2026 Major League Pickleball trades and analysis
Trade Window #1 of the 2026 Major League Pickleball season is underway and will run through Feb. 15 at 10am ET.
This article will be updated as trades are announced, with the newest moves at the top.
Feb. 7
A transaction was announced between the Texas Ranchers and California Black Bears:
- Texas receives Layne Sleeth
- California receives cash
Analysis for Texas
Roster: Layne Sleeth, Victoria DiMuzio, Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins, Wyatt Stone
A day after parting ways with Tina Pisnik, the Ranchers are aready starting to rebuild their roster on the women's side. Sleeth brings raw athleticism and excellent defense, a combination that should work well on a team with two males (especially Alshon) who like to play a particualrly alpha role in mixed doubles.
California Roster: Lina Padegimaite, Michael Loyd, Martin Emmrich
Feb. 6
A transaction was announced between the Palm Beach Royals and Texas Ranchers:
- Palm Beach receives Tina Pisnik
- Texas receives cash
Analysis for Palm Beach
Roster: Tina Pisnik, Sofia Sewing
This is the Royals' second announced move in as many days, and MLP's newest franchise has been quick to stock up on female talent. Pisnik excels on both sides, a strength that should prove to be fruitful as she and Sewing learn to play together. Now with two rostered females, Palm Beach may acquire up to two male players (one through trading and one through free agency) before the Player Keeper Deadline of Feb. 15.
Analysis for Texas
Roster: Victoria DiMuzio, Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins
After getting rid of their starting females from the end of 2025, the Ranchers appear to be rebuilding on the female side. They have received cash in both of their moves thus far, so they could be looking to make a move on another strong female in the draft. I expect them to either trade or drop DiMuzio to avoid paying the $70,00 to keep her, so it will be interesting to see who dons the Ranchers blue alongside Alshon and Oncins in 2026.
A transaction was announced between the Las Vegas Night Owls and Dallas Flash:
- Las Vegas receives Roscoe Bellamy and Samantha Parker
- Dallas receives cash
Las Vegas Roster: Chao Yi Wang, Brooke Buckner, Samantha Parker, Pablo Tellez, Roscoe Bellamy, James Delgado
Analysis for Dallas
Roster: Jorja Johnson, Tyra Black, JW Johnson, Augie Ge
Dallas will have to drop either Black or one of the Johnson siblings at the keeper deadline, and it certainly will not be a cheap endeavor to get whomever they drop back in the draft. This move could help that effort, however, as Dallas avoids having to pay the combined $40,000 it would have cost to keep Parker and Bellamy and add whatever the Night Owls paid them through this transaction.
A trade was announced between the Bay Area Breakers and Miami Pickleball Club:
- Bay Area receives Mya Bui
- Miami receives Alix Truong
Bay Area Roster: Angie Walker, Mya Bui, DJ Young
Miami Roster: Alix Truong, Tammy Emmrich, Tatiana Ruhl, Juan Benitez, Yuta Funemizu
Feb. 5
MLP announced that the Palm Beach Royals have acquired free agent Sofia Sewing in a move that brings the Royals their first player in franchise history.
Sewing will have a Draft Pont value of 80,000 and will be eligible to be kept in 2027 and 2028.
According to rules announced Thursday morning, the Royals can acquire a maximum of three other players (1 more player signed after the 2025 draft and 2 more players who went undrafted in 2025) before the Player Keeper Deadline of Feb. 15.
Feb. 1
A trade was announced between the Atlanta Bouncers and Texas Ranchers:
- Atlanta receives Kaitlyn Christian
- Texas receives Victoria DiMuzio and cash
Analysis for Atlanta
Roster: Kaitlyn Christian, Rachel Rettger, Jaume Martinez Vich, Jay Devilliers
The Bouncers are staying busy during Trade Period #1, with this being their second move in two days. As the No. 3 ranked women’s singles player on the PPA Tour, Christian projects to be a valuable asset in DreamBreakers. Her doubles game also saw massive improvement during the latter half of 2025, a trend that culminated in Christian making the mixed doubles final of the Daytona Beach Open alongside Andrei Daescu. I thought that Atlanta would keep DiMuzio to build around her on the women’s side, but Christian’s recent performances certainly warrant this move for a team looking to rebuild after losing Vivienne David to retirement during the offseason.
