Sam Mewis traded to Kansas City from North Carolina

Updated Nov. 30, 2021 4:49 p.m. ET

Associated Press

The Kansas City Current have acquired midfielder Sam Mewis from the North Carolina Courage in exchange for defender Kiki Pickett and a first-round pick in the upcoming National Women's Soccer League draft.

North Carolina also received the discovery rights to Malia Berkely in the deal announced Tuesday.

Mewis was on the U.S. team that won the World Cup in 2019 as well as the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics this summer. She was the fourth-overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Western New York Flash, which was sold and moved to North Carolina in 2017.

Mewis spent the 2020-21 season with Manchester City of the Women's Super League before returning to the Courage.

In all, she played in 58 games with the Courage, scoring 12 goals.

Pickett was the fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft. She played in 16 games this season and was a nominee for NWSL Rookie of the Year. At Stanford, Pickett won two NCAA championships.

Mewis is an allocated player, which means U.S. Soccer pays her salary.

“It was important to proactively seek trade partners as opposed to wait and lose an allocated player for little in return," Curt Johnson, Courage president and general manager, said in a statement. "These conversations resulted in this trade. Sam is a fantastic player and even better person. We know she will go on to do incredible things in the next chapter of her career and we are grateful to her for the impact she has made throughout her time with the Courage."

Berkely, who went to Florida State and was ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020, has been playing in France this year.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports