5 Questions Entering Storm Training Camp

A new WNBA season is upon us and I have questions.

The Seattle Storm had a busy off-season, trading away their franchise player, Jewell Loyd, who requested the move. In doing so, they landed the #2 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, which they used on the 19-year-old 6’6” French star, Dominique Malonga. They also acquired 6’7” Center Li Yueru earlier as part of the trade package. They re-signed Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams. Seattle brought back Alysha Clark and Katie Lou Samuelson and traded for Lexie Brown. With several familiar faces and a few brand new ones, the Storm are looking to build on their success from 2024.

The WNBA Draft is over. WNBA Training Camp begins on April 27th, and the 2025 WNBA season starts in three weeks. During training camp, the Storm will implement their offensive and defensive systems with all the new players. They will figure out what lineups work best with one another. They will finalize their decisions with their top 11 players who will make the opening day roster.

Below are five questions I have regarding the Seattle Storm before the season begins.

Who will be the starting Shooting Guard?

By trading away All-Star guard Jewell Loyd this offseason it left a hole in Seattle’s starting lineup. Before her ACL injury, Jordan Horston would have been a natural option to slide into that spot. Horston has started 31 games for the Storm over the past two seasons, mostly at the Small Forward position. But the 2/3 wing spots are often interchangeable. Unfortunately, that won’t be an option for this season.

Gabby Williams makes the most sense to me. Gabby has experience bringing the ball up the court. She’s been the team’s starting Small Forward over the past three seasons when healthy. I don’t see it as much of a stretch for her to slide from the three to the two. And a couple of other options on this list might make more sense to slot into the Small Forward spot.

The Storm brought back a couple of former players this offseason during Free Agency that could fill the spot. The first is Alysha Clark. If I had to write up the Storm’s projected starting lineup right now, I would have both Gabby Williams and Alysha Clark positioned at the 2/3 (SG/SF). I could see it being Skylar, Gabby, and AC as the three guards/wings.

The other player returning to Seattle that could earn the spot is Katie Lou Samuelson. Katie Lou has the height (6’3”) to be considered a stretch four (Power Forward), but that’s not really the position where she’ll find the most success. Samuelson doesn’t have the strength or low-post moves to play the four. Her skills translate better to the guard or wing position.

Outside of Gabby Williams, the player who could be the most likely to earn the spot is Lexie Brown. The Storm traded their 2nd round pick for Brown in a move to bolster their three-point shooting, which was a major weakness for the team last season. Brown would allow Seattle to stretch the floor and keep defenses honest with her ability to shoot from the outside (a career 36% shooter from 3-PT). The biggest question with Brown has been her inability to stay healthy. She has publicly been battling Crohn's Disease over the past couple of seasons. If she can stay healthy, she has the opportunity to earn the starting Shooting Guard spot. Especially, if the Storm prefer the idea of staggering Gabby Williams and Alysha Clark so that one of them is on the court at all times.

How many rookies will make the team?

The Seattle Storm have four draft picks from the 2025 WNBA Draft. They are Dominique Malonga, Serena Sundell, Madison Conner, and Jordan Hobbs. However, they will actually have six “rookies” in training camp this season. That’s because Mackenzie Holmes, who was drafted in the third round of the 2024 WNBA Draft, had to miss the entire season with a knee injury and surgery. That gives them five rookies that they’ve drafted over the past two seasons who will participate in training camp. Seattle also signed Brianna Fraser to a training camp contract. Fraser played in two preseason games with the New York Liberty last season but did not make their final roster. If she made the Storm’s final cut this season, she would be considered a rookie. Fraser graduated from Maryland after the 2018-2019 season.

As I’m sure everyone is well aware, not all of these players will be able to make the team. In fact, there is a pretty strong chance that not even half of them make the final roster. I think it’s safe to say that Dominique Malonga will make the team.

Since training camp doesn’t begin for a few more days, the rest is based on how I project the others based on team need, draft projection, and other factors like contract status.

Outside of Malonga, I would think Serena Sundell would have the next best chance to make the team. The Storm need another point guard or combo guard for their roster, especially with Nika Mühl being ruled out for the entire 2025 WNBA season. Before Olivia Miles made her decision to return to college, there was speculation that she could either fit into the Storm’s starting lineup next to Skylar Diggins or that she could fill that backup guard role. And while I wouldn’t expect Sundell to land the starting role, another player on the roster is going to have to move into that spot, which is ultimately going to free up a roster spot for a reserve guard. Sundell was invited to New York for the WNBA Draft because she was projected to go in the first round or be an early second-round draft pick. The fact that she fell to Seattle in the third round is still a bit shocking. If she proves that she can play at the WNBA level, I would expect her to make the team’s opening day roster. She could also make the final roster by beating out Erica Wheeler for a roster spot. But I don’t think that’s an either/or situation. Sundell can make the team with Wheeler also making the team, she would just need to beat out all the other rookies, not named Dominique Malonga and other training camp players like Zia Cooke.

