Early on Sunday morning, the Los Angeles Sparks fired general manager Raegan Pebley after two-plus seasons in charge, and announced that her responsibilities would be shared by assistant GMs Zach Knowlton and Nate Nielsen in the interim.
The move ended Pebley's unsuccessful and controversial time in charge of the team's basketball operations, and ensured that she would not oversee the trade deadline, which is set for Aug. 2. According to The Athletic, Pebley had been canvassing the league, though the nature of those calls is unclear.
The Sparks have not made the playoffs since 2020, which is the longest postseason drought in franchise history and the longest active one in the league. Since she was hired in 2024, Pebley has gone all-in to try and get the Sparks back to the playoffs.
Here are some of her most notable moves:
- Traded the Sparks' 2026 first-round pick (became Awa Fam) for Kia Nurse and the Storm's 2024 first-round pick (became Rickea Jackson)
- Drafted Cameron Brink with the No. 2 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft
- Traded the No. 8 pick in the 2024 draft (became Alissa Pili) to the Sky in exchange for Julie Allemand and Li Yueru
- Fired Curt Miller and replaced him with Lynne Roberts
- Traded the No. 2 pick (became Dominique Malonga) and the No. 13 pick (became Aaliyah Nye) in the 2025 WNBA Draft, and Yueru, for Kelsey Plum
- Left both Allemand and Sarah Ashlee Barker (No. 9 pick in 2025 WNBA Draft) unprotected in this year's double expansion draft and lost both of them
- Traded Jackson to the Sky for Ariel Atkins
- Signed Nneka Ogwumike in free agency
- Gave Derica Hamby and Atkins three-year deals worth over $1 million per year
- Gave Erica Wheeler a two-year deal worth over $600,000 per year
Pebley traded the picks that became Malonga and Fam, two of the most promising young bigs in the league, and gave up Jackson, another lottery pick, for Atkins, who is averaging 8.7 points on 36.4% shooting in L.A. And Brink, the one lottery pick she's held on to, has played 48 games in two-plus seasons.
While short-sighted, it seemed that Pebley's moves this offseason would at least guarantee a playoff appearance. Instead, Kelsey Plum has been limited to 12 games due to injuries and isn't expected back until after the All-Star break and the Sparks are stuck in ninth place at 10-11 with the second-worst defense in the league.
To make matters worse, the Sparks' two best players, Plum and Ogwumike, are unrestricted free agents after the season, while the lesser members of their aging core – Atkins, Hamby and Wheeler – are all owed big money through at least 2027.
The Sparks are in a bad spot that could take years to fix, and it's hard to argue with their conclusion that the first order of business was moving on from Pebley.
Here are CBS Sports' latest WNBA Power Rankings:
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Three more victories this week for the Valkyries, who have now won seven games in a row for the longest winning streak in franchise history. During their winning streak, the Valkyries have an absurd 92.5 defensive rating, which is nearly three points per 100 possessions better than any other team. They also boast a 22.2% opponent turnover rate in this stretch, and are holding opponents to just 38.7% shooting. | -- | |
| 2 |  | The Wings pulled off their third double-digit comeback in three attempts against the Sky this season to run their winning streak to five games - tied for their longest since they moved to Dallas in 2016. Paige Bueckers had a season-high 34 points in their win over Toronto and 22 points and 11 assists against Chicago for the first 20-point double-double of her career, as she continued a stellar stretch of play. | 4 | |
| 3 |  | After suffering their first back-to-back defeats of the season, the Lynx returned to winning ways by taking down the Sun and Liberty, and got Olivia Miles back from a calf injury in the latter contest. The star rookie will soon get to play with Napheesa Collier for the first time; coach Cheryl Reeve said Collier is "getting really close" to a return. Kayla McBride, who has led the Lynx in scoring in each of their last four games, is averaging 23.5 points on 50/50/94.4 shooting splits in July. | -- | |
| 4 |  | The Fever started the week with a 14-point loss to the Sparks and ended it with a 34-point win over the Aces, which just about sums up their season. Kelsey Mitchell, who poured in 27 points in Las Vegas, has scored at least 25 points in six consecutive games, which is tied for the third-longest streak in league history. Her 22.7 points per game - good for third in the league - 48.8% field goal percentage and 40.9% 3-point percentage are all career-highs. | 1 | |