Analysis for Texas
Roster: Tina Pisnik, Victoria DiMuzio, Felicity Di Laura, Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins, Wyatt Stone
This move puts Texas in an interesting spot. DiMuzio had a promising debut season in 2025, but we haven’t seen her in action on the PPA Tour since the Lakeland Open all the way back in November. Her keeper cost is $70K (as opposed to $29.5K for Christian), and she doesn’t have the singles pedigree that Christian does. A second-year leap is certainly a possibility for DiMuzio, but with the Ranchers’ current roster construction, I could see them dropping DiMuzio at the keeper deadline and using the money from this transaction to pursue a strong female singles player, since DreamBreakers were a struggle for Texas in 2025 (1-4 in such contests).
Jan. 31
A transaction was announced between the Chicago Slice and New Jersey 5s:
- Chicago receives Zane Navratil
- New Jersey receives cash
Analysis for Chicago
Roster: Callie Smith, Pierina Imparato, Hunter Johnson, Zane Navratil, Carlos Di Laura
Chicago continues to stay busy in the early stages of Trade Window #1, as this is the second move they have made in as many days. They received cash when they sent Max Freeman to the Los Angeles Mad Drops, so it’s entirely possible that part of that payment went to immediate use in this transaction. Navratil is a serviceable No. 2 guy on most teams and will always bring the energy, which is paramount in MLP. He is also sponsored by the newly formed Paddletek Group, the parent company of the new Paddletek/ProXR entity that is backed by Thirty-5 Capital, the same company that formed the Slice in 2023. This move makes sense for a lot of reasons.
Analysis for New Jersey
Roster: Anna Leigh Waters, Meghan Dizon, Mari Humberg, Noe Khlif, Will Howells
With this move, the 2024 and 2025 runners-up say farewell to their team captain from the past two seasons. Even though he wasn’t in the starting lineup for the second half of the 2025 season, he still played a crucial role in their success as a captain and was an unmistakable part of the squad’s essence. With Navratil gone and extra cash in hand, the 5s will most likely go after a male singles specialist either through a trade or the draft, since they appear to have gone all-in on the Howells/Khlif men’s doubles partnership for the upcoming campaign.
A trade was announced between the Atlanta Bouncers and Miami Pickleball Club:
- Atlanta receives Jay Devilliers
- Miami receives Eric Roddy and cash
Analysis for Atlanta
Roster: Victoria DiMuzio, Rachel Rettger, Jaume Martinez Vich, Jay Devilliers
This move greatly strengthens the Bouncers’ men’s doubles core of Devilliers and Martinez Vich, even though both players typically play the left in men’s doubles. The women are still a big question mark for Atlanta, especially since Vivienne David announced her retirement from pro competition earlier this month. DiMuzio showed promise in her first full season, so Atlanta will be looking to find a strong female player either though additional trades or the draft.
Analysis for Miami
Roster: Mya Bui, Tammy Emmrich, Tatiana Ruhl, Juan Benitez, Yuta Funemizu, Eric Roddy
After Noe Khlif was traded away, Jay Devilliers carried this team to a postseason appearance in 2025. Now, Miami receives what we can assume is a sizeable amount of cash to look at rebuilding through the draft.
Jan. 30
The first trade of the season is between the Los Angeles Mad Drops and Chicago Slice:
- Los Angeles receives Max Freeman
- Chicago receives Hunter Johnson and cash
Analysis for Los Angeles
Roster: Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto, Mehvish Safdar, Ben Johns, Max Freeman, Wes Burrows
This move will set up Ben Johns to play men’s doubles alongside Freeman, who is a lefty. Johns has had success playing with lefties in MLP before, as he played men’s doubles with Tyler Loong on a Seattle Pioneers (now Carolina Hogs) squad that he won a title with in 2023. Unfortunately for LA, this move will also break up the Johnson-Kawamoto partnership, which had proven to be one of the league’s better No. 2 mixed doubles pairings in 2024 and 2025.
Analysis for Chicago
Roster: Callie Smith, Pierina Imparato, Hunter Johnson, Carlos Di Laura
The Slice find themselves in a troubling spot after the contracts of both Vivian Glozman and James Ignatowich were terminated during the offseason, but this move is certainly a step in the right direction. The Slice had a dismal 3-9 DreamBreaker record in 2025 (and narrowly missed the playoffs as a result), so getting the No. 1 ranked men’s singles player on the PPA Tour in Johnson should certainly help Chicago’s cause in that area. Additionally, the money Chicago received from this transaction should go a long way toward their effort to rebuild through the Free-Agency Draft, which is scheduled for Feb. 27.
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