The Minnesota Lynx continued to make moves heading into tonight’s WNBA draft.
The latest: The Lynx traded their 2026 first-round pick to Washington for 6-foot guard-forward Karlie Samuelson.
On Sunday, the Lynx dealt their first pick this year to Chicago (11th overall) for the Sky’s first pick in 2026.
Tonight, the Lynx have the third pick in the second round (15th overall).
In Samuelson, the team acquired a veteran sharpshooter with a career 39.7% three-point shooting percentage. Considering the Lynx roster, it is a move that makes sense with a new CBA pending; just about every significant WNBA player will be a free agent after the coming season.
The Lynx have all five starters and seven of their top eight players back from the 2024 team that made it to Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.
The only significant loss from that group was three-point shooting wing Cecilia Zandalasini, who was taken by Golden State in the expansion draft.
Samuelson, 29, would seem to fit that roster spot well. The former Stanford star — an older sister of Katie Lou Samuelson, who played with Lynx star Napheesa Collier at UConn — entered the league as an undrafted player in 2018. After appearing in just 42 games with four teams over her first five seasons, Samuelson found her stride starting in 2023.
