Kalani Brown declined an offer from Las Vegas Aces president Nikki Fargas back in the day, when the latter was coaching at LSU. Instead, the Louisiana native chose Baylor, where she won a national championship in 2019.
Fargas is ecstatic Brown accepted her second offer.
Signed by the defending champion Aces following NaLyssa Smith's season-ending injury, Brown brings experience, size and interior efficiency to become an effective rotation player for Las Vegas.
Fargas believes she's the practical solution following the loss of Smith, who sustained a non-contact injury to her left leg during the third quarter of Las Vegas’ 93-73 victory over Toronto on Aug. 28.
"I've obviously stayed close to watching how she's developed professionally, and she gives us something that's extremely valuable in this league, and that's experience," Fargas said. "And she also gives us a presence on the floor, whether it's her in ball screen action or whether it's her in the paint."
Brown is not a perfect positional replica of Smith, who is a more mobile power forward who can attack from different areas of the floor. Brown is a traditional 6-foot-7, 245-pound center who can replace several of the things Las Vegas lost: rebounding, interior scoring, physicality and frontcourt depth, while allowing coach Becky Hammon to redistribute Smith’s remaining responsibilities across the roster.
The Louisiana native arrives with six seasons of WNBA experience, playoff exposure and extensive professional experience overseas. She also established herself as a force in Athletes Unlimited, where an expanded role showed how productive she can be with consistent minutes and touches.
The #Aces have acquired center Kalani Brown, who has not played in the W this season, she was waived by the Phoenix Mercury this past offseason.
Brown was added to provide depth to the Aces front court after NaLyssa Smith went down with a season-ending injury. pic.twitter.com/rpKOhjxzyc
— ESPN 1100/100.9 FM (@ESPNLasVegas) September 1, 2026
Inside the Numbers
Her modest WNBA averages require context. Brown has produced 5.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.6 blocks while shooting 57.5% across 139 regular-season appearances through 2025. Those numbers, however, came in only 13.3 minutes per game. Extended over 36 minutes, her career production equates to approximately 15.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.
Brown’s most productive WNBA season came with the Dallas Wings in 2023, when she averaged 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 62.9% in 16.4 minutes per game. Her per-36-minute production that season was approximately 17.1 points and 9.9 rebounds.
She followed that by shooting 58.2% in 2024, when her seven double-digit scoring performances were the most by any reserve center in the league. Across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Brown shot 60.5%, the best mark among WNBA players with at least 300 field-goal attempts.
Brown can fill a role similar to the one Kiah Stokes previously occupied for the Aces: start when the matchup calls for additional size or supply dependable minutes from the bench without requiring plays to be called for her. Unlike a high-usage scorer, she can contribute through screening, offensive rebounding, rim protection and efficient finishing.
"Ever since I've been here, I've been told I was chosen, and I was chosen for a reason," the 2018 Big 12 Player of the Year said. "And I just need to go out there and be me, and don't think about it. That's what I've been told in my workouts, and that's what I'm going off of.
"I'm here to give whatever Becky asks of me, whether that be scoring, rebounding, getting stops. I'm just here. Give to this team, pour into this team, even if that's being a good teammate. I'm capable of doing whatever, so that's just what I'm here."
Finding Confidence
Her Athletes Unlimited résumé provides even stronger evidence of her offensive ceiling. During the inaugural 2022 season in Las Vegas, Brown started all 15 games and averaged 16.3 points and 7.1 rebounds in 26.8 minutes. She led the league with a remarkable 71.4% field-goal percentage, converting 100 of 140 attempts, while also recording a league-high 17 blocks.
Brown scored in double figures in 12 of 15 games, produced five 20-point performances and earned eight game MVP awards. Her signature performance was a 32-point outing in which she made 14 of 16 shots.
She also shot 87.5% from the free-throw line and finished fifth on the overall AU leaderboard. Across her 27 career AU appearances, Brown averaged 15.0 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 66.8%.
