In a hustling offseason, the Las Vegas Aces are taking the road less traveled, and their latest free agency moves just add weight to it. Most would expect the Aces to prioritize retaining core veterans like Jackie Young, rather than risking their departure in free agency. But the Aces’ latest move doesn’t reflect that idea at all, inviting a major backlash from the community.

According to a reliable basketball page on X, the Aces have sent qualifying offers to NaLyssa Smith and Kierstan Bell. Bell and Smith are both restricted free agents in the offseason. Smith joined the franchise last year, while Bell has been with the team since 2022, and Young has been guiding the team since 2019.

While the move can be seen as the Aces’ effort to keep their youngsters, the question is: What is their approach to veterans like Young? Why haven’t they protected them ahead of the free agency negotiations?

Top Stories

NFL

“Completely Innocent”: Mike Vrabel & Dianna Russini Issue Public Statements After Hotel Photos Controversy

12 hrs ago

Golf

Jon Rahm Puts Feud Aside to Pick Rory McIlroy Over Scottie Scheffler Amid Masters

20 hrs ago

Golf

Greg Norman ‘Won’t Even Watch’ Masters After Augusta National Ignored Him Again

20 hrs ago

Golf

Bryson DeChambeau Wants to Beat Rory McIlroy ‘Every’ Chance He Gets Amid Heated Rivalry

17 hrs ago

NFL

Cowboys Legend Troy Aikman Leaves America Divided Over Patriotism on Monday

13 hrs ago

Golf

‘I Was Super Nervous’: Jordan Spieth Shares Stressful Moment With Arnold Palmer & Co. at Masters Champions Dinner

2 days ago

The Aces are already on cloud nine after A’ja Wilson announced her decision not to get into any free agency talks and return to the Las Vegas Aces. Thus, it was quite certain that with the mutual agreement, the Aces wouldn’t be making any core designation move on their franchise player. But with the batman returning to her helm, it was required of the Aces to at least protect their two robins: Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray.

Young and Gray will, of course, be great prospects in the free agency market, courtesy of their experience and skill set. It’s even possible that several franchises, including the Chicago Sky, can empty their pockets on Young, given that the Sky’s coach, Tyler Marsh, had groomed the former.

Thus, it was even more important for the Aces’ front office to retain some protection for Young. As a result, this odd move to focus on Bell and Smith instead of core designating either Young or Gray in the given time window (by April 7) hasn’t gone over too well with the fans.

Fans Not Buying Into Las Vegas Aces’ Approach of Prioritizing Reserved Free Agents Over Veteran Jackie Young

“The Liberty cored Sabrina, who said she 100% wanted to return. The Lynx cored Phee, the Sparks cored KP. But the Aces didn’t feel the need to core Jackie with absolutely nothing to lose from it. But felt the need to secure Kierstan Bell. Ok man,” wrote a fan.

“Y’all on here crying about Dallas, dawg, where is Jackie going lol like we have more pressing news,” chimed in another.

In the 2025 free agency talks, the foremost priority, and rightly so, is to protect their core. We’ve seen the LA Sparks do it with Kelsey Plum, and the Minnesota Lynx with Napheesa Collier. As a result, it was expected of the Aces to protect either Chelsea Gray or Jackie Young to give themselves a cushion in the negotiations. While Gray is an equally important player for the Aces, Young would have been a more feasible option, given her young age.

But failing to do so, the Las Vegas Aces have left Young exposed in the free agency market without any exclusive retained rights. If the Aces had cored and Young had subsequently requested a trade, even then the Aces would have received fair compensation for it, as the team did with Kelsey Plum last season in a three-team trade, where they got Jewell Loyd from the Storm and a No. 13 overall draft pick from the Sparks.

But that was nowhere near in Young’s case, as the Aces are emphasizing more on restricted free agents like NaLyssa Smith and Kierstan Bell. As a result, the team now has to be solely dependent on Young’s decision to re-sign with the Aces to keep her at the helm.

“Aces let Jackie walk for free, their GM might be worse than Jeff,” commented another.

“They extended KB but didn’t core any star. Please investigate Nikki Fargas. This is not a real franchise,” stated another.

An important point to note here is that Smith and Bell are quite capable players as well. But are they of the same caliber as Young? Probably not for now. Neither of them started all the games they played last season, while Young started all 44 games she played. Thus, the franchise’s decision to prioritize these two players over Young is quite bizarre. As a result, Aces President Nikki Fargas is facing criticism for the decision.

“If Jackie leaves the Aces imma cry ngl,” summed up another.

Young’s move away from the Las Vegas Aces will, of course, be a dismal one, let alone her move for free. The 28-year-old has been one of the most capable teammates behind franchise star A’ja Wilson. She has scored over 14 points per game across her career at the Aces while also contributing with 4.2 assists and 4.1 rebounds.

As a result, she has been vital in several of Aces’ championship-winning seasons, pulling off those crucial performances along with Wilson and Chelsea Gray. Thus, coring her for the season wouldn’t just have been a sustainable decision for the season, but would also provide a possible confirmation of A’ja Wilson’s return to her robin. Now, it will just be a matter of seeing how this move turns out for the Aces in this regard.