| 5 |  | In the span of 48 hours, the Aces beat the Mercury by 48 for the third-biggest win in WNBA history and lost to the Fever by 34 for the eighth-biggest defeat in franchise history. The 82-point difference was the largest between two games in WNBA history, per ESPN. When the Aces don't have it, they really don't have it. That was their third loss by at least 30 points this season; the rest of the league combined has six such defeats. | 1 | |
| 6 |  | A brutal week for the Liberty ended with a failed comeback attempt against the Tempo - their third loss in a row and seventh in their last nine games. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ejected against Toronto for hitting Marina Mabrey with Jonquel Jones' shoe, and coach Chris DeMarco called the officials "atrocious" and "pathetic." The preseason title favorites are now in seventh place, and the frustration is starting to show. | 4 | |
| 7 |  | The Dream snapped their five-game losing streak with a win over the Storm, but then immediately gave up 102 points - the second-most points they've allowed this season - in a loss to the Fire to fall to 1-6 in their last seven games. During this skid, Angel Reese (39.5%), Rhyne Howard (39.2%), Allisha Gray (39.2%) and Naz Hillmon (35.5%) are all shooting under 40% from the field. | 1 | |
| 8 |  | The Mystics' 49 points in their defeat to the Valkyries were the fewest by any team this season, and just the fourth time in the 2020s that a team failed to reach 50 points. They responded with a late comeback to beat the Storm thanks to a season-high 27 points from Shakira Austin. Washington will hope that's a sign she has put a rough June behind her. In 10 games last month, Austin averaged just 10.1 points on 34.7% shooting. | 1 | |
| 9 |  | The Tempo snapped their four-game losing streak with a dramatic win over the Liberty despite Shoegate. Remarkably, that was their first win this season over a team with a winning record. Marina Mabrey went off for 30 points - her second consecutive 30-point game and fifth of the season. Only A'ja Wilson (seven) has more 30-point games this season. Mabrey is now fourth in the league in scoring at 21.6 points per game and shooting 40.4% on 8.5 3-point attempts per game. No one in league history has shot 40% or better on at least eight attempts. | 1 | |
| 10 |  | The Fire had their best offensive showing of the season in their big road win over the Dream: 102 points (their most in regulation), 60% shooting, including 48.3% from 3-point range (their best single-game marks) and 28 assists (second-most). That game in Atlanta kicked off another four-game road trip for the Fire, who are in the middle of a brutal stretch in which they'll play eight of nine on the road. | 4 | |
| 11 |  | The Sparks had more double-digit wins this week - 14 points over the Fever, 15 points over the Sky - than they had all season to this point. That was not enough to save general manager Raegan Pebley's job, however. She was fired Sunday after two-plus years in charge. Pebley's all-in play to end the Sparks' postseason drought, which dates back to 2020, has not worked out. Now that she's not in charge, it will be fascinating to see how they approach the trade deadline. | 4 | |
| 12 |  | The Sun started the week by stunning the Lynx for their best win of the season, which emphasized how much more competitive they've been lately. Their minus-0.5 net rating over their last 10 games ranks seventh in the league. Rookie guard Charlisse Leger-Walker has been a big part of that improvement. The Sun are 3-3 since she was moved back into the starting lineup, and she's averaging 10 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals in that stretch. | -- | |
| 13 |  | Just when it seemed like the Mercury were getting some momentum and might make a playoff push after all, they lost three in a row this week, all by double digits. The worst was a 48-point embarrassment by the Aces, who reinforced how much has changed since the teams met in the Finals eight months ago. Coach Nate Tibbetts called the defeat - the third-largest in WNBA history - "completely unacceptable." | 4 | |
| 14 |  | More drama in Chicago this week, as Skylar Diggins kicked up a fuss about being benched ahead of their game against the Mercury. She ended up sitting out of that contest with a knee injury and has not played since. Without her, the Sky went 1-2 this week, including another collapse against the Wings. The Sky have played the Wings three times and blown a double-digit lead in each game. | 1 | |
| 15 |  | Natisha Hiedeman scored a career-high 31 points in the Storm's narrow loss to the Mystics Sunday. While much of the focus in Seattle has rightfully been on their young core, Hiedeman is putting up 16.2 points and 4.4 assists - both career-highs - on 46.4/37.7/90.5 shooting splits. She's scored in double figures in 17 consecutive games, and has eight 20-point outings. She had five 20-point games in her first seven seasons combined. | 4 |
