“I’m back.”
Change of plans. The Las Vegas Aces re-signed Carolyn Swords earlier this week. The team also waived Avery Warley-Talbert and 2020 third-round pick Lauren Manis.
Swords announced her retirement back in February and had joined the Aces front office as a marketing specialist.
“As we continue to look at the makeup of our team in 2020, we felt like Carolyn was the best fit for a role we needed to fill,” Aces head coach and president of basketball operations Bill Laimbeer said in a team release. “Carolyn was happy to jump back into our franchise as a player, and as she always has been, will continue to be a team player.”
The eight-year veteran spent two years playing for Laimbeer in New York and spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons with the Aces. Developments at a team and league level since February led to this point. The AP’s Doug Feinberg reported earlier this week that teams must get their rosters down to 12 by May 26. The Aces currently have 11 players on their roster, including Swords, who signed a training camp contract.
JiSu Park has opted to sit out the 2020 season. She was the leading candidate to step into a more consistent role off the bench behind All-Stars A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage. Raisa Musina and Warley-Talbert were both expected to compete for a spot in training camp but have been waived. Teams likely won’t get to experience anything resembling a normal training camp if the 2020 season does get off the ground in some form. Swords, the staff and the team are all familiar with one another.
The Aces still have one open spot on the roster. They can work the waiver wire in the wake of the new May 26 deadline or continue sifting through the pool of free agents into June and beyond as we wait for news regarding the potential start of the 2020 season.
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