WNBA rescinds Aces draft pick, suspends Becky Hammon two games for league violations

During the offseason, forward Dearica Hamby was traded from Las Vegas to the Los Angeles Sparks. Not long after the move, Hamby, who was pregnant, said that she was told that the Aces made the trade because she wouldn't be ready for the 2023 season and that "we need bodies." The two-time Sixth Woman of the Year also alleged that she was accused of signing an extension with the team knowing she was pregnant.

As for the impermissible benefits, the Aces were alleged to have made under-the-table offers to players on the roster and free agents. The Next, a media outlet devoted solely to cover women's basketball, offered these details when the investigation was announced in January:

"According to those familiar with the allegations, the pattern alleged that the team followed typically involved a high-level member of the Aces instructing the agent of a potential signing — either a free agent, or an Aces player negotiating an extension — that at the conclusion of the phone call between team and agent, the agent would receive a call with an offer for a specific amount of money from a particular, pre-selected company. The work involved would be negligible, according to those familiar with the allegations."

The Aces have been pushing the envelope when it comes to building a successful roster since Raiders owner Mark Davis bought the team in 2021. On the heels of the franchise's first championship last fall, it reloaded an already stacked roster with the additions of Candace Parker and Alysha Clark. With Joe Tsai's aggressiveness since buying the New York Liberty from James Dolan, there's a belief that these two teams have sparked an arms race while trying to contend with the restrictive nature of the WNBA's collective bargaining agreement.

The Aces will start their title defense on the road for two games, but they'll raise their championship banner on May 27 against the Sparks, when Hammon is eligible to return. Whether the league's discipline is a bump in the road in the Aces' path toward a repeat or a harbinger of things to come remains to be seen.