Minnesota Lynx Add Former Stanford Cardinal in Trade

It was a busy day of additions for the Minnesota Lynx, who, ahead of the 2025 WNBA Draft acquired guard Karlie Samuelson from the Washington Mystics in exchange for a first round pick in the 2026 draft.

The 29-year-old will be joining her sixth team in the Lynx. She starred at Stanford with the Cardinal from 2013 to 2017, and went undrafted in 2017. She instead signed on with the Los Angeles Sparks, a team that she has been a part of off and on four different times.

From 2018 to 2022 she played in a total of 42 WNBA games, getting just over nine minutes per contest. In 2023, as a member of the Sparks, she got into a total of 34 games, starting 23 of them, and averaged 7.7 points, three rebounds, and two assists per game while averaging 26.1 minutes on the court.

She spent last season as a member of the Washington Mystics, getting into 29 games and starting 19 of them. While her minutes dipped slightly on a per-game basis, her points per game increased to 8.4 while the rest of her line stayed fairly consistent.

Traded mid 10 hour flight with no wifi is crazyyyyyyyy
— Karlie Samuelson (@ksam44) April 14, 2025

For the Lynx, who lost the WNBA Finals in overtime of Game 5 to the New York Liberty, adding a depth option like Samuelson should provide the club with a big boost. They still have Napheesa Collier, Courtney Williams, and Kayla McBride leading the way, along with former Cardinal Alanna Smith being a defensive presence that can also score.

This team appears stacked, but Samuelson wasn't their only addition on Monday.

With the second pick of the second round, the Lynx made their first selection of the 2025 WNBA Draft, and used it on 19-year-old Anastasiia Kosu out of Russia as a stash pick for later seasons. Dalayah Daniels was also taken in the second round with the 24th overall pick. She's 6-foot-4 and should provide an interior presence for the Lynx.

With the second-to-last pick of the third and final round, Minnesota selected Aubrey Griffin out of UConn as a bit of a flier. She has tremendous potential, but injuries have limited her a bit in recent seasons. With the Lynx being fairly set with their roster, Griffin could have an uphill climb to make the team. That said, she would add some upside to this roster, too.

Another addition to the roster actually happened back in February, with the club signing French star Marième Badiane, who helped her country earn the silver in a back-and-forth matchup with Team USA.

The center is listed at 6-foot-3 and "was part of the club’s FIBA EuroLeague and KBSL (Turkish League) championships last spring, alongside Lynx players Collier and Kayla McBride." Her addition, and her familiarity with some of the roster already, coud be a huge addition to the roster.

After falling a couple of baskets short in the Finals last season, the Lynx are ready for the 2025 season to begin.