by Joe James
What’s the story?
The 2025 Major League Pickleball (MLP) trade is underway with the New York Hustlers making two huge moves as the anticipation for the new season begins to build.
The Hustlers, who lost in the first round of the 2024 playoffs to the eventual champions, Dallas Flash, have traded two of their key players, Jackie Kawamoto and CJ Klinger, as they aim for a much stronger showing this campaign.
Kawamoto has been traded to the DC Pickleball Team, with the Hustlers receiving Vivian Glozman plus cash in return. While Klinger moves to the Columbus Sliders, as the Hustlers acquire Riley Newman with cash considerations.
These trades represent the first player acquisitions of Trade Window #1, setting the stage for what is likely to be a very active period for MLP teams.
The Recap
These trades represent what are significant impacts on both rosters and how their seasons may shape up respectively.
The New York Hustlers stand to gain financially on these moves, with cash considerations involved in both deals. In 2024, they selected two 2024 first-round draft picks with Jack Sock and Riley Newman. However, to keep the pair for the 2025 season, they must pay half of their draft costs.
Sock and Newman will cost the Hustlers $275,000 each, as well as an additional $77,000 for Lea Jansen. But Glozman, who the New York side gained from DC Pickleball Team, was originally drafted by the Bay Area Breakers at the Challenger level, making her free to keep.
This new roster throws up the possibility of the on-court pairings of Sock/Newman and Glozman/Jansen, but given the rules of MLP, they will be required to drop a player.
DC takes on an additional cost of $142,000 to keep Kawamoto. The addition opens a possible pairing of Kawamoto and Rachel Rohrabacher, despite both being left-sided players.
The Columbus Sliders only have to pay $1,000 to keep Klinger, with their roster now consisting of three third-round picks and a fourth-round pick from last year’s draft.
There is an expectation now that either Jay Devilliers or Callie Smith will be dropped, due to the low cost and high potential of Klinger and Parris Todd.
All teams will need to drop at least one player from their roster.
The current rosters are as follows:
Columbus Sliders: Jay Devilliers, CJ Klinger, Callie Smith, Parris Todd
DC Pickleball Team: Dekel Bar, James Ignatowich, Jackie Kawamoto, Rachel Rohrabacher
NY Hustlers: Vivian Glozman, Lea Jansen, Riley Newman, Jack Sock
The PKLBull Verdict
The new team dynamics create intriguing possibilities as the 2025 MLP season begins to get closer.
The Sock/Newman partnership could be an exciting double pairing for the Hustlers, as could DC’s Kawamoto/Rohrabacher, which all depends on whether the swing towards the left-side can be made to work effectively.
Over in Columbus, their savviness with the low cost of keeping players may be advantageous in the long run. The story is the same in New York, as the hustlers are seemingly after financial flexibility given the two cash considerations they have received alongside the free-to-keep status of Vivian Glozman.
The Trade Window #1 closes on February 15. Teams must declare their keepers and drop at least one player by February 16.
The Premier Free Agency will be on March 2, and the Challenger Free Agency begins on March 3.
The 2025 MLP Season will begin in Orlando, FL, on April 24-27.