This off-season was a monumental one for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). A game-changing new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is now in place. Some of the league’s big names changed zip codes. A crop of collegiate stars were drafted, hoping to make the kind of impact at the next level. There was also the announcement of a new award in honor an NBA great who made a major impact on a league and a generation of women that are motivated and confident than ever to use that knowledge and create their own legacy.
After years of being underpaid and less than stellar benefits, the WNBA, and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) in the middle of last month agreed and through eventual ratification by the WNBA players and the league’s Board of Governors signed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that runs through 2027.
The new CBA gives a 53 percent increase in cash compensation for the players (salary, bonus, prize pools and marketing deals) with the top players being able to earn in excess of $500,000, which is more than triple from what the max salary was under the previous CBA contract. Other top players will be able to earn anywhere between $200,000-$300,000 and for the first time in the league’s history, the average compensation for the players will exceed six figures, with an average salary of close to $130,000, resulting in a salary increase for all players from this season’s rookie class from the 2020 WNBA Draft to veterans players in the league.
It also includes enhancements for the players in respect to traveling accommodations, childcare benefits as well as the expansion of career development opportunities for the players during the offseason.
Those new travel accommodations consists of all players now being able to travel during the regular season in Premium Economy class status (such as Comfort/Economy Plus). Players when staying in an opposing team’s city will now have their own hotel room, as opposed to before where they would have to share one with one of their teammates. There will also be a Player Advisory Panel, which will consist of a collaborative effort to address travel concerns.
This new deal also guarantees that a player will be guaranteed their full salary while on maternity leave, along with a $5,000 childcare stipend.
Players that have children under the new CBA will be able to have two-bedroom apartment and all 12 WNBA squads will have the proper workplace accommodations that will provide a safe place for the players that are nursing their newborn children. Also, there are progressive family planning benefits of up to $60,000 in reimbursement for veteran players for costs that are in direct relation to if they adopt; if they choose to have a child through surrogacy, oocyte cryopreservation or fertility/infertility treatment.
Before, the players spent a major of the 12 months of the calendar year playing basketball and having to put their dreams and aspirations from starting a family.
“We upgraded across the board,” 11-time WNBA All-Star and three-time WNBA champion guard of the Seattle Storm Sue Bird, who played a major role in getting this new CBA done said during the broadcast of the 2020 WNBA Draft on Friday night on ESPN.
“Whether you want to talk about travel, family benefits. But off course, we want to talk about money, and that’s where we did, I think the best job.”
As great it is that the salary for the players and the salary cap for each of the 12 WNBA teams went up, Bird pointed out that the other major part of the new CBA is the offseason opportunities that the players have now, which gives the players something that they have never had before and that is the choice to “curate” of what they want to do with their offseason.
This means, players will have the choice to purse opportunities like becoming a broadcaster like current Los Angeles Sparks perennial All-Star and champion Candace Parker does for Turner Sports as a studio host for NBATV and NBA on TNT or an assistant coach on an NBA team like former WNBA perennial All-Star Becky Hammon, an assistant on the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs’ sidelines or fellow Sparks guard Kristi Toliver, who is in her second season as an assistant with the Washington Wizards.
“You don’t have to anything, you get to choose,” Bird said of the plethora of choices the WNBA players have now.
The other effect the new CBA had is on how teams approached free agency and trades this offseason in their pursuit of a WNBA title, especially for the defending WNBA champions from DC.
In the “Valley of the Sun,” the four-time WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury made a couple of major splashes this offseason first trading three-time All-Star and three-time Sixth Woman of the Year DeWanna Bonner to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for the No. 7 and No. 10 overall picks in this past Friday’s draft, along with an additional First-Round pick in the 2021 draft on Feb. 11.
One day later, the Mercury (15-19) traded the No. 5 and No. 7 pick in the 2020 draft along with that 2021 pick acquired from the Sun to the Dallas Wings in exchange for four-time All-Star guard Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Diggins-Smith will join the league’s leader in scoring average this past season (20.7) and block shots (2.0) in fellow perennial All-Star center Brittney Griner, who was re-signed this off-season and future Hall of Famer Diana Taurasi, who missed 28 games due to back and hamstring injuries a season in the hopes of getting the Mercury back to championship prominence.
The Mercury also this offseason acquired All-Star forward Jessica Breland and forward Nia Coffey in exchange for All-Star guard Briann January and the No. 17 pick in this past Friday’s draft, and the Mercury’s 2021 Second-Round pick.
On draft night, the Mercury acquired guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough from the New York Liberty in exchange for the draft rights to the No. 10 overall pick in Friday’s draft out of the University of Virginia in forward Jocelyn Willoughby.
As just mentioned, the Sun (23-11), who lost to the Washington Mystics in the 2019 WNBA Finals in five games acquired Bonner from the Mercury.
However, head coach Curt Miller’s squad they traded forward Morgan Tuck and their First-Round pick to the Storm in exchange for their First-Round pick. They also traded their offensive sparkplug in their playoff run this past season in guard Courtney Williams as part of a three-team trade to the Dream for the aforementioned January. Also gone via either free agency or trade are Shekinna Stricklen and Layshia Clarendon.
The Sun hope that Storm forward sharp-shooter Kaeena Mosqueda-Lewis, who they acquired in late February in exchange for their Second-Round pick in 2021 draft can make up for what was lost offensively in the departures of Stricklen and Clarendon, and be a great compliment to All-Star forward/center Jonquel Jones (14.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg-Led WNBA, 2.0 bpg-career-high), forward Alyssa Thomas (11.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.9 spg, 50.5 FG%) and guard Jasmine Thomas (11.1 ppg, 5.1 apg-Led team, 36.6 3-Pt.%).
