Sparks Waive Rookie Ahead of 2025 Roster Deadline

The Los Angeles Sparks waived forward Liatu King on Sunday, per a release.

King's release cuts the Sparks' training camp roster down to 15 ahead of their May 16 season opener against the Golden State Valkyries.

Los Angeles selected King 28th overall in this year's WNBA Draft on April 14. The purple and gold's 2025 third-round pick scored six points and four rebounds in five minutes during the Sparks' sole preseason game, a 83-82 win over the Valkyries, on May 6.

After transferring from Pittsburgh to Notre Dame for her final collegiate season, King averaged 11.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game — 17th in all of Division I in rebounding average — for the Fighting Irish in 2024-25. She left South Bend first in program history in single-season rebounds per game.

Thank you, Liatu King. pic.twitter.com/jjWUeeg7E1
— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) May 12, 2025

“Liatu is just scratching the surface of what she can accomplish at the professional level,” Sparks General Manager Raegan Pebley said in a post-draft statement on April 15. “She is an efficient shooter, excellent rebounder and a tenacious defender."

King's release comes just days after the Sparks waived forward Anneli Maley and guard-forward Alyssa Ustby on May 1.

Maley landed on the Sparks' radar after impressing in 2024 and 2025 with the Perth Redbacks of the NBL1 West league. Her first and only WNBA appearance prior to the Sparks came in 2022 with the Chicago Sky.

Ustby averaged 10.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and a team-high 2.8 assists per game for North Carolina in 2024-25, and was named to both the All-ACC First Team and the ACC All-Defensive Team.

Los Angeles, now with 15 players on its training camp roster, must submit a final roster of no more than 12 players before the season starts later this week, as outlined in the WNBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement.

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