Liz Cambage has requested a trade from the Dallas Wings as reported by Rachel Galligan of WNBAinsidr.

Australian center Liz Cambage has requested a trade from the Dallas Wings per chief executive Greg Bibb.

This story was first broken by Rachel Galligan of WNBAinsidr more than two hours before the official press release by the Wings.

The opinions of where Cambage will end up are as varied as the number of teams not named Dallas. One popular opinion is that she will follow her head coach from last season, Fred Williams, to the Los Angeles Sparks.

There are a number of issues with this scenario. Cambage has not specified which team she wants to be traded to, meaning that the Wings have some power within the trade. This is unlike the Elena Delle Donne trade where she said she only wanted to go to the Washington Mystics from the Chicago Sky or she would sit out the season.

There is also Cambage’s friendship with fellow Australian Erin Phillips who is on staff at the Wings. No, this trade request is not to follow Williams, this request runs deeper than that. There is a good chance that Cambage was lured back to the Wings with promises of professionalism, which did not eventuate. She has always had issues with the way the franchise has been run, even in Tulsa.

WNBA salaries are so poor that players have to go overseas to supplement their income. A player of Cambage’s talent commands a comparatively large salary in the Chinese and European leagues. Cambage has previously stated that the WNBA salary does not pay her bills.

This means that Cambage is requesting a trade so that she can win a championship. She has something to prove and some of her comments from last year have suggested that she wants to silence the doubters. It was questioned if Cambage could put up good numbers in the WNBA, well she answered that with a record 53 points for a single game. I would say that answered her critics pretty loudly. So did the below statistic.

Then there was this little piece of history as well

However, basketball players have a limited time where they can make good money, but also make a name for themselves. With Cambage being an Australian there is no national loyalty to the WNBA. What she does have is a fierce desire to prove herself in the best league in the world.

This could mean that Cambage may only play one more year in the league, depending on the result of the current CBA negotiations. However, if Cambage is traded to a contender, then there is a chance that she will play longer.

She is not in the league for the money, it has to be for her legacy of being a member of a championship team. With Skylar Diggins-Smith being out for at least the start of the season, probably longer, Cambage would have no one to get her the ball with any quality or regularity if she stayed with the Wings.

With the Wings, Cambage would be stuck wasting a season for a low pay check when she could be resting and spending time with her family. No, Cambage is looking to win, it is that simple. She may end up in Los Angeles but it depends on who the Sparks would be willing to give up.

One thing is for sure, there are plenty of twists and turns left in the #LizzySweepstakes story.

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