DiJonai Carrington Traded to Lynx, Diamond Miller, Samuelson, WNBA Draft Pick to Wings

The Dallas Wings announced Sunday they traded 2024 Most Improved Player winner DiJonai Carrington to the Minnesota Lynx.

Minnesota is sending forward Diamond Miller, guard Karlie Samuelson and a 2027 second-round pick to Dallas.

The Wings are also waiving center Teaira McCowan to open up a spot on their roster and facilitate the trade.

Acquiring Carrington helps fuel the Lynx's quest for a title. Minnesota entered the year as the biggest threat to dethrone the reigning champion New York Liberty. The team's 24-5 start has done nothing to change that notion. The Lynx are six games ahead of the Liberty in first place.

Now, head coach Cheryl Reeve is adding adding a defense-minded wing to a unit that already ranks first in defensive rating (95.1), per WNBA.com. Carrington averaged 1.1 steals in her 24.9 minutes per appearance with Dallas.

Maybe her offense — she's shooting just 35.4 percent from the field — will start to trend upward, too, now that she's playing on a better team.

From the other side, the trade is an admission the season hasn't gone according to plan for the Wings. They're 8-21 and 11th in the WNBA, 6.5 games back of the final playoff spot.

Miller, the No. 2 overall pick in 2023, hasn't panned out to this point. Over the past two seasons, she averaged just 3.5 points and 0.6 assists for the Lynx.

The 24-year-old may still have some untapped potential, though. In the same way that Haley Jones has emerged as a key reserve for Dallas, she could benefit by moving to a franchise in a rebuild and not focused as much on short-term results.

Miller is also among the few players already under contract for the 2026 and she'll be eligible for restricted free agency in 2027.

Almost every WNBA veteran is hitting the open market in the winter, while the salary cap will make a big jump whenever a new collective bargaining agreement is finalized.

From a roster-building perspective, having any level of team control with a player for the next few years is a big advantage.