Major League Pickleball announced the first trade of the 2026 season on Friday, which is a deal between the Chicago Slice and Los Angeles Mad Drops.

Here are the details:

•             Los Angeles receives Max Freeman
•             Chicago receives Hunter Johnson and cash
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Let’s look at the updated rosters and talk about what this means for both teams.

Los Angeles: 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.

Chicago: 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.

Trade Window 1 will be open until Feb. 15 at 10am ET.