TORRANCE — The Los Angeles Sparks waived second-year forward Sania Feagin on Friday morning to make room for a backup point guard, according to the team’s head coach Lynne Roberts.
“She was waived this morning, which is tough,” Roberts said at the team’s practice facility in Torrance. “We have a real need for another ball-handling point guard.”
The transaction was made to sign reserve point guard Kiana Williams, whom the Sparks offered a contract to Thursday. A 2021 second-round pick by the Seattle Storm out of Stanford, where she was a teammate of Sparks forward Cameron Brink, Williams was on a developmental player contract with the Phoenix Mercury. Phoenix had the right to upgrade the 27-year-old to a standard contract but declined to do so.
The Sparks are the first team to poach a developmental contract player from another franchise in league history.
“It’s more about our need for another point guard,” Roberts said, “and somebody that can take some pressure off of Erica (Wheeler) and Kelsey (Plum). We tried to figure it out with Chance Gray or JP (Jihyun Park) or Ta’Niya (Latson), that’s asking them to play out of their positions and it was taking away from what they’re good at. Just really had a need for that.”
Williams, a 5-foot-7 guard, averaged 4.8 points on 36% shooting from 3-point range in 13.1 minutes in eight games for the Mercury this season. She has averaged 2.2 points and 0.6 assists in 46 career games with Seattle, Connecticut and Phoenix.
“She’s a good player,” Roberts said. “She can shoot, but she can help run the team. When she’s out there, get us into the right spots. Execute the way we need to. She’s a smart player and has a lot of experience. She was at Unrivaled this year with a lot of our guys. She played with EW (Erica Wheeler) and Nneka (Ogwumike) in Seattle, so there’s a comfort level with our roster, so we feel good about it.”
Feagin, a 6-foot-3 forward, was a Sparks 2025 second-round draft pick out of South Carolina. She averaged 1.1 points in 4.6 minutes of playing time in 19 career games. The former Gamecock, hampered by a left leg injury, did not score in three games this season.
“It’s tough,” Roberts said. “Love Sania and still believe that she can make it in this league. It’s just more about our need, that’s the business side of it, but certainly the human side is tough.”
The Sparks (7-8) will host the New York Liberty on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.