The Los Angeles Sparks acquired Canadian guard Kia Nurse from Seattle on Wednesday together with the Storm’s fourth total choose in April’s WNBA draft. In trade, the Sparks will ship their 2026 first-round choose to Seattle.
Nurse, from Hamilton, signed as a free agent with Seattle final season and averaged 5.9 factors, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists. She performed all 40 video games and made 20 begins.
The 27-year-old is a two-time WNBA champion and was named a league all-star in 2019.
“Kia is a flexible veteran guard who can play a number of positions and brings a toughness and physicality that can slot in completely with our crew,” Sparks coach Curt Miller stated in an announcement.
On the worldwide stage, Nurse has represented Canada at two Olympics, main the crew with 13.0 factors per recreation on the Tokyo Video games in 2021.
In 2022, Nurse averaged 11 factors as Canada made the ladies’s World Cup semifinal for the primary time since 1986 and finally completed fourth.
Nurse was drafted by New York with the tenth total choose in 2018. She spent three seasons with the Liberty, together with an all-star recreation choice in 2019, earlier than going to Phoenix in 2021. She injured her knee throughout the playoffs that yr and missed the 2022 season earlier than becoming a member of the Storm.
The addition of the draft choose additionally provides Los Angeles the second and fourth total choices within the upcoming draft.