After a solid season where they finished under first-year head coach and five-time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers Derek Fisher, the Los Angeles Sparks (22-12) season ended in a three-game sweep to the Sun in the Conference Finals.
The Sparks front office, led by Assistant General Manager Michael Fisher added some major offensive punch as well as championship experience this offseason in signing for her second stint with the team in the aforementioned three-time All-Star and 2012 Most Improved Player Toliver (13.0 ppg, 6.0 apg, 49.4 FG%, 36.0 3-Pt.% w/Mystics), who was with the Sparks from 2010-16 and helped them win their third WNBA title four summers back, and eight-time All-Star forward Seimone Augustus, who had spent her entire 13-year career with the Minnesota Lynx helping them win four WNBA titles.
The Sparks also traded center Kalani Brown to the Atlanta Dream for guard Brittney Sykes (10.2 ppg) and center Marie Gulich.
Those additions to go alongside perennial All-Stars Candace Parker (11.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 46.7 FG%), Nneka, the team’s leading scorer (16.1 ppg), rebounder (8.8) and in steals (1.9) on 51.0 percent shooting and Chiney Ogwumike (9.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 49.4 FG%), and Chelsea Gray (14.5 ppg, 5.9 apg-Led team, 382 3-Pt.%), and forward/guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, who the Sparks re-signed this offseason puts the Sparks in serious position to be a real threat for the championship after coming so close a season ago.
After a four straight seasons of missing out on the WNBA playoffs, which included their last three seasons as the San Antonio Stars, the now Las Vegas Aces (21-13) reached the Conference Finals for the first time since 2008. But lost in four games to the eventual champion Washington Mystics.
A big reason they fell short of reaching the WNBA Finals for the first time in 11 years was their inability to hit shots from the perimeter consistently to match their dynamic frontcourt duo of All-Stars in Liz Cambage and 2018 WNBA Rookie of the Year in A’ja Wilson.
This offseason, head coach Bill Laimbeer and General Manager Dan Padover team through the signings of five-time All-Star and two-time WNBA scoring champion Angel McCoughtry, who spent her first 11 seasons with the Dream, averaging 19.2 points per game.
The also signed three-time All-Star Danielle Robinson, and re-signed Sugar Rodgers to provide the outside shooting necessary to give more space for Wilson, the team’s leading scorer (16.5), second leading rebounder (6.4) and top shot blocker (1.7) this past season, and Cambage, the second leading scorer (15.9), leading rebounder (8.2) and averaged 1.6 blocks last season to dominate inside.
Those new additions alongside reigning WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Dearica Hamby (11.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 48.8 FG%), three-time All-Star sharp-shooter Kayla McBride (13.3 ppg, 42.8 3-Pt.%), guard Kelsey Plum, forward Tamera Young and second-year guard Jackie Young should make the Aces an even more potent at the offensive end.
Both McCoughtry, an eight-time All-Defensive selection and Robinson, a three-time All-Defensive Second-Team selection will surely make their mark with the Aces at the defensive end with their ability to guard the opposing teams best offensive wings in the league.
While those aforementioned teams got better this offseason, so did the Washington Mystics, who after being swept in the 2018 WNBA Finals (3-0) by the Storm, came back and won their first title in franchise history in five games over the previously mentioned Sun.
It was not just the first title for the team in franchise history for the Mystics (26-8), who won a franchise record 26 regular season games in 2019, but it was the final check mark on the career resumes of the league’s all-time winningest coach in head coach Mike Thibault with 336 career regular season wins and reigning league MVP Elena Delle Donne, who finally has a title to go alongside her six All-Star selections, 2019 Rookie of the Year Award, and five All-WNBA selections.
Last season, Delle Donne (19.5 ppg-Led team, 8.3 rpg-Led team) also made history becoming the first WNBA player in league history to register a 50-40-90 club, shooting 51.5 percent from the floor, 43.0 percent from three-point range and 97.4 percent from the free throw line.
She joined NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird (twice); Hall of Fame lead guard Steve Nash (four times); two-time Kia MVP of Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry; two-time Finals MVP and perennial All-Star Kevin Durant of Brooklyn Nets; Hall of Famer Reggie Miller; future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki; Mark Price and Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon as the only nine players in professional basketball to achieve 50-40-90.
When you have reached that glorious mountain top, you want to get back there again if you have the opportunity.
The Mystics made it very clear with what they did this off they want to be in position to win a second title with the acquisition of seven-time All-Star and 2012 league MVP Tina Charles (19.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg w/Liberty) last Wednesday as part of a three-team deal, along with re-signing last season’s Finals MVP Emma Meesseman+ (13.1 ppg, 55.2 FG%, 42.2 3-Pt.%) and signing reigning Most Improved Player in guard Leilani Mitchell, who this past season averaged a career-high of 12.8 points on 43.0 percent from three-point range with Mercury.
Last season, the Mystics were one of the most lethal offensive teams in the league with their ability to shoot from the perimeter and create open shots with their ability to find the open player. With the dynamic trio of Delle Donne, Charles and Messeman to go along with the wing players in Ariel Atkins (10.3 ppg, 1.5 spg-Led team, 35.7 3-P.%), Ariel Powers (11.4 ppg, 36.2 3-Pt.%), and Natasha Cloud (9.0 ppg, 5.6 apg), and bigs of Tianna Hawkins (9.5 ppg, 51.4 FG%, 36.3 3-Pt.%) and LaToya Sanders (6.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg 50.6 FG%), the Mystics have a chance of being even better offensively as well as defensively.
