The Dallas Wings acquired center Li Yueru in a trade with the Seattle Storm in exchange for two future draft picks, the teams announced Saturday.
Seattle will receive Dallas’ 2026 second-round pick, which includes the right to swap with the Connecticut Sun, and Dallas’ 2027 third-round pick, with the right to swap with the Indiana Fever, in return for Yueru.
Yueru had been in her first season with the Storm after being traded to the franchise as part of the three-way deal that sent Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces and Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks last offseason. Yueru requested a trade from the Storm on June 4, a league source confirmed to The Athletic, with the source noting that a desire for increased playing time was central to the ask.
Yueru is in her third WNBA season and saw her minutes decrease from 14.4 per game last season with the Sparks to 8.7 this year. She elected not to play in this July’s FIBA Asia Cup, and the source said that the Chinese federation preferred her to receive more playing time if she was going to stay in the WNBA this summer.
Yueru led China in scoring (17.7 points per game) and rebounding (11.0 per game) at the Paris Olympics last summer.
“I’d love to stay here because I feel so happy every day, whenever I come to practice or go…
