It’s the Major League Pickleball trade deadline, and it seems like some GMs have had a pretty busy weekend. 

MLP announced five trades that were completed before the deadline, shown below:

• Trade 1: Columbus Sliders and Utah Black Diamonds
• Columbus acquires Callie Smith.
• Utah acquires Andrea Koop and cash considerations.
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• Trade 2: Brooklyn Aces and Utah Black Diamonds
• Brooklyn acquires Andrea Koop.
• Utah acquires Lina Padegimaite and cash considerations.
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• Trade 3: California Black Bears and Utah Black Diamonds
• California acquires Lina Padegimaite.
• Utah acquires Genie Erokhina and cash considerations.
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• Trade 4: Carolina Pickleball Club and AZ Drive
• Carolina acquires Kaitlyn Christian.
• Arizona acquires Jessie Irvine.
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• Trade 5: Columbus Sliders and Orlando Squeeze
• Columbus acquires Parris Todd.
• Orlando acquires Meghan Dizon and cash considerations.

 

Let’s go over some of the biggest storylines from these trades as teams prepare for Waiver Period 3 and the final two regular season events coming up in just a few weeks.

Trades 1, 5: Columbus starts over in women’s doubles

The Columbus Sliders are bringing in Parris Todd and Callie Smith for a new-look women’s doubles pairing. It’s an understandable move, since the Sliders have a 3-15 record in women’s doubles so far this season. Both Smith and Todd can play both sides, so it will be interesting to see who takes what role when they share the court.

We know they’ll be joining Riley Newman, but Columbus is also in search of another male player to replace Jay Devilliers, who will miss the remainder of 2024 with a knee injury.

 

 

 

 

 

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Even though we don’t yet know who that replacement will be, I expect Newman and Todd to play mixed doubles together because they’ve had success in the past. They took home silver at the 2023 PPA Atlanta Open and could be primed for more positive results if they run it back for the Sliders.

Trades 1-3: Utah loads up on cash (again)

Continuing what has become a season-long trend, the Utah Black Diamonds are again in the positive financially after a trade (or in this case, multiple trades).

They came through with the cash considerations on their side in all three of their trades on Sunday. The same was true when they received $50,000 (in addition to Jay Devilliers) after trading Tyson McGuffin to the Orlando Squeeze earlier this season.

That money adds up, especially with the Black Diamonds Pickleball Center set to open in the summer of 2025.

Moving back to the on-court stuff, Black Diamonds owner Connor Pardoe has already said that the team plans to add a female player off of the waiver wire for the final regular season event. 

UBD will miss Callie Smith. Good luck in Columbus. Utah will pick up a player off the waiver wire for our last event in 2024 and will look to add a new female to the roster next season.

— Connor Pardoe (@connorpardoe_pb) September 30, 2024

This means (presumably) that Genie Erokhina will not be on the Black Diamonds' roster after Wednesday.

Trades 2, 3: New homes for Koop, Padegimaite

Both Andrea Koop and Lina Padegimaite are on new teams after being traded twice right before the deadline.

Koop will join a Brooklyn Aces squad that also includes Pablo Tellez, Daniel de la Rosa, and Layne Sleeth.

It’s obviously too early to tell what the mixed doubles pairings will be for the Aces going forward, especially because they changed them this weekend in Virginia Beach, but I like the idea of having Koop with Tellez.

Koop has had success playing with lefties in 2024, picking up a silver in women’s doubles with Jade Kawamoto at the PPA Atlanta Open back in May. Women’s and mixed doubles are very different disciplines, but it could be a good idea to put Koop with another lefty in Tellez.

Padegimaite will join the California Black Bears, featuring Chris Haworth, Brandon French, and Amanda Hendry.

It seemed like Hendry and Haworth developed some good chemistry near the end of the MLP Virginia Beach with a closing win over the Miami Pickleball Club’s Eric Oncins and Milan Rane, so I expect Padegimaite to play mixed with French in her first match with California.

With frequent roster turnover, the Black Bears have struggled to win consistently so far this season. We’ll see if Padegimaite is the answer they’ve been looking for to close out the year on a high note in Las Vegas.

Trade 4: Carolina, AZ both improve

Both Carolina and AZ will benefit from their trade.

Let me explain, starting with Kaitlyn Christian and Carolina.

Christian will join Ben Johns, Collin Johns, and Brooke Buckner on a Carolina squad that is currently in seventh place in the Premier level standings, one spot outside of making the playoffs.

Carolina has struggled mightily in DreamBreakers (1-6 record so far) but adding Christian should certainly help in that area. The former No. 38-ranked women’s doubles player on the WTA Tour has six singles medals so far in 2024.

Earning wins in those DreamBreaker situations will be crucial as Carolina tries make a late playoff push.

On the other side, Jessie Irvine will join forces with Andrei Daescu, Dylan Frazier, and Lacy Schneemann on an AZ team that sits in last place in the standings.

She has had a strong year during which she has earned three doubles medals, including a mixed title in Salt Lake City with Gabriel Tardio.

Overall, this trade gives both teams what they’re looking for: more singles support for Carolina and a great right-side presence for the Drive.

We’ll have a chance to see who truly benefits more when Carolina and AZ face off at MLP Las Vegas, set to run Oct. 14-16.

Trade 5: Dizon, David back together in Central Florida

With Parris Todd now on Columbus, Vivienne David will play women’s doubles for Orlando with Meghan Dizon.

These two have played together on the PPA Tour before and even came away with a silver medal at the 2023 Onix Austin Open. Dizon—known more for her right-side prowess—played the left in that tournament, so I expect to see that continue when she takes the court with David.

In mixed doubles, I expect Dizon to partner with Tyson McGuffin as David continues to play with Federico Staksrud. This is a bit of a ‘full circle’ moment for Dizon and McGuffin, as they actually started the year playing together on the PPA Tour and even picked up a bronze medal at the season-opening Hyundai Masters.

That chemistry should serve them well as Orlando approaches a busy end to the season.

What’s next?

You can find the fully updated Premier and Challenger team rosters on the MLP website, but keep in mind that they may change in just a few days.

Waiver Period 3 is this week during the PPA’s Stratusphere Gin Virginia Beach Cup, with Premier waivers taking place on Wednesday and Challenger on Thursday.