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Oregon Ducks guard Deja Kelly (25) rushes past Indiana Hoosiers guard Lexus Bargesser (1) on Thursday, March 6, 2025, during the Big Ten women's tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Las Vegas Aces Roster Update: Oregon Ducks' Deja Kelly Waived

Originally posted on Oregon Ducks on SI
By Arden Cravalho | Last updated May 13, 2025 8:43 AM ET

Making the WNBA is one of the toughest leagues to make, just based on the fact that there is such limited roster space. There are only 156 spots across the 13 franchises with each team having a maximum of 12 players allowed. Most cut it down even further to 11 due to salary constraints, allowing them to spend more per player while staying under the league's hard cap.

During Deja Kelly's time with the back-to-back 2022 and 2023 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces through the two preseason games, she was rather impressive. The point guard averaged 12.0 points on a 75.0 field goal percentage and 1.5 assists per game in just 10.0 minutes per game. Kelly was the leading-scorer at 15 and hit the game-winner after a fancy display of dribbling for the Aces in the final preseason matchup against the Phoenix Mercury.

"I like to take over in moments like that."Deja Kelly via Taylor Rocha of KTNV

Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

DEJA KELLY WINS IT FOR THE @LVAces AFTER SCORING 4 CONSECUTIVE BUCKETS AT THE END OF REGULATION! pic.twitter.com/DlMkufZgvl
— WNBA (@WNBA) May 7, 2025

Out of high school, Kelly was a McDonald's All-American in 2020. She started her college basketball career with the North Carolina Tar Heels from 2020-24 and was named First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference three times. Kelly then decided to come to the Oregon Ducks as a grad transfer.

In her final season of eligibility in Eugene, Kelly averaged 12.2 points on a career-high 38.6 field goal percentage plus 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. After the second round loss in the 2025 NCAA Tournament to the Duke Blue Devils, everything came into perspective with the relationship between her coach, Kelly Graves.

"The thing about Deja (Kelly), she is as impressive a person as she is a basketball player. She juggles so many things with her NIL obligations, TV appearances. She's just juggling so many things in her life... I think she's going to help any WNBA team. I've got several players in that league, and I think she belongs. She's going to do well for somebody."Oregon coach Kelly Graves on Deja Kelly

Unfortunately, it's pretty common for draft picks to get cut just a month later. In 2025 alone, the Golden State Valkyries cut Maryland Terrapins guard Shyanne Sellers (was eventually picked up by the Atlanta Dream and cut again), the Indiana Fever released South Carolina Gamecocks guard Bree Hall as well as Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Yvonne Ejim, and the Aces let go of Harvard Crimson guard Harmoni Turner along with Kelly.

As general managers across the WNBA trim down their 2025 rosters, here are all the Ducks in the league:

Guard Sabrina Ionescu - New York Liberty

Forward Nyara Sabally - New York Liberty

Forward Satou Sabally - Phoenix Mercury

Sabrina Ionescu's special message to fans tonight at Oregon ️

Tune in NOW on WNBA App! pic.twitter.com/TbZUCdzKCb
— WNBA (@WNBA) May 13, 2025

Ionescu and the New York Liberty beat the Toyota Antelopes of the Women's Japanese Basketball League in front a sellout crowd of 12, 364 at Matthew Knight Arena in their final preseason game on Monday night, 84-61.

During the Oregon legend's return to the house that she built for the first time in five years as a player, Ionescu continued to do Ionescu things from beyond the arc. She finished with a game-high 25 points on a shooting clip of 8-for-13 shooting, 6-for-9 three-pointers, and 3-for-3 free throw attempts.