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Los Angeles Sparks release Cappie Pondexter

By Ben Dull

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 24: Cappie Pondexter #25 of the LA Sparks defends Brittany Boyd #15 of New York Liberty at Staples Center on June 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 24: Cappie Pondexter #25 of the LA Sparks defends Brittany Boyd #15 of New York Liberty at Staples Center on June 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Sparks have released 13-year WNBA veteran Cappie Pondexter, the team announced Thursday afternoon.

“We want to thank Cappie for her time here in Los Angeles and we wish her nothing but the best moving forward,” Sparks general manager Penny Toler said in a team release.

The Sparks, off to an 11-3 start to the season, signed Pondexter as an unrestricted free agent this past offseason.  In 13 games with the Sparks this season, the two-time WNBA champion and seven-time All-Star averaged nearly 10 minutes per contest, shooting 34.9 percent from the field.

“It came down to playing time, her desire to play more. We just couldn’t provide that for her with the way Riquana [Williams] and Odyssey [Sims] are playing,” Sparks head coach Brian Agler told ESPN’s Kevin Pelton prior to Thursday’s game. The move came ahead of Sunday’s deadline, after which WNBA contracts become guaranteed for the rest of the season.

Back in February, Los Angeles appeared to have added another key depth piece to help lead them back to the WNBA Finals for a third consecutive year. “[Pondexter] has the ability to play both guard positions. She is a fierce competitor with championship pedigree,” Toler said at the time.

As it turned out, the Sparks needed one of their 2018 free agents to sacrifice in order to make room for Pondexter under the salary cap of $976,300. According to ESPN, restricted free agent Odyssey Sims agreed to a one-year deal for $65,000, about $9,000 north of her minimum.

The seven Sparks already under contract for this season — Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Chelsea Gray, Essence Carson, Jantel Lavender, Sydney Wiese, Riquna Williams — and the salaries of Sims and 2018 first round pick Maria Vadeeva left the team with just under $207,000 to work with to fill their three remaining roster spots.

Pondexter and Alana Beard, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, brought the roster count to 11 for Los Angeles. Karlie Samuelson spent four games with the team at the beginning of the season on an emergency hardship exception. The Sparks announced Sunday that Samuelson had been signed for the remainder of the season.

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Minutes were never going to come easy in a perimeter rotation already featuring Gray, Sims, Beard, Carson, Williams and Wiese. It is not known publicly just how much room the Sparks now have to work with under the cap, as the salaries of Samuelson, Pondexter and Beard are unknown. The Sparks may have moved now to give them the option to pursue a big at a later date to balance out their roster as the playoffs rapidly approach.

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