Minnesota Lynx trade for DiJonai Carrington: WNBA's top team adds talent in deal with Dallas Wings

The Lynx and Wings agreed to a trade that will see Minnesota add another strong defender

The Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings announced a trade Sunday morning, with the Lynx adding veteran wing DiJonai Carrington and sending Diamond Miller, Karlie Samuelson and their 2027 second round pick to Dallas. 

Carrington joined the Wings this offseason after spending her first four seasons with the Sun, becoming a first-team All-Defense performer and winning Most Improved Player in 2024. She saw a dip in production and efficiency in Dallas, but will step into a Lynx team that figures to be a far more comfortable role, with the expectation to add a secondary scoring punch (she's averaging 10.4 points per game) and help Minnesota further cement themselves as the WNBA's best defense.

The Lynx have been the best team in the WNBA by a wide margin this season, leading the Liberty for the top spot in the standings by six games, but as they pursue their first title since 2017 they're remaining aggressive in trying to make their team better. Carrington will give them another versatile perimeter defender with tremendous length and the ability to provide ball pressure and guard multiple positions. 

To add Carrington, the Lynx send Dallas a former No. 2 overall pick in Miller and a solid shooter in Samuelson. Neither were a major part of the Minnesota rotation, and the Lynx are consolidating some regular season depth in favor of adding a stronger performer for the postseason rotation. 

The Wings are in a very different space as a team and move Carrington to a contender while taking on a bit of a reclamation project in Miller. The former Maryland star had a strong rookie campaign in 2023, but fell to the periphery of the Lynx rotation the last two years and Dallas can get a look over the back half of this year to see if they can bring the talent that made her a No. 2 overall pick three years ago out of her again.