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The Indiana Fever announced today they have acquired a 2017 second round draft pick from the Atlanta Dream. In the trade, the Dream will get a fourth-year point guard, Layshia Clarendon. The New York Liberty originally had the pick, but it was recently acquired by Atlanta.
Clarendon came to the Indiana Fever as their No. 9 overall selection in the 2013 WNBA draft. In her time with the Fever, she was a part of the 2015 WNBA Finals, while averaging 6.7 points and 2.0 assists per game last season. In her career, she has averages of 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 18 minutes per game.
President and General Manager Kelly Krauskopf had this to say on the trade of Clarendon:
"I want to thank Layshia for her years of service with the Indiana Fever. We wish her luck in her career and success in Atlanta."
Thank you for all the messages and texts! I'm grateful for my time in Indy, it was special and full of amazing people. @IndianaFever
— Layshia Clarendon (@Layshiac) May 10, 2016
Atlanta head coach Michael Cooper is familiar with the play of Clarendon not from only his years in the WNBA. However, she was a player at California University when he was coaching at the University of Southern California.
"She is a defensive-minded player that I followed since her college days and have seen her maturation as she has progressed through the WNBA. For us, this was a no-brainer. She adds depth to our team and is a big guard that can take on some of the stronger guards in the league without help."
Clarendon is excited about being the same team as him:
I'm excited to join the @AtlantaDream and play for Coach Coop. I know he hated me at Cal but now we're on the same team! ✊
— Layshia Clarendon (@Layshiac) May 10, 2016
"Layshia Clarendon is a proven player in this league and having played with Indiana, and she has experience competing in playoff basketball. I think she is a good pick up for us," said Cooper.
This is the third significant transaction this preseason that the Dream has been a part of. First, they traded Shoni Shimmel to the New York Liberty for their second round draft pick in 2017; the Fever now have those rights. More recently, Atlanta claimed Jordan Jones from waivers.
With the addition of Clarendon, the Dream have increased their roster to 16 and have until Friday to get their final roster down to no more than 12 active players. (Damiris Dantas is currently on the roster, but not active.)