The Dallas Wings have named Latricia Trammell as their new head coach, the team announced Monday.
- Trammell will replace Vickie Johnson, whose team option was not picked up last month.
- The Wings made the playoffs and finished with their best record (18-18) this past season since the team moved to Dallas in 2016.
- Trammell will be the Wings’ fifth coach since 2018.
Backstory
Trammell broke into the WNBA in 2017 working as an assistant coach for the Las Vegas Aces (then known as the San Antonio Stars). She joined the Los Angeles Sparks as an assistant in 2019. Prior to that, Trammell coached at the collegiate level, leading Oklahoma City University to two NAIA Division I national championships (2014, 2015) and serving as head coach at Western State University.
Advertisement
Her departure from the Sparks follows a leadership change in Los Angeles: former Connecticut Sun coach Curt Miller is now at the helm in LA after the team hired him on Oct. 21 to replace Derek Fisher.
Rundown of the Wings’ current roster
Dallas has a pretty solid roster with a lot of potential. It just needs to be utilized in the right way. Johnson wasn’t able to figure out the right combination and rotation for a young and talented Wings roster, and that will be the main focus for Trammell.
There are six players on Dallas’ roster with protected contracts: Arike Ogunbowale, Allisha Gray, Kayla Thornton, Satou Sabally, Ty Harris and Bella Alarie. There are four players with unprotected contracts — Charli Collier, Awak Kuier, Veronica Burton and Jasmine Dickey — and a trio of free agents. Isabelle Harrison (UFA), Marina Mabrey (RFA) and Teaira McCowan (RFA) are the three free agents, and there is space in the salary cap to keep one or two of the current free agents but not all three.
Last season, the Wings really didn’t make any moves in the offseason free agency period, choosing instead to ride with the young players they had drafted. But decisions will need to be made — by both the front office and players — and there could be quite a bit more movement in Texas.
Required reading
(Photo: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57knBsanBpanxzfJFrZmppX2V%2BcMPIp56sZZiev6Z5y5qrq6GTnq5uwNGapKadnKF6pLvAnJ9o