While the new CBA put the reigning champion Mystics, Mercury, Sun, Sparks, and Aces in a position to acquire or sign that one piece/pieces to chase that title, teams like is the New York Liberty used this 2020 draft to find that player to build around to be in that conversation of a title contender.
Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, the WNBA held a virtual draft where this year’s draft prospects were in their respective homes across the country as WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced each of the picks from her home in New Jersey.
The draft began with a tribute to Gianna Bryant and her teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, who along with their parents and Gianna's father in Hall of Famer to be Kobe Bryant were killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 as honorary draft picks in the 2020 class.
"These athletes represented the future of the WNBA," Commissioner Engelbert said of the loss of three young rising ladies lost three months back. "Players who were following their passion. Acquiring knowledge of the game. Exhibiting skills that were way beyond their years. They represented the next generation of stars in our league. Maybe what might have been called the Mambachita Generation."
"While it brings us pain to not see their dreams come to fruition, I'm grateful and proud to announce them tonight as honorary picks," Commissioner Engelbert said. "It's an honor to have Alyssa, Gianna and Payton join the WNBA family. We thank their families for the privilege of drafting their girls and for being a part of this special night."
It is in moments like this when a loved one is lost that you vision what could have been. But you also keep the fond memories of the time that person was alive and the impact and joy they brought to their family and those around them. That was certainly the case for the fam Altobelli, Chester and Bryant family, who are thankful for the incredible gesture the WNBA made for their daughters.
Payton's father Chester of San Juan Capistrano, CA said that her daughter was a fierce competitor each time she took the hardwood and that her "skill" and "determination" to play in the WNBA would have been achieved. But that was "surpassed" by the joy she had in life and playing the game of basketball.
"We will always have fond memories of her sinking a three or a big steal, and turning back on defense with that beautiful smile," Mr. Chester said via a video message.
J.J. and sister Lexi Altobelli of Newport Beach, CA said of their sister Alyssa "loved" basketball and put a great deal of hard work into getting better at the game every moment she could. They believed that she would have made it to the WNBA after her collegiate career at the University of Oregon.
"Thank you again for honoring our sister. It truly means a lot to us," J.J. Altobelli said via a video message.
Aside from speaking at her husband and daughter's memorial service at Staples Center in downtown L.A. on Feb. 24, Kobe Bryant's widow Vanessa has rarely spoken since the passing of her husband and daughter.
Last Friday's draft was the second time Mrs. Bryant, sporting a WNBA orange hooded shirt has spoken publicly thanking the WNBA for honoring her husband and daughter.
Mrs. Bryant said in her video message that her daughter worked everyday "tirelessly" to become one of the greatest athletes ever, just like her father did, and that it would have been a "dream come true" for her to have made it to the WNBA, a league that her husband and daughter loved.
"Thank you so much for honoring my daughter 'Gigi' and selecting her to be an honorary draft pick this year. Thank you for honoring my little girl," she said in a video message, while holding back tears.
She also said to the 2020 WNBA draft class, "I want to congratulate all of this year's draft picks. So, congratulations. Work hard. Never settle. Use that 'Mamba Mentality.'
With the No. 1 overall pick, for the first time in franchise history, the Liberty selected out of the University of Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu.
Along with Ionescu, the Liberty selected with the No. 9 overall pick forward Megan Walker out of the University of Connecticut and chose forward Jazmine Joseph out of Louisville at No 12 overall. In a trade on draft night with the Mercury, the Liberty acquired the draft rights to the No. 10 overall pick in forward/guard Jocelyn Willoughby in exchange for guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough.
“I’m just excited to get out there and learn from the players that are there. Learn the offense. Get to know the coaching staff. But hopefully just bring competitive nature and just a hunger to continue to get better,” Ionescu told WNYW Fox 5’s Sports reporter Jennifer Williams via a video conference call on Friday.
With the trade of Charles last week the future hopes and aspirations of the Liberty under new head coach Walt Hopkins will be on the shoulder of Ionescu who had a decorated collegiate career where she recorded an NCAA-record 26 triple-doubles in her four seasons with the Lady Ducks and became the first in either men’s for women’s NCAA basketball history to register for their career 2,000 points (2,562), 1,000 assists (1,091) and 1,000 rebounds (1,040).
As she demonstrated in her career at Oregon, Ionescu is an all-around once-in-a-lifetime talent who can do absolutely everything on the hardwood. Perhaps her greatest skill is something that you will not find in a box score and that is her selflessness.
“When you don’t have ‘I want the credit,’ getting in the way or you don’t have ‘My ego’ or ‘My brand,’ you know, getting in the way of the decisions you’re making and you’re just thinking about you’re team, I think that’s what makes you a special player,” Hopkins said of what he hopes Ionescu will bring to the Liberty.
After winning a combined 17 games the past two seasons under the direction of head coach in Katie Smith, the hope is with the new additions via the draft in Ionescu, Walker, Jones and Willoughby, joining All-Star Kia Nurse (13.7 ppg, 35.3 3-Pt.%), Rebecca Allen, Brittney Boyd, Bria Hartley (9.8 ppg), Asia Durr (9.7 ppg, 46.7 FG%), Tanisha Wright and Amanda Zahui B. (8.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 46.8 FG%), the future for the Liberty, who will now be playing their home games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY is a lot brighter.
After two straight seasons of making the playoffs, the Dallas Wings (10-24) missed out on the playoffs in the first season under head coach Brian Agler.
