Podcast: What does the future look like for the L.A. Sparks?

The Los Angeles Sparks are in a transition phase. Since the free-agent exodus of 2021, the team has been in search of an identity, but very little continuity exists over the past two seasons, and the franchise recently parted ways with Derek Fisher, the head coach, general manager, and overall architect of this roster.

Being in transition isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the Sparks are in contention for the postseason while also having nearly a blank slate to work with in 2023. That slate doesn’t include a first-round pick, which was sent over to Atlanta in the Chennedy Carter trade, but it does include Carter and two other players on their rookie contracts, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Jasmine Walker.

Edwin Garcia, who writes for Swish Appeal, joined The Whiparound this week to discuss the many future possibilities of the Sparks franchise. Edwin and Sabreena started with the immediate future, including the likelihood of the Sparks making the playoffs this season based on the changes under interim head coach Fred Williams, as well as what team they should be rooting to face in the first round.

They then moved on to the offseason, where a host of decisions await the Sparks. They talked about the coaching search, what kind of candidates L.A. has prioritized in the past, and how they should conduct their hiring process this year. They also went over the team’s extensive list of free agents and who makes sense on the 2023 iteration of the Sparks.

They concluded with a discussion of Carter, possibly the fulcrum of the team’s success going forward. Edwin and Sabreena debate her ability to lead a franchise based on what they’ve seen so far and try to determine L.A.’s interest in having Carter be that face of the Sparks.

You can listen to all that and more in the full episode embedded below, and to make sure you never miss a single show moving forward, subscribe to the Swish Appeal podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.