Latest allegations cast larger cloud over Las Vegas Aces' offseason

What an odd offseason for the Las Vegas Aces.

On the positive end, they've followed up their firstchampionship by adding future Hall of Famer Candace Parker andtwo-time champion Alysha Clark. From a basketball perspective,swapping out Dearica Hamby — who was traded in an effort to createroom for these moves — and youngster Iliana Rupert (waived on Monday) for Parker andClark signifies an upgrade on both ends.

How they got those upgrades, however, is rightfully under themicroscope.

The circumstances around the Hamby trade, specifically how shewas treated before the deal, is currently under investigation bythe WNBPA. In a statement released by Hamby on Instragram, she leviedallegations against the organization of being "lied to, bullied,manipulated and discriminated against" due to herpregnancy.

During Parker's introductory press conference on Tuesday, whichalso served as the first time media was allowed to pose questionsto Nikki Fargas (Aces president) or Natalie Williams (Aces generalmanager), an attempt was made to gain further clarity into theinvestigation. Not only were those efforts dodged, but it was doneso sloppily.

In case folks are interested in seeing howthis was handled on Candace's intro press conference...Here is thevideo of @ANYamashitatrying to ask his question about Dearica Hamby: https://t.co/D3lMME5cAV pic.twitter.com/t4fYChCs6f

I'm no expert, but surely there's a better way of no-commentinga question than interrupting said-question while stating thesubject of the question isn't available... while you can still seeher in the Zoom call. At best, the approach generated even morequestions.

There was another line in Hamby's post worth following up on,especially now: "I was promised things to entice me to sign mycontract extension that were not followed through on."

That could mean anything — from a guaranteed role or a "we won'ttrade you" pact, to paid opportunities outside of basketball. Wedon't know what that entails, but it would appear the WNBA wouldlike to find out.

First reported by Howard Megdal of The Next, theWNBA is now investigating the Aces for potentially circumventingthe cap by "making under-the-table payment offers to both currentplayers and free agents the team has pursued."

From Megdal's report:

According to those familiar with the allegations, the patternalleged that the team followed typically involved a high-levelmember of the Aces instructing the agent of a potential signing —either a free agent, or an Aces player negotiating an extension —that at the conclusion of the phone call between team and agent,the agent would receive a call with an offer for a specific amountof money from a particular, pre-selected company. The work involvedwould be negligible, according to those familiar with theallegations.

If true, it would certainly help explain how the Aceswere able to land Parker and Clark this season. Per Richard Cohen of Her Hoop Stats, Parker agreed to aone-year deal worth $100,000, while Clark signed a two-year dealworth $110K per season; Parker alone made $195,000 last season,while Clark ($183K) wasn't far behind.

Taking a paycut to join a contender isn't unheard of, and it'sworth noting Parker receives another stream of income through herNBA work for TNT/NBA TV. Still, those are pretty big pay cuts. Andfollowing the Hamby promise allegations, it's understandable thatthe league would look into how the Aces conducted theirbusiness.

On its own, though, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to beup in arms abouttheseallegations.