"I think my confidence was very low going into that Athletes Unlimited, and it kind of gave me my confidence back," Brown said. "I often look back because ... by the time I finished, I believe I finished top five. It just gave me kind of a little bit of life back for the game. I was struggling a little bit, but yeah, I reflect on that a lot because mentally I wasn't doing so well coming in.
"I didn't know if basketball was going to be for me, but I think Athletes Unlimited gave that back to me, and I'm forever grateful for that."
2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds for Kalani Brown: ✅ pic.twitter.com/lJGzAuQxAh
— espnW (@espnW) February 21, 2019
Three Specific Reasons Brown Can Help Las Vegas Repeat
Interior Decorator
Brown gives Las Vegas an enormous and exceptionally efficient target around the basket. Chelsea Gray remains one of the league’s most creative pick-and-roll passers, while Wilson, Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd consistently force defenses to provide help. When opponents rotate toward those stars, Brown can occupy the dunker spot, roll directly to the rim or clean up missed shots.
Her career 57.5% shooting - and 60.5% mark across the 2023 and 2024 seasons - shows that she does not waste many of the opportunities created for her. Brown does not need isolation touches to influence the offense. She can score through assisted baskets, seals, offensive rebounds and simple high-percentage finishes.
Her size also gives the Aces an option they didn't consistently have with Smith. Brown can bury smaller defenders beneath the basket and punish teams that attempt to play undersized lineups against Wilson. Even if she takes only four or five shots, converting three of them while creating extra possessions would represent valuable offensive production.
Taking Pressure Off A’ja Wilson
Brown’s most significant contribution may be the physical burden she removes from A'ja Wilson. Without another natural center on the floor, the reigning MVP can be forced to screen repeatedly, battle opposing centers for position and absorb contact on both ends. Now, Brown can handle much of that work.
With her size and physicality, she is equipped to defend traditional post players, establish box-out position and provide resistance against centers who would otherwise attempt to wear Wilson down. That would allow the Aces' star to operate more frequently as a help defender, where her timing, mobility and anticipation make her especially destructive.
Offensively, Brown can set substantial screens that give Gray, Young and Loyd additional separation. Her presence also lets Wilson start possessions away from the most congested areas of the floor, preserving energy and creating more favorable attacking angles. Brown does not replace Wilson’s defensive impact, but she can help ensure the Aces do not have to spend their greatest resource on every physically demanding assignment.
A Second-Unit Anchor
When Brown is not sharing the floor with Wilson, the Aces’ second unit gains a legitimate interior focal point. Reserve groups can become overly dependent on jump shots, particularly when the primary scorers are resting. Brown gives those lineups a more direct source of offense.
She can create paint touches through deep post position, generate second chances on the offensive glass and attract enough interior attention to free shooters around the perimeter.
Her Athletes Unlimited production showed she can handle more offensive responsibility when needed, while her WNBA résumé shows she understands how to stay productive in a smaller role.
Brown’s presence should also help stabilize the non-Wilson minutes defensively. Las Vegas can maintain legitimate size at center, protect the glass and avoid asking smaller forwards to defend above their natural weight class.
In Conclusion
If Brown supplies efficient scoring, strong screening and reliable rebounding in a 10-to-16-minute role, she can become considerably more valuable than her traditional box-score averages suggest.
Brown will not duplicate everything Smith provided, but she does not need to. Her job is to strengthen the interior, finish efficiently and give Hammon another trustworthy frontcourt option. Considering her size, experience and history of maximizing limited opportunities, she appears well equipped to do exactly that.
"I was actually excited because the way she utilizes her bigs and allows us to play to our strengths, and then we work our way out," Brown said of Hammon's use of her frontcourt players. "I'm always the outside-out girl, so working inside and then going out, I was actually excited because I can be more comfortable up front.
"And she's not taking away anything that I don't do well or trying to change anything drastically; she wants me to be great in my strengths. So I was super excited about that."
The Aces next take on the Seattle Storm on Sept. 17 after the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup concludes.
W.G. Ramirez is a veteran sports writer from Las Vegas and a Staff Writer at Ballislife.com. Follow him on X at @WillieGRamirez.
