Multiple Major League Pickleball teams make trades days after draft

Alex Lantz

Director of Written Content

Last Edited

Mar 05 2025

Updated Major League Pickleball rosters

New Jersey 5s

Roster: Anna Leigh Waters, Meghan Dizon, Christa Gecheva, Zane Navratil, Will Howells, Craig Johnson

A year after making the MLP finals and finishing runner-up, the 5s appear to be a strong contender again in 2025. Dizon is arguably an upgrade over Mari Humberg, who was their No. 2 women's player last year, so they could be even better depending on how Dizon meshes with the team.

Phoenix Flames

Roster: Genie Bouchard, Jessie Irvine, Alex Walker, Tyson McGuffin, Jack Sock, Pesa Teoni

What once looked like it was going to be Team Proton -- when they had Andrei Daescu and Meghan Dizon on the roster -- now looks like Team Tennis. It's hard to predict how this team will do. Sock and McGuffin is a fairly strong men's doubles team, and I could see McGuffin and Irvine having success in mixed. But their women's team is a question mark, and so is Sock/Bouchard if that ends up being how they line up in mixed. But if they can get matches to a Dreambreaker, they will be one of the stronger Dreambreaker teams in the league.

Texas Ranchers

Roster: Tina Pisnik, Etta Wright, Helena Jansen, Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins, Michael Loyd

The Khlif-for-Oncins trade is an interesting one for Texas. I originally thought the Khlif pick in the draft was a great move for the Ranchers, because it gave them a very consistent player to pair with Alshon, who tends to be the aggressor in men's doubles. Oncins is also a great player, but his results on the PPA Tour in recent months have been more hit-or-miss -- although he's still relatively new on the pro scene and certainly has a lot of room for improvement. Texas could also view Oncins as more of a threat in mixed doubles and I think that would be a fair assessment.

Miami Pickleball Club

Roster: Milan Rane, Mya Bui, Ava Ignatowich, Jay Devilliers, Noe Khlif, Yuta Funemizu

France natives Devilliers and Khlif will team up and make for an above-average men's team in MLP. I think getting Khlif back makes a lot of sense for Miami because he has shown an ability to play both the right and left side in men's doubles, while Devilliers prefers the left. Oncins also prefers the left, so my bet is they just thought Khlif would be a better fit with Devilliers.

In other MLP news Wednesday: The LA Mad Drops placed Thomas Wilson on the IR and picked up Wes Burrows as their third guy on the roster. The IR rules state that once a player is placed on the IR, they can not play for the remainder of the year. So the earliest Wilson could come back from his ongoing health issue is 2026, at least in MLP.

More trades could be made in the coming weeks and through the first few events of the season -- the trade deadline is July 15.

Premier Level teams will be allowed to participate in four waiver wire periods to make changes to their rosters during the 2025 season.

Waivers will run in reverse order of points earned per match and be executed on these dates:

Premier Level Waivers #1: Tuesday, May 6 (after MLP Columbus)

Premier Level Waivers #2: Tuesday, Jun. 3 (after MLP Phoenix)

Premier Level Waivers #3: Tuesday, Jul. 1 (after MLP San Clemente)

Premier Level Waivers #4: Tuesday, Jul. 15 (after Mid-Season Tournament)

Teams will designate their top four players on the Monday following an event, and all teams’ fifth and sixth players will then become available on Waivers.

In order for a team to claim another team’s fifth or sixth player, they must drop one of their own top four players as the corresponding move.

The idea behind this change is to ensure that talent isn't "hidden" on the bench of a team. The league wants its best players to be playing in its events, and this is one way to make sure that's happening. It also will maintain a competitive balance from the top of the standings to the bottom.

More news