This offseason for the Wings was about continuing to rebuild the team in Coach Agler’s image of being strong defensively and being able to space the floor offensively.
The dealt as previously mentioned perennial All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith to the Mercury in exchange for the No. 5 and No. 7 picks in last Friday’s draft and a First-Round pick in 2021 draft. They then dealt that 2021 First-Round pick to the Chicago Sky in exchange for center Astou Ndour (6.8 ppg, 42.4 3-Pt.% w/Sky). In another deal with the Sky, the Wings dealt Azura Stevens in exchange for the Sky’s First-Round pick in 2021 draft and forward Katie Lou Samuelson. Two days before last Friday’s draft, in a three-team deal involving the Mystics and Liberty, the Wings acquired a 2021 First-Round pick, a Second-Round pick, guard Tayler Hill, the No. 9 and No. 15 picks from this past draft.
With the No. 2 selection in last Friday’s draft, the Wings selected forward Satou Sabally out of Oregon. Three picks later, they selected at No. 5 overall out of Princeton University Isabella “Bella” Alarie. At No. 7 overall, the Wings selected Tyasha Harris out of South Carolina.
Last season, the Wings selected at No. 5 overall Arike Ogunbowale and finished third of all rookies in 2019 in scoring at 19.1 points per game on 35.2 percent from three-point range.
The hope that Sabally, the 2020 Cheryl Miller Award winner as the top small forward in college basketball this past season after averaging 16.2 points and 6.9 rebounds can have that same kind of impact.
“I hope I can just put Dallas on the map and get some wins just like he did,” Sabally said to ESPN’s Holly Rowe after getting drafted about the impact she hopes to make like fellow German and future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki had for the Dallas Mavericks. “He really inspired German basketball tremendously and I hope to be the same influence for German basketball players, European basketball players in America. And I can’t wait to go to Dallas, and just start practicing, and playing with my new team.”
In Alarie, the Wings selected a one of the most accomplished women in the history of the Ivy League winning the Player of the Year Award in that league three times. In her four years for the Lady Tigers, Alarie averaged 16.1 points and 9.1 rebounds on 48.0 percent from the field as she became the first player in school history to earn First Team All-Ivy League honors in her four-year career. Alarie also set school records for career points and blocks.
Alarie joined Allison Feaster (1998-Harvard) and former Lady Tiger Leslie Robinson (2018) as the only players from the Ivy League to be drafted into the WNBA.
Alarie is a well round player who can score both inside and out. Can defend, especially at the rim as demonstrated by her average of 2.1 blocks during her career at Princeton. And comes from good basketball genes as her father Mark played five seasons in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets and then Washington Bullets, now Wizards from 1986-91. Her god father is former Duke Blue Devil and long-time ESPN College Basketball analyst Jay Bilas.
“Just having a high basketball IQ, learning the game, studying the game, just being confident in what I do. I think that will really translate over to the pros,” she said to Rowe after being drafted
Along with adding depth to their frontcourt, the Wings were looking for a lead guard that would allow them to play Ogunbowale off the ball more. That is what they hope Harris, a “Associated Press” Third Team All-American selection this past season with the Lady Gamecocks can allow them to do.
Under the guidance of former WNBA great Dawn Staley, Harris, a finalist for the John B. Wooden Award this past season grew as a player and as a leader from starting as a freshmen on a national title team in 2016 to a remarkable floor general amongst a lot of young players on the No. 1 team in the nation this past season.
She has incredible court vision, as demonstrated by her SEC leading 5.7 assists per game this past season and finished her career as the Lady Gamecocks all-time assists leader at 702. Harris also displayed this past season an improved offense game where she averaged by career-highs of 12.0 points and 38 percent from three-point range this past season.
“I think I just have a high IQ in basketball,” Harris said to Rowe. “I’ve done it in college. I just know when to pass the ball or know who to get the ball to and assert myself when needed.”
In the first decade of this new millennium, the Dallas Wings, who were the Detroit Shock then were a consistent title contender capturing two WNBA titles in the last four years of the first decade under the guidance of now Coach Laimbeer. In the first half of this past decade in their time in Tulsa, OK, the Shock did not have much success with just one playoff appearance (2015) in six seasons. After two straight playoff appearances as mentioned earlier, the Wings struggled with just 10 wins a season ago.
The Wings hope with the additions via the draft in Sabally, Alarie, and Harris; the additions in free agency in guard Moriah Jefferson; the acquisition of Hill, Lou Samuelson and Ndour, alongside guard Allisha Gray (10.6 ppg, 38.4 3-Pt.%), forward Kayla Thornton (10.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Kaela Davis that they are building a foundation for what they hope will be a team that is a playoff perennial and hopefully a championship contender in the not too distant future.
One team in a similar situation as the Wings are the Indiana Fever (13-21), who despite a seven-win improvement from the previous season still missed the playoffs for a third straight season after 12 straight appearances from 2005-16, which included two appearances in the WNBA Finals, capturing their first and only title in franchise history in 2012.
For the Fever, this offseason was about change as well as adding solid players to get them back in the playoff hunt.
It began with a change at head coach bringing in Marianne Stanley, who had spent the last decade as an assistant on head coach Mike Thibault’s staff with the now defending NBA champion Mystics replacing Pokey Chatman.
In free agency, they re-signed guard Tiffany Mitchell (9.7 ppg) and forward Betnijah Laney. In a deal with the Minnesota Lynx, the Fever acquired the No. 14 overall pick in this last Friday’s draft and a Second-Round pick in the 2021 draft in exchange for guard Shenise Johnson.
