Wings, Mystics swap Aerial Powers, Tayler Hill in deal that could work for everyone involved

A few hours ahead of Monday night’s trade deadline, the Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics completed an interesting trade seemingly out of nowhere. The Wings sent third-year wing Aerial Powers to the Mystics in exchange for veteran guard Tayler Hill, a 2019 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2019 first-round picks.

In the end, this could be a trade that works out well for all parties involved. Let’s take a closer look at the deal.

The Wings and Mystics are each middle of the pack teams with top-tier stars capable of carrying them on a deep playoff run. And you need only look at last week to find evidence of that. Liz Cambage set a new WNBA scoring record with 53 points against the Liberty, while Elena Delle Donne dropped 30 points and 10 rebounds — also on the Liberty — to become the first Mystics player to ever have three 30-point games in a season.

Both squads, however, have inconsistent supporting casts. Additionally, each team had a bit of an unbalanced roster prior to the deal. The Wings had plenty of, well, wings, but not much in the way of actual guards behind Skylar Diggins-Smith. As for the Mystics, they had a plethora of backcourt pieces, including each of their last two first-round picks, but were limited on the wing. In swapping Hill for Powers, the Wings get some backcourt help, while the Mystics gain some versatility.

Furthermore, both Powers and Hill have struggled to regain their past form following recent injuries, and a fresh start could do each of them well.

After a promising rookie campaign in which she made the All-Rookie Team, Powers underwent hip surgery, which cost her the majority of the 2017 season. Then, she missed the first few weeks of this season with a quad injury, and has most recently fallen completely out of the rotation. In 15 games with the Wings this season, she averaged just 6.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Besides just simply being hurt and unable to play, another downside of getting injured is the possibility of other players stepping up in your absence and not relinquishing the role. Which is what happened to Powers here. Players like Allisha Gray, Kayla Thornton and Kaela Davis emerged in her absence, and suddenly Powers is on the outs. In D.C. though, Powers won’t face quite the same level of depth at her position, and could find a bigger role.

As for Hill, she is still trying to make her way back from an ACL tear. During the 2016 campaign, she enjoyed a breakout season, and finished second in the voting for Most Improved Player. Hill picked up where she left off in 2017, but unfortunately tore her ACL in mid July, and didn’t play again until just about a month ago. While she’s shown flashes here and there, she understandably hasn’t been the same player.

With young guards like Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins having passed Hill by on the depth chart, she may never have regained her spot in Washington. Now, Hill should get a chance to play more in Dallas — especially if she can handle the ball a bit and run the second unit behind Diggins-Smith.

As for the picks, the second rounder the Mystics are sending to the Wings is pretty much whatever. Sure there are some second-round picks who work out, but most don’t end up making rosters simply due to the lack of spots. The right to swap first-round picks could prove valuable, however. The playoff race is super crowded right now, and it’s not hard to imagine a possibility where the Wings get to move up two or three spots.

Everything is more important in the moment, especially trades like this one involving two talented, young players. So perhaps there’s a risk of being a prisoner of the moment, and in a year or two year’s time, this trade will be a footnote. However, even if neither Powers nor Hill turns things around and become important players for their new squads, this is a good gamble for both teams.