a day ago
Wings acquire Storm center Li Yueru, who fills immediate roster need
The Dallas Wings are adding some frontcourt help for No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers. The team acquired center Yi Lueru from the Seattle Storm on Saturday in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick and 2027 third-rounder.
Lueru, 26, recently requested a trade, dissatisfied with the playing time she was getting with the Storm. Averaging 8.7 minutes, the 6-foot-7 center was scoring 2.8 points and 1.6 points in nine games.
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A third-round selection of the Atlanta Dream in 2019, Lueru has been traded three times during her WNBA career while playing for the Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks. Last season with the Sparks, she averaged 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 49% from the floor.
During the offseason, Yueru went to the Storm as part of the blockbuster three-team deal that sent Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces and Kelsey Plum to the Sparks.
Prior to joining the WNBA, Yueru played nine seasons in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association for the Guangdong Dolphins and Inner Mongolia.
Thus far, her production has been far below her performance for the Chinese national team, for whom she tallied 17.7 points and 11 rebounds per game during last summer's Paris Olympics. The Chinese federation reportedly wants Yueru to receive more playing time if she continues playing in the WNBA, according to ESPN.
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That could happen with Dallas, where both centers on the roster have left for a couple of weeks to play in the FIBA EuroBasket tournament. Luisa Geiselsoder is averaging 6.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. However, she left the Wings to play for Germany while Teaira McCowan (5.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg) is playing for the Turkish national team in the tournament. So Yueru fills an immediate need on the roster.
Despite their last-place 1-11 record. the Wings average 35.7 rebounds per game, which is good for fifth in the WNBA. Yueru will presumably help with that. Bueckers is scoring 17.4 points with 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game, while shooting 42% on 3-pointers. The Wings are also getting 16.6 points per game from Arike Ogunbowale.
Dallas has lost seven consecutive games after Friday's 88-84 defeat to the Aces. The Wings are off until Tuesday when they host the Golden State Valkyries.