With a Top-3 pick for the third straight draft, the Fever selected forward Lauren Cox out of Baylor University, who she helped lead to a National Championship in 2019.
One thing that Coach Stanley wanted her new team to improve in is at the defensive end of the court and the hope is that Cox can bring that defensive mindset of protecting the basket, which she demonstrated by her averaged of 2.3 blocks per game in her four-year career for the Lady Bears. A season ago, the three-time “Associated Press” All-American averaged 2.7 blocks despite missing eight games with a foot injury this past season. Only perennial All-Star of the Mercury Brittney Griner has more block shots in school history than the 301 total Cox had in her time under Lady Bears head coach and Hall of Famer to be Kim Mulkey.
She also improved as a rebounder the final three seasons at Baylor averaging 9.7, 8.3 and 8.4 rebounds in as a sophomore, junior, and senior years, respectively.
Along with her ability to block shots, score and rebound, Cox’s greatest skill is as a passer, especially her ability to create fast breaks off of outlet passes once she clears the rebound. She also does it well in the half court with the ability to catch the ball from the low-post or high-post and find open people off a give-and-go or off a backdoor or baseline cut to the basket. Cox can also space the floor with her ability to make perimeter shots, especially from three-point range.
The versatility of her game, along with being able to play alongside center Kalani Brown at Baylor should be a big help as she will be playing alongside last season’s No. 3 overall pick in center Teaira McCowan, who averaged 10.0 points and nine rebounds (2nd WNBA), shooting 51.7 percent from the field on her way to making the 2019 All-Rookie Team.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun being able to play the four position (power forward) with another big inside because I think I show that can be successful my junior year. So, I’m hoping that will translate into the next level,” Cox said to Rowe about playing alongside McCowan with the Fever.
Cox also said to Rowe that she takes great pride and dedication to playing great defense saying that once she gets scored on, she tries to make sure it does not happen again.
With the No. 14 overall pick, the Fever selected guard Kathleen Doyle out of the University of Iowa.
For Coach Stanley, she wants to build a team that offensively plays fast and can make shots at a high clip, particularly from three-point range.
In Doyle, the Fever have a player who has the ability to take what Coach Stanley can draw on the whiteboard and bring it to life on the hardwood. The 2020 “AP” Third Team All-American displayed that by her total of 189 assists this past season, which was tied for six in Division I. She also can make shots, especially from three-point range.
What separates an elite lead guard from others is their ability to know when to score herself and when to make plays for others.
The previous year, Doyle played the role of facilitator in setting up the Lady Hawkeyes dominant low-post scorer in Megan Gustafson, the 2019 National Player of the Year. This past season, Doyle took on more of the lead role at the offensive end and as a result was named Big Ten Player of the Year for this past season.
As mentioned for a decade plus prior to this playoff drought of three consecutive seasons, the Indiana Fever were a playoff fixture winning it all eight seasons back, led by Hall of Famer to be and perennial All-Star Tamika Catchings.
Now as the Fever’s Vice President of Basketball Operations and GM, she and Coach Marianne Stanley, the 2002 WNBA Coach of the Year while with the Mystics hope they are building the team back into a playoff perennial and title contender with the draft selections of Lauren Cox and Kathleen Doyle to go alongside McCowan, guards Tiffany and Kelsey Mitchell (13.6 ppg-Led team, 37.4 3-Pt.%), forward Natalie Achonwa (8.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 48.8 FG%) and veteran forward Candice Dupree (11.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 47.2 FG%) and last season’s All-Star Game MVP Erica Wheeler (10.1 ppg, 5.0 apg-Led team 38.4 3-Pt.%).
One team that had a chance to be in position to compete for their first WNBA title is the Chicago Sky (20-14), who had their best season since reaching the WNBA Semifinals four years prior.
The Sky under first-year head coach James Wade finished, the 2019 WNBA Coach of the Year with the fifth best record in the league this past season, thanks to their seven-win improvement from the year before (tied with Fever for most in WNBA) but lost in the Semis to the Aces on a last second buzzer beating three-pointer in the final seconds.
It was heartbreaking end to a season that saw Coach Wade, who helped guide the Sky to their third 20-win season in franchise history. Veteran guards Allie Quigley (13.8 ppg, 44.2 3-Pt.%) and Courtney Vandersloot (11.2 ppg, 9.1 apg-Led WNBA, 45.2 FG%), who broke her all-time record for assists per game and second-year guard Diamond DeShields (16.2 ppg-Led team, 5.5 rpg) made this past season’s All-Star Game as reserves. Vandersloot, and DeShields were named to the First and Second All-WNBA squads, respectively.
For the Sky, this offseason was about keeping their core intact, while adding depth at the lead guard spot and possibly finding a big that can stretch the floor.
They kept their core together by re-signing Quigley, Vandersloot and center Stefanie Dolson (9.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 51.9 FG%, 36.1 3-Pt.%) to multi-year deals. They also re-signed Kahleah Copper.
They added depth to their frontcourt with the acquisition of acquisition of sharp shooting third year forward Azura Stevens from the Wings in exchange for Katie Lou Samuelson and First-Round pick in 2021 draft, while also adding depth to the backcourt with the signing of Sydney Colson.
The Sky also bolstered their frontcourt in the draft with the selection of forward Ruthy Hebard at No. 8 overall out of Oregon.
Simply put, Hebard is the most efficient shooter of this draft. When the ball leaves her fingertips, especially if that shot is taken at the bucket, its going in.
