And then there was one – Amir.
The Coffey family’s foothold in LA — Nia Coffey and her younger brother, Amir Coffey, playing for the Sparks and Clippers, respectively — will not include Nia this coming summer.
After Coffey’s breakout season with Sparks last season, a source said the versatile forward would be departing after agreeing a multi-year, six-figure deal, Allegedly with the Atlanta Dream, according to The Next Hoops. She was Sparks’ only unrestricted free agent this off-season.
The Sparks – who this week came to an agreement with guard T Cooper on a qualifying offer – entered free agency on guaranteed deals with six of their nine roster players this year and accounting for cap holds, a maximum of $97. Agent (except one trade) to offer , 000 free of charge.
In 2023, however, it will be a very different scenario: All except their two players will be free agents. (Those two: Jasmine Walker and Arela Guerentes, who are both about to enter their second WNBA season.) This would free up significant cap space for the Sparks to potentially compete for the stars.
The Sparks were Coffey’s fourth team in five WNBA seasons, and they offered him a much bigger role in 2019 as well as the Dream than in his previous hauls, when he averaged 5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.9 minutes.
Last season, Atlanta finished 8–23 in a turbulent season that was marred by an off-court brawl that resulted in the loss of former Dream players Courtney Williams and Crystal Bradford at an incident outside an Atlanta-area club in May. Was suspended for his role.
The team announced that it would not re-sign any players, both of whom are free agents.
In L.A., Coffey, a 6-foot-1 forward, proved himself to be a highly-characterized teammate and a reliable contributor, averaging 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game in 25.2 minutes per game—all careers. -High, as was his 3-point shooting accuracy: 41.7%.
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Enjoy our favorite Nia Coffey highlights of this season!@niakoff , #rootedinla pic.twitter.com/xudmUWk3AQ
— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) November 22, 2021
The emergence of Coffey, a 26-year-old from Minnesota, was the highlight of an otherwise disappointing, injury-ridden season for the team run by Derek Fisher, in his roles as general manager and head coach. The Sparks finished 12–20 and missed the playoffs of the season after losing to perennial All-Stars Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray in free agency.
Despite missing the playoffs last season, the Sparks do not have a first-round pick in the 2022 draft, becoming the fourth overall pick for Dallas last season. They will have 15th, 16th, 19th and 27th choices in the draft, for which the WNBA has yet to announce a date.
Sparks swapped the first-round pick for Walker, a 6-foot-3 floor-gap forward whom he drafted in the seventh format last year, but whose rookie season was cut short when he was forced to take his rookie season. A torn anterior cruciate ligament was suffered in the second game.
This summer, they will also join former UConn forward Gabby Williams, who will make her debut after sitting out last season due to French national team commitments.
And they will hope that their stars will be much healthier as they had to play a career-high 14 games without Nneka Ogwumike, Chinese Ogwumike for 25 and Kristi Tolliver 13 last season.
Multiple sources confirm @TheNextHoops: Free agent Nia Coffey is moving to Atlanta. Averaged 8.3 points and 3.8 rebounds last season in LA.
— Spencer Nussbaum (@spencernusbaum_) 22 January 2022
“Nah.” – Nia Coffey, probably.@niakoff , #routedinlaw pic.twitter.com/lCn6P74fcz
— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) 3 July 2021