Dream trades 2020 Second Round pick for Las Vegas forward Nia Coffey
ATLANTA (April 11, 2019) – The Atlanta Dream announced the completion of a three-team trade on Thursday, in which the team acquired 2017 WNBA Draft First Round selection Nia Coffey from the Las Vegas Aces.
“We are very excited to add Nia Coffey to our roster,” said head coach Nicki Collen. “Her combination of toughness, athleticism and skill will give us versatility at both the small forward and power forward position.”
The trade is part of a three-way deal with the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces. The Dream will convey its Second Round pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft to New York and in turn, the Liberty will send Sugar Rodgers to Las Vegas, and the Aces will send Coffey to Atlanta.
“We believe her best basketball is still ahead of her and her work ethic at both ends of the floor will be an asset to the Dream roster,” Collen said.
Coffey becomes the fourth player added to the team this week, after the Dream acquired Phoenix Mercury center Marie Gülich via trade, and selected Oregon guard Maite Cazorla and Chinese center Li Yueru in the 2019 WNBA Draft on Wednesday (April 10).
Nia Coffey – Full Bio
A 6’1” forward out of Northwestern, Coffey was drafted by the San Antonio Stars in the first round (No. 5 overall) in the 2017 WNBA Draft.
Coffey is currently a small forward for Arka Gdynia in the Polish League, where she has played in 10 games and is shooting 51.8% from the field and 41.4% from the arc this season. So far she has recorded a double-double on three occasions, including a season-high 25-point in a loss to CCC Polkowice in Feburary.
Arka Gdynia is set to play CCC Polkowice in the semifinals of the EBLK Playoffs this week, where Coffey will face fellow Dream teammates Tiffany Hayes and Lynetta Kizer. The team enters the semifinals on a seven-game win streak, a stretch in which Coffey has seen an average of 29 minutes, 14 points and seven rebounds per game.
With the Adelaide Lightning in Australia’s WNBL this past winter, Coffey was named the Team MVP and a WNBL All-Star after helping her team to the Australian League Finals. She finished the season leading the team in seven statistical categories: points (456), points per game (17.54), field goals made (162), free throws made per game (4.38), defensive rebounds (146) offensive rebounds (59), total rebounds (205, 8.5 per game).
Coffey also played in the Israeli League in the 2017-18 season, leading Maccabi R. Hen to an Israeli League Regular Season Championship. She was named to the Eurobasket All-Israeli League Second Team after finishing the season with 486 total points (18 per game), scoring double figures in all 27 games and recording 11 point-rebound double-doubles.