This past season, the Alaskan native and 2020 “AP” First Team All-American led Division one shooting 68.5 percent from the field in her senior season and finished her career as the Pac-12 leader in field goal percentage at 65.1 percent and finished No. 2 all-time in career points (2,368) behind her teammate Ionescu (2,562).
Along with the ability to consistently make shots in close and off the pick-and-roll, she is a stellar rebounder as evidence by her average of 9.6 this past season, which led the Pac-12.
With what Hebard did playing with one of the best at the college level in Ionescu, the possibilities of what four-time All-Pac-12 selection in her time at Oregon can do at the offensive end playing with one of the best in the WNBA in Vandersloot should bring nothing but excitement to fans of the Sky.
It is one thing to play with no expectations to all of a sudden to having a plethora of expectations both internally and externally. With what the Chicago Sky did a season ago, they have all the reasons in the world to believe that they should be in the mix as an elite team in the WNBA.
They have another year under head coach James Wade’s system. The core players in All-Stars Diamond DeShields, Allie Quigley, and Courtney Vandersloot are re-signed, along with forward/guard Kahleah Copper and forward Cheyenne Parker (8.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 45.9 FG%). They added Azura Stevens and Sydney Colson to go alongside Stefanie Dolson and Jantel Lavender (10.0 ppg 6.9 rpg-Led team, 49.0 FG%).
The pieces are in place for the Sky to be a force whenever the upcoming WNBA season begins It is up to them when that happens to put it all together and see what happens.
A team that was in a similar position that the Sky are now in were the Atlanta Dream (8-26), who just their third year of existence in 2010 reached the WNBA Finals, but were swept by the Storm 3-0. The Dream made it back to The Finals one year later but were once again swept by the Lynx 3-0.
The Dream got back to the championship round in 2013 but were championship dreams were once again crushed in a three-game sweep by the Lynx.
Since that season, the Dream under head coach and five-time champion as a player with the Los Angeles Laker Michael Cooper reached the playoffs in two of the four seasons under his watch from 2014-17 but went no further than the Semifinals.
Two years prior under then first-year head coach Nicki Collen, the 2018 WNBA Coach of the Year, the Dream were on the doorstep of making it back to the WNBA Finals, but lost to the eventual runner-up Mystics in five games of the Conference Finals.
Last season did not go so well for Coach Collen and the Dream as they went from 23 wins in 2018 (2nd WNBA) to just eight wins last season. That 15-win decrease was tied for the second largest in the history of the league.
A big reason for that sharp decrease in victories is because for the second straight season, perennial All-Star Angel McCoughtry missed games due to a knee injury.
For the Dream, this offseason was about making moves that would make them a better offensive team as well as going in different direction of being a more well rounded team that did not rely on just one person, in this case of McCoughtry as their main option.
That is likely why they let McCoughtry go in free agency as she signed with the Aces this offseason.
In a trade with the Sparks, the Dream acquired aforementioned former Baylor Lady Bear center Kalani Brown in exchange for guard Brittney Sykes and Marie Gulich.
The addition of Brown and the signing of former Wings’ forward Glory Johnson, who averaged 12.7 points and 8.1 rebounds in her first six seasons with the now Wings gives the Dream some much needed inside scoring.
Last season, the Dream made a franchise record 217 three-pointers in 2019, one of the very few bright spots in a lost 2019 season. They hope to equal or exceed that mark with the signings of former Sun players in forward Shekinna Stricklen (9.0 ppg, 38.2 3-Pt.% w/Sun), and the acquisition of guard Courtney Williams (13.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 45.7 3-Pt.% w/Sun) and the No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 draft in exchange for forwards Jessica Breland (7.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg w/Dream) and Nia Coffey.
Besides bringing their potent offensive capabilities to the Dream, Stricklen and Williams bring playoff experience to the Dream and a competitive focus that should change the mindset from what was brought to the floor a season ago.
One thing that every great offensive team has is a lead guard that can put it all together where everyone’s offensive capabilities and be maximized.
The Dream have put that faith in the No. 4 overall pick in last Friday’s draft Chennedy Carter out of Texas A&M University.
In the history of the Lady Aggies, only Courtney Walker (1,989 points from 2012-16) has scored more points than Carter (1,983 points), who is the only Division I player to average 20-plus points per game the last three seasons. The three-time All-SEC First-Team selection also owns the Top 2 single-season points per game averages (23.3, 22.7) in school history.
Carter was especially at her best when it counted as evidenced by her average of 31.0 points in her NCAA Tournament career (3rd all-time minimum of five games).
Carter displayed how explosive she can be offensively back on Dec. 15, 2017 versus USC when she scored a Texas A&M single-game scoring record of 46.
“Really just staying in the gym and working on things that I know I don’t do well,” Carter said to Rowe about how she continued to improve in her collegiate career. “I’ve been patient enough to listen to others around me and focus on my game and try to level up.”
In the pick-and-roll, Carter showed she is unstoppable with the ball, with the ability to score in the lane with floaters or from the mid-range, while also being able find teammates that are open of the screen-and-roll. She also make shots from deep, shooting 35 percent from three-point range in her time at Texas A&M.
Carter said to Rowe that in this next stage of her basketball journey that it is about her learning from Coach Collen how to run the offense and that with her ability to score that she is ready to be a major part of their turnaround this season.
The Atlanta Dream are not that far removed from being a team that was in the mix of being a title contending team in the WNBA. While the personnel has changed, the goal has not.
