Following February’s Major League Pickleball draft, several trades have been made that will have a major impact on multiple contenders.

This article will track the deals as they are announced leading up to the season’s first event in May.

March 14

TRADE #1

– Columbus Sliders receive Alix Truong.

– Miami Pickleball Club receives Alli Phillips and cash.

TRADE #2

– Carolina Hogs receive Alli Phillips and cash.

– Miami Pickleball Club receives Isabella Dunlap.

SUMMARY

– Columbus Sliders receive Alix Truong.

– Carolina Hogs receive Alli Phillips and cash.

– Miami Pickleball Club receives Isabella Dunlap and cash.

UPDATED ROSTERS

Columbus Sliders: Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger, Alex Crum, Danni-Elle Townsend, Parris Todd, Alix Truong.

Carolina Hogs: Ava Ignatowich, Angie Walker, Alli Phillips, James Delgado, DJ Young, Brandon French.

Miami Pickleball Club: Isabella Dunlap, Yuta Funemizu, Nico Acevedo, Estee Widdershoven, Clayton Powell, Aiko Yoshitomi.

March 4

TRADE #1

– Brooklyn Pickleball Team receives Chris Haworth

– California Black Bears receive Luca Mack and cash

UPDATED ROSTERS

Brooklyn Pickleball Team: Christian Alshon, Riley Newman, Chris Haworth, Hannah Blatt, Jackie Kawamoto, Rachel Rohrabacher.

California Black Bears: Sahra Dennehy, Kiora Kunimoto, Emma Nelson, Luca Mack, Mohamed Anouar Braham, Michael Loyd.

Brooklyn has now turned Dylan Frazier and Matthew Barlow into Christian Alshon and Chris Haworth since the draft. Not bad. We don’t know how much money changed hands in those trades, but it could end up being worth it, as Brooklyn is now firmly in the conversation as a contender for the title this year.

California gets another up-and-comer in Mack, who started showing up in pro events in 2025 and is a past winner of The Kitchen Open. Mack and Braham are both Georgia players and have played together previously, so there’s plenty of familiarity there.

March 3

TRADE #1

– Texas Ranchers receive Dylan Frazier, Matthew Barlow and cash.

– Brooklyn Pickleball Team receives Christian Alshon and Luca Mack.

UPDATED ROSTERS

Texas Ranchers: Dylan Frazier, Eric Oncins, Matthew Barlow, Lea Jansen, Layne Sleeth, Ava Cavataio.

Brooklyn Pickleball Team: Christian Alshon, Riley Newman, Luca Mack, Hannah Blatt, Jackie Kawamoto, Rachel Rohrabacher.

Fans and pundits had been wondering for months whether Alshon would remain with Texas after he was benched toward the end of the 2025 season and ended the year on uncertain terms with the franchise. Now we have our answer. Alshon will be returning to an ownership group that he played for and had success with previously — back when Brooklyn was the D.C. Pickleball Team, Alshon teamed up with both Kawamoto sisters and Riley Newman to win the 2023 MLP Dallas event. Three of those players will now be reunited, and this trade makes Brooklyn a serious contender on paper.

For Texas, the deal pairs up regular PPA Tour partners Frazier and Oncins, who have three quarterfinal appearances and a bronze medal together in four PPA events this year. If their success on the PPA Tour translates to MLP, they should be a Top 5 and potentially even a Top 3 men’s doubles team in the league.

The Barlow piece of this deal is also interesting. He proved in his semifinal run at the PPA Tour Mesa Cup that he can be a very dangerous singles player, and he made a lot of sense on Brooklyn’s roster because Newman isn’t a strong singles player. But Texas now has three strong men’s singles players in Frazier, Oncins and Barlow, so they might have a difficult lineup decision to make in Dreambreaker scenarios.

TRADE #2

– Texas Ranchers receive Layne Sleeth⁠.

– California Black Bears receive Sahra Dennehy and cash considerations.

UPDATED ROSTERS

California Black Bears: Sahra Dennehy, Kiora Kunimoto, Emma Nelson, Chris Haworth, Mohamed Anouar Braham, Michael Loyd.

This trade had been in the works for weeks — Sleeth was initially traded to Texas during the first offseason trade window, but that trade got reversed because of a mixup between the two teams/the league. As I understand it, California essentially told Texas they wanted Dennehy on draft day, and the trade was a foregone conclusion once that pick was made.

Dennehy is a young player from Australia who has been putting up solid results in PPA Tour Asia and PPA Tour Australia events over the past year, and joins a California roster that is built for the future. Kunimoto and Nelson are both rising teenagers, and Braham earned a PPA Tour contract through the Challenger Series in 2025.

TRADE #3

– Los Angeles Mad Drops receive Genie Bouchard

– Florida Smash receives Paula Rives Palau and cash considerations.

UPDATED ROSTERS

Los Angeles Mad Drops: Jade Kawamoto, Catherine Parenteau, Genie Bouchard, Max Freeman, Ben Johns, Gabriel Joseph.

Florida Smash: Martina Frantova, Paula Rives Palau, Zoey Weil, Cason Campbell, Travis Rettenmaier, Chris Crouch.

By adding Bouchard, the Mad Drops have assembled arguably the best Dreambreaker lineup in the league. I don’t expect her to play many doubles matches, but she can definitely contribute in singles.

Florida picks up cash in the deal, but is still likely to be one of the worst teams in the league in their first year since moving up from the Challenger Level.

TRADE #4

– Atlanta Bouncers receive Jessie Irvine.

– Phoenix Flames receive Daria Walczak and cash.

UPDATED ROSTERS

Atlanta Bouncers: Kaitlyn Christian, Jessie Irvine, Keilly Ulery, Jay Devilliers, Jaume Martinez Vich, Donald Young.

Phoenix Flames: Jonathan Truong, Camden Chaffin, Wyatt Stone, Judit Castillo Gargallo, Daria Walczak, Alexa Schull.

Atlanta has now put together a veteran squad that will likely be a playoff team. They are unlikely to seriously contend for a title, but they will win a lot of matches against teams that will finish in the bottom half of the standings.

Phoenix is taking the opposite approach. With the addition of Walczak, the Flames now have four players who either weren’t on an MLP roster or were playing at the Challenger Level (Truong) in 2025.