LOS ANGELES — The Sparks are making some personnel moves.
On Thursday, the WNBA transactions page had something interesting. They tendered an offer to guard Kiana Williams, who was a developmental player for the Phoenix Mercury. Here’s John W. Davis of the Southern California Newsgroup.
The Sparks needed to waive a player to make way for Williams. And this move was made on Friday, according to Dave Yapkowitz of Clutch Points.
As mentioned earlier, Williams is on a developmental player deal with the Mercury. She has already used eight of her 12 allowed games. After a team signs a developmental player, that player may only negotiate with the team that signed them. But after 14 days, all teams can try to poach that developmental player by tendering them an offer sheet although the original team has the right to refuse first.
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Feagin had flashes of great defense in her year-plus with the Sparks but never really had a chance to show what she could do. A second round pick by the Sparks in last year’s draft, Feagin played in 19 total games (three this season) with the Sparks with averages of 1.1 points and 0.6 rebounds. The South Carolina product scored her career-best eight points against the Mystics in July 15 of last season.
As for Williams, she has been in and out of the league since 2021, when she got drafted by the Storm in the second round after helping lead Stanford (yes, she was a college teammate of Sparks forward Cameron Brink) to the national championship. She had stints with the Storm, the Sun, and the Mercury. She’s averaging 4.8 points in eight games while playing 13 minutes per contest with Phoenix this season.
“We’re excited to add Kiana to our roster,” said Sparks General Manager Raegan Pebley. “She is a consummate professional whose work ethic, basketball IQ and passing ability will strengthen our group and add depth to our guard position.”
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The Sparks still have other roster moves to figure out. Kate Martin has played in 10 games already with only two games left that she’s eligible for unless she signs a main roster contract. And for her to get that contract, the Sparks would have to waive another player. Martin, who was waived by the Valkyries before the season started, has been a boost off the bench for the Sparks, averaging 2.6 points in under eight minutes of play per. She had a season-high 11 points against the Toronto Tempo on May 17th, which was her second game of the season.
In the meantime, the Sparks are getting ready for their next game against the Liberty on Sunday for the Anniversary Game for the WNBA’s 30th season.