While one chapter of the Dream has closed with the departures of Angel McCoughtry, Brittney Sykes, Jessica Breeland and Nia Coffey, the hopes is the new additions via free agency and in Glory Johnson and Shekinna Strickland, Courtney Williams, and Kalani Brown, and the draft selection of Chennedy Carter can bring this program back to one that is a consistent playoff participant and a title contender.
They will be exciting and explosive to watch, especially at the offensive end with the new additions.
Last season the 2018 WNBA champion Seattle Storm, who have three titles in their history made the playoffs the playoffs despite not having their future Hall of Fame floor general and the 2018 league MVP available due to injury.
Despite not having perennial All-Star Sue Bird and two-time All-Star Breanna Stewart due to arthroscopic left knee surgery and a ruptured Achilles tendon respectively, the Storm (18-16) made the playoffs and defeated the Lynx in the opening-round of the playoffs, but lost in the second-round at the Sparks.
Without Bird and Stewart, it gave the likes of All-Star Jewel Loyd (12.3 ppg), Jordin Canada (9.8 ppg, 5.2 apg, 2.3 spg-Led team), Alysha Clark (9.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 48.1 FG%, 48.1 3-Pt.%), Natasha Howard, and Crystal Langhorne to step up and they rose the moment for head coach Dan Hughes.
Last season, Howard had a breakout year with career-highs averages of 18.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals, along with 1.7 blocks on route to her first All-Star selection, her first All-WNBA First-Team selection and being named 2019 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.
The Storm kept things intact this offseason re-signing Stewart and Bird, who will play in her 19th NBA season, while also adding via trade from the Sun forward Morgan Tuck and signing veteran two-time All-Star guard Epiphany Prince.
In that deal with the Sun, the Storm also acquired the No. 11 overall pick in last Friday’s draft, which they used to select forward Kitija Laksa who played collegiately at the University of South Florida and played this past season for TTT Riga (Latvia).
One major skill that every team covets today are players who possess the ability make perimeter shots consistently, especially from three-point range. That is what Laksa did in her collegiate career, where she averaged 18 points and shot 40 percent from three-point range. Two seasons back, Laksa was the only player in Division I to author two 40-point games for Bulls head coach Jose Fernandez.
The one good thing for her and the Storm is because the fact that their roster is basically set, and the fact that she is still likely recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the third game of her senior season in 2018-19, she has time to get herself healthy so when she does come over and fit in with a team where her skill set of shooting matches with what the Storm do.
One person who clearly knows what she can do is Bird, who saw Laksa ability to make shots up close when her Latvia team played against Team USA not to long ago.
“She gave us a dose when we played Latvia against the U.S.A. team. So, I know she’s legit,” Bird said on Friday. “So again, welcome to Seattle.”
Whether Laksa comes over or not, the Seattle Storm with Stewart and Bird back in the fold and with the seasons Jewel Loyd and Natasha Howard had last season, the Storm will for sure be in the mix of title contenders.
When it comes to winning titles, nobody won more last decade than the Minnesota Lynx (18-16), who after making just two playoff appearances their first 12 years, have made the postseason nine straight seasons, winning titles in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Like some aforementioned former champions in the Sparks, Storm and Fever, the Lynx had a core group of players that led the way to those titles in head coach Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota native and All-Star Lindsay Whalen, fellow perennial All-Stars in Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, 2017 league MVP and two-time Finals MVP Sylvia Fowles, and 2013 Finals MVP and 2014 league MVP Maya Moore.
Like all great dynasties though, they do eventually end and that has been the case for the Lynx who have been one-and-done the last two postseasons.
It is during this time that the likes of Brunson and Whalen have retired. Augustus this offseason moved on in free agency signing with arch-rival the Sparks, while Moore missed last season to focus on family and her ministry work, and will miss this upcoming season, when it does take place to focus on her advocacy for criminal justice reform. The Lynx also said goodbye to Danielle Robinson, who left in free agency to sign with the Aces. Brunson retired this as well this offseason but will remain with the team joining Coach Reeve’s coaching staff as an assistant.
For most teams that are in the boat of the Lynx would have used the past two seasons as ones to rebuild from the ground up. The Lynx instead used this as an opportunity to retool and maintain what the championship habits they have crafted.
Two players who took advantage of their chance were guard Odyssey Sims, who led the Lynx in points (14.5) and assists (5.4) a season ago, which led to her first All-Star selection and be named to the 2019 All-WNBA Second Team.
Forward Naphessa Collier, the team’s No. 6 overall pick in 2019 averaged 13.6 points and a team-leading 8.9 boards on 58.8 percent shooting on her way to her first All-Star appearance and capturing the Rookie of the Year.
Fowles, a six-time All-Star was solid as well averaging 13.6 points and 8.9 boards on 58.8 percent shooting this past season.
In the draft, the Lynx looked to fill their needs at point guard as it is not clear weather Sims will be with the team this upcoming season, while also looking for a guard who spread the court shooting wise to
At No. 6 overall, the Lynx selected forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan out of University of South Carolina. With the No. 16 overall pick, the Lynx selected guard Crystal Dangerfield out of the University of Connecticut.
In Herbert Harrigan, the Lynx are getting a solid two-way forward who is very long and athletic, who can score down low, make plays off the dribble and can make shots from distance, where she shot 44 percent from three-point range as a senior this past season for Coach Staley. She can also guard multiple positions with that length; is an excellent rim protector and can rebound.
The 2020 Second Team All-SEC selection, who was a major reason the Lady Gamecocks won it all in 2017 and three of the last four SEC Tournament titles.
Herbert Harrigan in her career at South Carolina became the third player in school history with 1,000-plus points and 200-plus blocks.
