Jeremy Beren Mon, October 12, 2026 at 8:35 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sabrina Ionescu holds the key to Liberty offseason after playoff disappointment originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The New York Liberty 's bid to play in the WNBA finals again fell short.
Swept out of the playoffs by the Atlanta Dream last week, the Liberty enter the offseason with an expensive team and a first-year coach who is on the hot seat . Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones will turn 33 years old before the 2027 season ends, and the Satou Sabally signing hasn't worked out at all amid the All-Star forward's concussions.
That's why a Sabrina Ionescu trade might not be such a radical idea.
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Ionescu is coming off an injury-riddled season in which she -- again -- shot worse than the league average from three-point range. For the second season running, Ionescu shot under 30 percent from beyond the arc, and though she heated up in the playoffs, the four-time All-Star scored just 22 points in Games 2 and 3 of the semifinal sweep against Atlanta.
Ionescu has meant a lot to the Liberty franchise. She was the top overall pick out of Oregon in the 2020 draft, and she was instrumental in New York's run to a first WNBA championship in 2024.
But in five of Ionescu's six full seasons -- not counting her truncated rookie year -- she has shot 33 percent or worse from three-point territory. For the Liberty to get better defensively -- and have a shot to sign top free agent Napheesa Collier -- a move to trade Ionescu into the Portland Fire's cap space would be a sensible solution.
Portland has the most money to spend of any WNBA team this offseason and will have designs on a Golden State Valkyries-esque rise up the standings in their second season. Beginning 2027 with a former Oregon star as the franchise's first flagship player would offer an injection of star power that the Fire would otherwise have to draft and develop.
That would free up funds for the Liberty to offer Collier a max contract, and it would also give New York the flexibility to reroute Sabally to a third team.
The chances of the Liberty actually dealing Ionescu appear to be low; New York has locked itself into this Big Three of Ionescu, Jones and Stewart. But general manager Jonathan Kolb has made bold moves before. He fired decorated head coach Sandy Brondello last year, and few expected the Liberty to sign Sabally in free agency before the 2026 season.
The Liberty has come up short in back-to-back seasons since the 2024 title. In a market the size of New York, that's a big problem -- and it might require a bold solution.
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Source: Sports
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