Report: Kelsey Plum Does Not Intend to Re-Sign With Sparks

Kelsey Plum does not intend to re-sign with the Los Angeles Sparks as a free agent, league sources told The Athletic's Annie Costabile.

Plum signed a one-year deal valued at $999,999 with Los Angeles in free agency. The 31-year-old guard and her agent, Zack Miller of WME Basketball, both declined to comment to The Athletic on her plans.

Los Angeles has not engaged in meaningful trade talks involving Plum, multiple high-level team executives told Costabile. The WNBA trade deadline falls Sunday, Aug. 2, and talks are active around the league coming out of the All-Star break, Costabile reported.

Plum has averaged 23.9 points in 12 games this season. She has missed the last month with an injury that also cost her an appearance in the All-Star Game in Chicago, and she is expected to return this week.

Earlier this month, Los Angeles fired general manager Raegan Pebley. Assistant general managers Zach Knowlton and Nate Nielsen have been filling the role on an interim basis.

The Sparks are 10-16 and four games back of the eighth-seeded Washington Mystics for the final playoff spot. Los Angeles has lost five straight.

Plum arrived in Los Angeles through a three-team trade in 2025. That deal sent Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces and the second overall pick, which became Dominique Malonga, to the Seattle Storm. Las Vegas won its third title in four seasons last year. Malonga was named an All-Star for Seattle this season.

Candace Parker, Chelsea Gray, and Nneka Ogwumike all won championships in Los Angeles before leaving in free agency.

Controlling owner Mark Walter stayed out of the franchise's basketball operations for close to a decade. Walter has taken a more active approach, Costabile reported, citing Pebley's midseason dismissal and the team's announcement of a new $150 million practice facility that will open in 2027.

Washington could pursue Plum before Sunday, Costabile reported. The Mystics hold the last playoff spot coming out of the break and have $1,836,639 in cap space. Sonia Citron leads Washington in scoring.

The league's hard salary cap has historically limited teams' ability to absorb contracts at the deadline. The current collective bargaining agreement added a minimum salary cap exception and allows teams to carry seven protected veteran contracts, up from six.

On June 25, Plum and the Sparks lost to Toronto in a game in which Marina Mabrey scored 53 points and matched the WNBA single-game scoring record.

Los Angeles hosts the New York Liberty on Tuesday.