Dallas Wings roster: Team signs Kalani Brown to hardship contract

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Wings are welcoming back a player they recently waived, after injuries lead to a need on the team’s roster. 

On Tuesday, the Wings announced they signed Kalani Brown to the rest of the season under the WNBA’s emergency salary cap hardship provision due to injuries to Lou Lopez Senechal and Diamond DeShields. 

Lopez Senechal and DeShields are both out with knee injuries. The team said Lopez Senechal underwent a successful surgery on Wednesday, May 24 and is expected to return in about eight weeks. DeShields is expected to miss at least three months.

In addition to Lopez Senechal and DeShields, the Wings have also been without Teaira McCowan after she suffered an ankle/knee injury in the first win of the 2023 season against the Atlanta Dream. The Wings said McCowan is now expected to be out an “extended period of time during the month of June” to compete for Turkey in the 2023 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket.

The Wings said Brown will be available as early as the Tuesday, May 30 matchup with the Minnesota Lynx. She’ll remain on the roster until the return of either Lopez Senechal or DeShields, the Wings said. 

Brown, a center who was with the Wings for training camp, was among dozens of players who were waived ahead of the start of the 2023 WNBA season. The calls for expansion have grown louder as a result.

Read related: Dallas Wings announce final 12-player roster, 3 more players waived including former first-round draft picks

Brown is a Baylor alum and was a first-round draft pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft. She played three years in the league for the Los Angeles Sparks before leaving to play overseas with Maccabi Bnot Ashdod in Israel. She averaged 22.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.

Going into Tuesday’s game, the Wings are currently 2-1 on the season. The Lynx are 0-4. Tipoff is scheduled at 7 p.m. at the Wings’ homecourt at College Park Center in Arlington. 

For a look at the Wings’ schedule, click here.