While Herbert Harrigan should be a solid reserve player for the Lynx, they hope that Dangerfield can grow into this team’s starting floor general.
This past season, the 2020 Honorable Mention “AP” All-American was the only player in the American Athletic Conference with 50-plus made threes and 50-plus made steals, showing that she might be small in stature at 5-foot-5 but can play big at all times.
In her time under head coach Geno Auriemma, Dangerfield showed she can not only make shots from the perimeter, where she shot 41 percent from three-point range as a senior but can create off the bounce and can make plays in the open court.
How much trust did she earn from Coach Auriemma? She was the Lady Huskies starting lead guard the last three seasons. Dangerfield finished here career at UConn with 599 total assists, which is now fifth in school history.
While the COVID-19 Pandemic has restricted a lot of this draft classes ability to prepare for this upcoming season whenever it takes place, Dangerfield went the extra mile to order workout equipment shipped to her home in Tennessee where she resides currently to prepare for the next step of her basketball journey.
“Just in the gym whenever I can, you know? Making sure I’m in shape, cardio. And just making sure I’m stronger,” Dangerfield said to Rowe. “It’s a lot more physical in the league than it is in college, and so I have to be ready for that.”
The Lynx on draft night also acquired the draft rights to guard Erica Ogwumike, the No. 26 overall pick out of Rice University by the Liberty in exchange for forward Stephanie Talbot.
If the last name sounds familiar, it should because Erica is the younger sister of Sparks bigs Nneka and Chiney. The younger Ogwumike is stature and game is different from her sister in that she is 5-foot-5 but like her sister was a great rebounder in her career for the Lady Owls and can facilitate for her teammates.
The Ogwumike sisters became the latest set of siblings in pro sports joining the Watt Family of JJ, TJ and Derek who play respectively for the Houston Texans, Pittsburg Steelers, and Los Angeles Chargers. In the NBA also has a trio of siblings currently in the Antetokounmpo in reigning Kia MVP in Giannis of the Milwaukee Bucks and his brother Kostas, with their fellow brother Thanasis with the Los Angeles Lakers. Perhaps the most famous trio of brothers in the history of pro sports are the late DiMaggios in Dom, Joe, and Vince.
Through solid drafting and adding the right kind of players that fit in their championship culture is how the Lynx became a perennial playoff team and championship squad four times over.
Coach Reeve, the reigning 2019 WNBA Executive of the Year hopes that the core that is in place now with possibly Odyssey Sims, Sylvia Fowles, Napheesa Collier, and the draft picks of Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, Crystal Dangerfield and Erica Ogwumike can author the successful run that occurred for the Lynx the previous decade.
As special as the 2020 WNBA Draft was on Friday night for the players who got drafted, this was also a night to remember in what many call “the greatest ally” to their league, the current players, and future players of it.
It was Coach Auriemma who called the now late Kobe Bryant “the greatest ally that this sport (basketball) could ever hope for.”
What Bryant did for Women’s basketball specifically and women’s sports in general was give “legitimacy” and “inspiration” that they can play this game just as well as the men, and at times even better.
Chiney Ogwumike said that by Bryant simply walking into an arena often with his daughter Gianna where a WNBA game took place, whipping away the stigmas and stereotypes that women are “less than,” and “don’t deserve visibility.”
Bryant not only went to WNBA games, he attended UConn games, University of Oregon games, where he bonded and became a friend and mentor to Ionescu.
He extended that same knowledge he learned for 20 years in the NBA to those that attended his Mamba Academy, especially girls.
On Jan. 26, the sports world lost one of the best to ever play on the hardwood but a person who was becoming one of the greatest ambassadors for women’s sports.
To conclude the WNBA Draft, Commissioner Engelbert announced the debut of the Kobe and Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award.
“This award will recognize an individual or group who has made significant contributions to the visibility, perception and advancement of women’s and girls’ basketball at all level like Kobe was so committed to doing,” she said.
“The Kobe and Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award is a call to action for advocates to use their time, talent, and platform to raise awareness for the game. The league and our partners will make a charitable contribution in the recipient’s name to further advance the game. The WNBA and the Bryant Family expect to announce the inaugural recipient of the award during the NBA All-Star Weekend in 2021. We look forward to seeing who will carry the torch in years to come.”
It will still unfortunately unknown when the 2020 WNBA season will kick off as the unexpected start date to this season of May 15 was postponed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic still upon us. However if or when the season does get underway, there will be a lot to look forward to after this epic offseason where we saw a lot of change, for the good of a league that has a number of teams with high aspirations of becoming champions and a lot of young players looking to make the kind of mark their predecessors did before.
Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 5/4/2018 www.dailyprincetonian.com story, “Future WNBA Player Leslie Robinson Break Barriers In Women’s Basketball Program,” by Christopher Murphy and Alissa Selover; 3/14/2020 www.wnba.com press release “WNBA And WNBPA Reach Tentative Agreement On Groundbreaking Eight-Year Collective Bargaining Agreement;” 4/17/2020 7 p.m. “2020 WNBA Draft,” presented by State Farm with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, Holly Rowe, and Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird; 4/17/2020 www.espn.com story, “Oregon Superstar Sabrina Ionescu Goes No. 1 to New York Liberty,” by Mechelle Voepel and “The Associated Press;” 4/19/2020 10:30 p.m. “Fox 5 Sports Extra,” presented by Toyota with Tina Cervasio, with report from Jennifer Williams; and player statistics and team records of all 12 WNBA teams via https://en.m.wikipedia.org.
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