Ben Johns sent to LA Mad Drops in biggest trade in MLP history

Alex Lantz

Director of Content

Last Edited

Jul 19 2025

Updated rosters

Los Angeles Mad Drops
Men: Ben Johns, Hunter Johnson, Wesley Burrows, Thomas Wilson (IR),
Women: Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto, Mehvish Safdar

Carolina Hogs
Men: Brandon French, Roscoe Bellamy, Martin Emmrich
Women: Tammaryn Emmrich, Liz Truluck, Dana Funaro

Utah Black Diamonds
Men: Tyler Loong, Connor Garnett, Yates Johnson
Women: Etta Tuionetoa, Allyce Jones, Genie Erokhina

Blockbuster trade throws postseason picture into chaos

Saturday's moves have a major impact on LA's postseason outlook after the Mad Drops were dealt a blow recently when Quang Duong had his contract terminated by the UPA because he participated in several unsanctioned events in Vietnam.

Prior to that development, LA had been one of the most dangerous teams in the league, with a 14-5 record and wins over St. Louis, Columbus and Texas. This makes them even more dangerous, as Johns is undoubtedly an upgrade over Duong in men's doubles, mixed doubles and singles.

Duong had been mostly playing the left with Hunter Johnson, so Johns should slot into that spot without much issue. It remains to be seen what LA will do in mixed, but Duong had played all 15 of his mixed games this season with Parenteau, going 9-6.

In addition to acquiring Johns for the remainder of the 2025 season, the Mad Drops will also have the opportunity to keep him on the roster for the 2026 season.

LA's next event is MLP Dallas on July 24-27, where they will play Johns' former team -- the Hogs -- as well as the top 3 teams in the points-per-match standings: The Dallas Flash, St. Louis Shock and New Jersey 5s. They also will play the Texas Ranchers and New York Hustlers at that event.

The Flash were previously unbeaten heading into this week's MLP St. Louis event, but were upset in the first match of the day Saturday by the Columbus Sliders.

New Jersey is also a bit of an unknown right now after making a big trade of their own earlier this week, picking up Noe Khlif from Miami with the intention of starting him over Zane Navratil.

All of that is to say: The playoff picture got a lot more interesting this week, with the top team slipping up ever so slightly and several teams in the next tier either getting big wins this week or making big roster moves.

Utah moves into a higher tier with this move

Reuniting Utah-based players Etta Tuionetoa and Allyce Jones (along with Tyler Loong) could make the Black Diamonds competitive with most teams in the league. Jones and Tuionetoa have made several deep runs in PPA Tour events over the years, and I expect them to be a top-half women's team in the league going forward.

Jones is currently ranked No. 8 in women's doubles on the PPA Tour in 2025, while Tuionetoa is No. 10. The only other team with two women's players in the top 10 of the women's doubles points standings is the Dallas Flash, with Tyra Black at No. 5 and Jorja Johnson at No. 7.

Utah is currently 9th in the league standings at 1.15 points per match and has five games remaining in the regular season. Those will come at MLP Salt Lake City on July 31-Aug. 3 against Texas, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando and Miami. I'd consider all of those matches winnable for Utah with the new roster, although beating Texas would be a clear upset after the Ranchers finished fourth at the MLP Mid-Season Tournament.

Carolina appears to be throwing in the towel

The Hogs were a longshot to make the playoffs at this point in the season, sitting at 11th in points per match with a very tough slate of matches remaining on their schedule: SoCal, Texas, Dallas, LA, St. Louis and Phoenix.

Shipping off Ben Johns (presumably for a hefty amount of cash) can only be viewed as Carolina giving up on this season.

At least as of right now. The MLP trade deadline was extended to July 21 at noon ET, so there's still time for the Hogs and all other teams to make more trades.

Stay with thekitchenpickle.com for future trade updates.

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