubrey Griffin — as well as offseason additions Marième Badiane, Grace Berger and re-signed free agent Natisha Hiedeman.

And Samuelson, who was acquired from Washington in exchange for Minnesota’s 2026 first-round draft pick in a deal done before Monday’s draft started.

After the draft, Lynx coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve said the move was a sign the team — having reached the fifth game of the WNBA Finals – were going all-in on a return.

But Samuelson didn’t find out all about it. At least right away.

“I was flying back from the Final Six — where Marième was competing as well," Samuelson said. “And my phone blew up. I did not expect that to happen. But it’s draft day and anything can happen. I got a bunch of text messages before my phone could actually connect to the internet. So I knew I was traded, but I didn’t know where.”

When she landed, her first call was to her sister, Katie Lou, who had played four years at UConn with Lynx star Napheesa Collier.

“I was like, ‘Was I traded?’ ” she said. “And she just told me, ‘Yes.’ And my second call was to Cheryl.”

Samuelson played with Lynx center Alanna Smith at Stanford, with Carleton this year overseas. She also knows Lynx associate head coach Eric Thibault well, too, having played for him when he coached Washington last season.

Samuelson was undrafted out of college and spent her first few seasons trying to find a foothold in the WNBA through a string of hardship deals and roster cuts. But she kept playing in Europe. She played well for Los Angeles in 2023.

Then Thibault and the Mystics signed her to a two-year deal prior to the 2024 season, and she responded with a season high in scoring (8.4) while shooting nearly 40% on three-pointers.

Samuelson joked it was nice that she’ll get to play both years of that two-year deal with Thibault on the bench.

“I love the way the team plays,” she said. “And I couldn’t be happier.”

There are other connections with the new players. Badiane played with Kayla McBride overseas and against Collier and Team USA in the gold medal game of the 2024 Olympics. Griffin played at UConn with Lynx backup center Dorka Juhász.