The Las Vegas Aces announced the signing of unrestricted free agent center Carolyn Swords on Thursday.
The Aces made several moves on Thursday, also signing free agent forward Tamera Young and trading Kayla Alexander to the Indiana Fever.
This move reunites president of basketball operations and head coach Bill Laimbeer with Swords, who played for him in New York in 2015 and 2016.
“I coached Carolyn in New York, and she is a quality person and a great teammate,” said Laimbeer via the team’s release. “She does whatever is asked of her. The league gets bigger every year, and Carolyn gives us the size to match up against the Griners and Fowles in the league.”
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Swords, 6’6, was selected 15th overall by the Chicago Sky in the second round of the 2011 WNBA Draft. She started 56 of her 68 regular season contests as a member of the Liberty. Her career high average in minutes is 17.5 — Laimbeer may get a chance to play as many as four or five bigs every night as the matchups allow. Forwards Isabelle Harrison, Dearica Hamby and Nia Coffey are also under contract currently for the Aces.
Swords was a member of the Seattle Storm in 2017. She logged just under nine minutes per game in 30 contests for the Storm.
Laimbeer’s background with Swords may have been a factor in the decision to move on from Kayla Alexander. Laimbeer may also just flat out see Swords as a better fit for what he wants to do with this Aces roster. In the Alexander trade, the Aces were able to swap their 2019 third round pick for Indiana’s 2019 second round pick.