The Las Vegas Aces have been busy this offseason. They gave reigning MVP and Finals MVP A’ja Wilson the biggest contract in WNBA history — $5 million over three years, per ESPN — and re-signed Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd.
Lost somewhat amid the fanfare of Wilson’s record-setting deal and bringing back last season’s title-winning core, the Aces also gave a training camp contract to former lottery pick Chennedy Carter.
Carter, the No. 4 overall draft pick in 2020, is undeniably one of the most talented guards in the world, but she has gone unsigned in two of the last three seasons and last played in the WNBA for the Chicago Sky in 2024. Signing the polarizing Carter is a risk, but one that’s worth taking as the Aces try for another repeat and their fourth title in five years.
Why has Carter struggled to stay in the league?
Carter averaged 17.3 points and 3.4 assists as a rookie, and may have won Rookie of the Year during the 2020 bubble season if an ankle injury hadn’t sidelined her for more than a quarter of the shortened 22-game campaign. As it was, she finished second in the voting and seemed to be on track for an excellent career.
Everything started to go sideways in Carter’s second season. She got off to a great start, but was sidelined for nearly a month due to an elbow injury. Shortly after her return, ironically in a game against the Aces, she played just five minutes and did not return to the bench after halftime. Courtney Williams had approached Carter on the bench during the game and told her to improve her attitude, according to The IX Sports. In the locker room after the contest, Carter reportedly tried to fight Williams and, though no altercation occurred, the Dream suspended Carter indefinitely for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
Carter never played for Atlanta again and was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks ahead of the 2022 season. She struggled to find her footing in Los Angeles and was benched for “poor conduct,” according to the Los Angeles Times. After the season, the Sparks waived Carter, who went unsigned in free agency and did not play in the league in 2023.
Ahead of the 2024 season, the Chicago Sky signed Carter to a training camp contract. She not only earned a roster spot but quickly established herself as one of the team’s best players, averaging 17.5 points per game, which led the Sky and was good for 14th in the league. Again, however, controversy followed. Early in the season, Carter knocked down then-rookie Caitlin Clark, and the league later upgraded the play, which became a major flashpoint in the season, to a flagrant foul. Despite Carter’s individual play, the Sky declined to offer her a contract in free agency, which the Chicago Sun-Times stated was due to her behavior in the locker room and a concern that her presence would negatively affect their ability to attract players.
Carter went unsigned by any WNBA team and spent the 2025 season playing in Mexico.
Carter can help solve Aces’ major weakness
The Aces won the title last season, but only after a miraculous late-season turnaround and some extremely clutch play from Wilson and Young during the playoffs. Aside from a few changes to the end of the bench, the Aces are largely bringing back the same team, which means their major weakness will remain: they can’t get to the rim.
No team took fewer shots in the restricted area last season than the Aces, who have been last in that category in each of the last three seasons. In fact, their 10.5 restricted area attempts per game in 2025 were the fewest of any team in a single season in WNBA history.
The formula didn’t change during their remarkable 16-game winning streak to close the season or during the playoffs. Though their restricted area attempts per game rose slightly in the playoffs to 12, that was still the fewest of all eight postseason teams.
Wilson, for all her brilliance, doesn’t always live at the rim. Her team-leading 3.3 restricted area attempts per game last season were tied for 23rd in the league; no one else on the Aces was in the top 50. Young likes to get into the paint, but doesn’t often get all the way to the rim, while Gray, Loyd and Dana Evans are all primarily jump shooters.
That’s where Carter comes in. Despite standing just 5-foot-9, Carter was one of the best finishers in the league in 2024. Her 5.1 attempts in the restricted area per game ranked eighth in the league, and she made 65.3% of them — a better efficiency than the likes of Napheesa Collier, Brionna Jones and Aliyah Boston.
Carter’s combination of quickness, explosive vertical athleticism and elite body control allows her to get into the paint at will and convert around much taller players. Even though she’s not a 3-point threat — 29.3% on one attempt per game for her career — opponents cannot stay in front of her in the halfcourt. She’s also a willing runner in transition and a solid cutter, which helps exploit teams that try to ignore her when she doesn’t have the ball.
Here’s Carter blowing past Young, Skylar Diggins and Jordin Canada, three excellent perimeter defenders:
Assuming Carter makes the team, she will give the Aces a completely different look to change games off the bench. Her ability to put pressure on the rim will generate easy buckets and help open up more space for the Aces’ shooters. Additionally, her willingness to push the pace should help the Aces’ transition game. Last season, Las Vegas was 11th in the league in fastbreak points per game (8.8).
Low-risk deal
The Aces have $4,390,000 tied up in four players this season — Wilson, Young, Gray and Loyd — which left them $2,610,000 to fill out the rest of their roster. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, teams are now required to have a full complement of 12 players, so that’s an average of $326,250 for the other eight players, or just above league minimum.
When you’re working with those constraints, you have to either hope someone takes an extreme discount or take a chance on a distressed asset. The Aces chose the latter.
Carter has had issues behind the scenes at each of her first three stops, and there’s certainly a risk that could continue in Las Vegas. The Aces have one of the strongest locker rooms in the league, however, led by Wilson, Young and Gray, and a coach in Becky Hammon who knows how to manage big egos.
If Hammon is able to get the best out of Carter, who is still only 27 years old, she’s the type of talent who can help extend the Aces’ title window as Gray and Loyd, in particular, hit a different stage of their career. And if not, the Aces can simply waive Carter, who is on a non-guaranteed, league-minimum salary.
