WNBA Trade Deadline 2022: Breaking Down Latest League Rumors

The 2022 WNBA All-Star Game has come and passed, and the regular season has resumed, with a loaded slate of five games having taken place Tuesday. Now, the race to the playoffs is on, as there's only a little more than a month until the postseason will be here.

Before that, though, there's another big date on the league's calendar: July 15.

The trade deadline is set for Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, and the WNBA's 12 teams could be looking to make some notable moves up until then. The standings are fairly tight in both the Eastern and Western Conferences, so any deal could have a great impact on the league's landscape.

As the deadline nears, much of the trade buzz around the WNBA has been focused on one player: Phoenix Mercury All-Star guard Skylar Diggins-Smith.

Howard Megdel of The IX newsletter recently reported that Diggins-Smith is on the trade block, with the Mercury "shopping" the 31-year-old to numerous teams. However, Megdel also noted that many teams around the league are "wary of adding her."

Phoenix has struggled a bit this season, falling to 10-15 with its double-overtime loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday. There's also been some contention within the team of late.

Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi had a verbal altercation back in May. Diggins-Smith also had posted a since-deleted tweet of a clown emoji in reference to a statement made by Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard, who had said the All-Star Game wouldn't be a true All-Star Game due to Taurasi's exclusion.

Still, Diggins-Smith is having another strong season, as she leads Phoenix in points (19.4), assists (5.4) and steals (1.8) per game after playing 23 contests. So if the Mercury end up trading her, she would provide a tremendous boost to the backcourt of another team.

If Diggins-Smith isn't dealt, it's quite possible there won't be any huge blockbuster trades ahead of Thursday's deadline. As Bleacher Report's Jackie Powell recently noted, the WNBA's hard salary cap "makes it almost impossible to make simple one-to-one trades," which is a reason why there's often not a flurry of deals at the deadline each summer.

There's also reason to think Diggins-Smith may not get traded, even with the recent buzz. The Athletic's Lyndsey D'Arcangelo noted that Diggins-Smith would likely want to get moved to a contending team, but "that might be tough to find as the teams at the top are set at point guard already."

So for now, things have quieted a bit on the trade front around the WNBA. But with more than 48 hours to go until the deadline, it's still possible that could change and the buzz may start to pick up regarding some potential deals that will take place. Until then, time will tell if something develops in the trade market.