NaLyssa Smith parts ways with WCBA, Unrivaled rumors

Indiana Fever forward NaLyssa Smith will be ending her time with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls sooner than expected.

Smith will be parting ways with Zhejiang after a 17-game run with the club. Smith averaged 16.1 points per game on nearly 60% shooting to go along with 7.1 rebounds. The Golden Bulls will play the remainder of its 11 games without the former #2 overall draft pick.

It was initailly reported that Smith was released from the team, by multiple sources, which did not sit well with the 24-year-old.

This is not the first time that Smith has been on the receiving end of what seems to be false reporting. She and the Indiana Fever have been rumored to be at odds, though Smith has not confirmed this outright. She has, however, made a series of cryptic posts on social media indicating that she wants out of Indiana.

While this seems to be another episode in the NaLyssa Smith saga this offseason, the Golden Bulls released a statement to set the record straight:

"After friendly negotiations between both parties, our club has amicably broken up with American player NaLyssa Smith." -statement released by Zhejiang Golden Bulls

Now the rumors are beginning to swirl about the Indiana forward's next move. Some suggest Unrivaled as the destination, and this makes a lot of sense.

Los Angeles Sparks rookie Cameron Brink was announced to be joining Unrivaled in December, though Brink will not play in the league's inaugural season. The Stanford product suffered a season-ending ACL tear last season and is still recovering, meaning she will join her Lunar Owls in 2026.

This means the squad is in need of a forward, and Smith is in need of a place to play.

There have been no indications of Smith's introduction to Unrivaled at the time of this article's release, though it would come as a shock to no one given the timeline.