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LOS ANGELES — Breanna Stewart doesn’t know whether she’ll want to work in a WNBA front office down the line.
“I like kind of thinking about the formula and putting the right pieces together for success and stuff like that,” Stewart told The Post after Tuesday’s shootaround. “I will not coach. I do not want to do that because people don’t listen.”
Being a future general manager, however, is not out of the realm of possibility for Stewart, who constantly talks with Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb about the complexities of the new collective bargaining agreement and how the cap works.
With Sunday’s trade deadline quickly approaching, Stewart was asked to put on a GM hat.
The Liberty entered Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks with a 15-12 record, sitting seventh in the standings. They view themselves as a championship contender, though injuries have marred the first chunk of the season.
The Liberty remain without Leonie Fiebich (left foot injury) and Satou Sabally (concussion protocol). Their absences have complicated the formula for trying to find the right combinations for success.
“I don’t know if we’re one piece away,” Stewart said. “I also feel like we have what we need to get it done. I just think that we need to just really focus on the now with it instead of thinking about, ‘Oh, when this person comes back or this person comes back.’ It’s like, no, actually you just do it. We all just step up and we make it happen and I feel like the first half of the season there was a little bit of hesitancy from everybody to … fully commit and keep going even though we know we’re down some people. Like, I don’t want to have excuses for that … I don’t know if we’re one piece away because I’m confident in what we have as well.”
Coach Chris DeMarco shared Stewart’s confidence in the Liberty’s current roster.
“We’re excited to get going out of All-Star break, great energy right now,” he said. “And it’s an important West Coast trip for us.”
Kolb declined The Post’s interview request through a spokesperson.
The Liberty are one of the most interesting teams heading into what could be one of the most hectic trade deadlines in recent memory.
Here are three questions across the league:
Has Betnijah Laney-Hamilton played her last game for New York?
It would be a shame if “Shoegate” was the last we’ve seen of Laney-Hamilton in a Liberty uniform. But she’s been rumored to be a trade candidate since the beginning of the season.
Laney-Hamilton has been a healthy scratch for each of the Liberty’s past three games, fueling speculation she could be on the move, though DeMarco denied the team isn’t playing her because of a potential trade.
“I said before, we have a super-talented roster and there’s only so many minutes,” he said. “And we’re in a good place right now and we’re really happy with how our bench has contributed.”
The Athletic reported Tuesday that trade conversations surrounding Laney-Hamilton have started to heat up again.
The Liberty have only $129,904 in cap room before initiating a trade, which complicates matters.
Laney-Hamilton is also on an expiring one-year contract and set to be an unrestricted free agent.
That means New York would probably need to add a future asset or a second player to get a trade over the finish line. If the Liberty were to trade two players for one, could they convert developmental player Marine Fauthoux to a standard rest-of-season contract?
With little clarity on the Sabally situation, New York might need to add a frontcourt piece via a midseason trade to fortify championship aspirations.
Will Kelsey Plum be on the move?
Plum didn’t play Tuesday against the Liberty as she remains on the mend from a left leg injury. She re-signed with the Sparks on a one-year, just shy of $1 million contract.
But she doesn’t appear interested in returning to Los Angeles in 2027, according to The Athletic.
The Sparks acquired Plum in a blockbuster three-team trade last year in which Los Angeles sent the No. 2 overall pick of the 2025 draft and center Li Yueru to the Seattle Storm and the 2025 No. 13 pick to the Aces.
The Storm later picked French phenom Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft. The Aces picked Aaliyah Nye.
The 10-16 Sparks are tied for 10th place — four games behind the Washington Mystics for the final playoff spot.
If Plum’s days in Los Angeles are numbered, it’d be wise for the Sparks to try to cash in now to get future assets to build for the future, especially since they gave up so much for only two years of Plum with no postseason appearance to show for it.
Should the Mystics be buyers?
The Mystics are one of the youngest teams in the league but arguably ahead of schedule in their rebuilding process.
They have a comfortable hold on eighth place in the league standings, sitting 3.5 games ahead of the ninth-place Portland Fire.
Should Washington make a big move to secure its position as a playoff team for the first time since 2023?
The Mystics have a loaded frontcourt with Shakira Austin, Kiki Iriafen, Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic and could use an additional 3-point threat and a secondary ball handler on their roster to help bolster the offense.
Perhaps that’s something to consider adding before the deadline.
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