Somehow, the Lynx just became even more difficult to score against.
The WNBA’s top defense by a wide margin added to its defensive arsenal Sunday, acquiring Dallas wing DiJonai Carrington in a trade that sent wing Diamond Miller, guard Karlie Samuelson and Minnesota’s 2027 second-round draft pick to the Wings.
Carrington was a WNBA All-Defense selection and the League’s Most Improved Player in 2024 while serving as the perimeter defensive ace for a Connecticut team that led the league in defense and pushed Minnesota to five games in the WNBA semifinals.
Carrington was traded to Dallas in February, and the inexperienced, youthful Wings have fallen well out of playoff contention, making Dallas a seller ahead of the trade deadline. Carrington is in the final year of her current deal and will be a free agent this winter.
Whether Carrington signs with Minnesota long term is still to be determined, but in the present, she’s a major boost for the current heavy title favorite.
With the Lynx, Carrington rejoins Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman, with whom she previously shared a backcourt in Connecticut.
Minnesota is the runaway No. 1 seed at the moment, largely thanks to the fact it allows just 95.1 points per 100 possessions — three points better than Seattle, who entered Sunday’s play with the second-best defensive rating.
Clear-cut MVP candidate Napheesa Collier is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and remains the best in the world on that end. But Carrington gives Minnesota another perimeter stopper who can lighten the burden on that end of the floor for the likes of Kayla McBride and Bridget Carleton.
Carrington gives Minnesota another option now and, more importantly, in the playoffs, to defend star scoring guards such as Atlanta’s Allisha Gray or New York’s Sabrina Ionescu. The Fever feature multiple all-star guards in Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark, and this addition allows the Lynx to put someone like McBride on one of those players and Carrington on the other.
One of the few cracks in Minnesota’s defensive armor this season has occasionally been slowing down back-to-the-basket bigs, but great defensive wing play can be part of that antidote, as well, as perimeter pressure limits the opponent’s ability to effectively enter the ball into the post.
Minnesota selected Miller with the No. 2 overall pick out of Maryland in 2023, but the wing never quite hit her stride with the Lynx, though she did contribute in some key spots off the bench this summer.
The 24-year-old wing could benefit from a fresh start on an up-and-coming Dallas team.
Carrington figures to assume all of Miller and Samuelson’s minutes, but the 27 year old — who averaged nearly 30 minutes a game last year for Connecticut — can also ease the burden on Minnesota’s top five, all of whom are averaging 26 to 32 minutes a game. And there will also be plenty of minutes to redistribute should Collier have to miss any time with the ankle injury she suffered in the second half of Saturday’s blowout win over the Aces.
With the Lynx in such a strong position in the standings, Minnesota should be operating with its playoff prospects in mind over the final month of the regular season.
This team’s goal is to win a title. Sunday’s acquisition seems to move Minnesota one step closer in that pursuit.
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