Portland Fire Sign Veteran SG Karlie Samuelson
Three point shooting ace Karlie Samuelson, who grew up in Southern California and attended Stanford, is headed back to the west coast.
On Wednesday, I wrote that the Portland Fire wouldn’t make any big splashes in free agency. So far, that has been proven right, however the Rose City’s new professional women’s basketball franchise has begun to figuratively wade through the waters.
Less than an hour ago, Portland announced the addition of free agent shooting guard Karlie Samuelson.
Playing for 6 different franchises across 7 seasons in the W, Samuelson brings a wealth of experience to Portland’s expansion team. The Southern California native - from Fullerton, near Los Angeles - and Mater Dei alum starred at Stanford, where she played on two Final Four teams.
Three point shooting was her calling card in college, as she shot a blistering 48.5% from distance in her 2016-17 senior year, and it carried her through the rough and tumble early years of her professional career. Undrafted in 2017, she attended training camp with the Los Angeles Sparks before fracturing her left foot. A year later, she re-signed with the Sparks and made their final roster.
Her journeyman career - stints in Los Angeles, Belgium, Dallas, Spain, Phoenix, Seattle, and Australia - found stability in 2023. That season, Samuelson shot 42.6% behind the arc, good for 6th among the league’s three point shooters.
In 2024, Samuelson signed a free agent contract with the Washington Mystics, and averaged a career-high 8.4 point across 24.5 minutes per game. On the day of last year’s WNBA Draft, she was traded to Minnesota for a first round pick. Her tenure in the North Star State was short lived, however. After succumbing to a knee injury early in the season, Minnesota traded her to Dallas, who waived her.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sportswriter and broadcaster with a passion for women’s sports. Outside of work, he cherishes quality time with his birth family, his chosen family, and one very pesky house panther.
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