Next up, Mackenzie Holmes. Holmes will likely have a more difficult time making the roster because the team has solidified depth at the post positions with the additions of Dominique Malonga and Li Yueru. The fact that Olivia Miles is going back to college could help Serena Sundell make the team; however, it likely hurts Mackenzie Holmes’s chances. Holmes would sit behind Nneka Ogwumike, Ezi Magbegor, Dominique Malonga, and Li Yueru on a Storm depth chart. Moreover, I could see the Storm occasionally playing either Alysha Clark or Katie Lou Samuelson at the four spot if needed. I would have Holmes behind all six of those players, and since the Storm will need to roster several guards too, the math becomes difficult for Holmes to make the team. Holmes’s best chance to make the team would be if she’s just so impressive in training camp and plays so well that the Storm feel they must find a way to keep her on the roster. If she performs that well, maybe they opt to keep her and just move players like Gabby, AC, or Katie Lou Samuelson into more guard roles as opposed to the forward spots.

Madison Conner can make the Storm’s final roster by being a deadly three-point shooting specialist that they desperately need. However, it would still be an uphill battle for her. She would likely have to beat out both Serena Sundell and Erica Wheeler. As well as the other rookies and training camp invitees.

Jordan Hobbs is in a similar position to Conner. She would have to beat out all the other rookies like Sundell, Conner, Holmes, etc. Plus, the other training camp players as well. It’s not impossible, but she’d really have to outperform a large portion of the non-starters in camp.

Brianna Fraser, on paper, would have the most difficult time making the Storm’s final roster. Not only would she need to outpeform all the other rookies outside of Malonga plus the other training camp players; but she would also have to be so much better than the other rookies that it would make sense to keep her despite the fact that the other five rookies are all under full rookie-scale contracts and under club control for the next four years. With expansion happening again next season and likely again in another 1-2 years after that, and with the CBA changing again, teams will want to have players signed to inexpensive rookie contracts. Fraser would only be under contract for one season and then becomes a Reserved Free Agent after that. That’s compared to all the other rookies who would be under full club control for four seasons and then would become Restricted Free Agents in their 5th year with the team.

Looking over all of this, I think the Storm are guaranteed to keep at least one rookie (Malonga) on their final roster. I think there is probably a 50/50 chance that they keep two rookies on the team, with those rookies most likely being Malonga and Sundell. And then I think there is probably a 10% to 20% chance that the team keeps three rookies on the team. In that less likely scenario, it would probably be Malonga, Sundell, and one of Holmes, Hobbs, or Conner.

Will we see Malonga, Magbegor, and Ogwumike together in a lineup?

This is one of the more interesting and exciting questions for this season. For her rookie season, Dominique Malonga appears like a perfect option to backup either Nneka Ogwumike or Ezi Magbegor. She will have the opportunity to grow and learn under them. But what if Malonga is ready to contribute sooner than expected? What if Malonga is so impressive in training camp and early on during the season, that the Storm realize they need to be playing her a lot more beyond, say 10-15 MPG off the bench.

For reference, Ezi Magbegor played between 13-15 MPG in her first two seasons in the league when she joined the team at just 20 years old. Both Magbegor and Nneka Ogwumike averaged around 32 MPG last season with the Storm. If Malonga is going to play more than 15 MPG, then either A) Nneka and Ezi’s minutes might need to drop to 27-30 MPG each. Or B) The Storm are going to find ways to play all three players in a lineup at the same time.

In the latter scenario, I was wondering how often the New York Liberty played Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Nyara Sabally on the court together last season. After looking through the Advanced Stats Metrics, unless I missed it, it doesn’t appear that they were ever on the court together at the same time during the regular season. They did spend a little time together in the playoffs, but even that appears to be only 1-2 games for less than 15 minutes total.

However, the Liberty did play 6’4” Breanna Stewart, 6’4” Leonie Fiebich, and 6’6” Jonquel Jones together on the court a ton in both the regular season and playoffs. They also played 6’0” Betnijah Laney-Hamilton with JJ and Stewie together even more often.

When looking at the Seattle Storm’s projected starting lineup, I am pretty confident it’ll include Skylar Diggins, Gabby Williams, Nneka Ogwumike, and Ezi Magbegor. That 5th starter is the big question mark right now. As I wrote above, it could be Lexie Brown, Alysha Clark, or possibly even Katie Lou Samuelson. But it could also be Dominique Malonga if the Storm coaching staff believes they can work her in with Nneka and Ezi.

While it may not be the best way to create a lineup with two Power Forwards and one Center (or one Power Forward and two Centers) that doesn’t mean the Storm won’t consider it. In fact, Coach Quinn has already talked about Malonga’s versatility and not wanting to put limits on her!

“She's a unicorn. She is one of one, in my opinion. Her ability to do multiple things on a basketball court, guard multiple positions, whether it is the five, whether it is the four. I think her versatility lends to a successful career in our league. The thing that is very intriguing about her is just the way that she's grown rapidly over the last few years. And so if you think about her ability to go inside, out, stretch her game, but also her defensive prowess, there's some versatility to her game that won't have me say she is this or that. She is 100% an amazing athlete.”

If I’m understanding the French League Basketball Playoffs correctly, I believe Malonga’s team, Lyon, was eliminated from the playoffs just a couple of days ago. It’s unclear if she will be joining the Storm within the next week or if she’ll be arriving a little later than that.

The Storm’s first preseason game is on May 4th, so we might get our first glimpse of the team’s lineups if Malonga has joined the team by then. Then we’ll get to see if she gets put into any lineups with Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor also on the court.

How will they utilize Dominique Malonga and Li Yueru?

Another question I have for the team is what happens to Li Yueru, her minutes, and her role with the Storm now that they’ve drafted 6’6” Dominique Malonga. Despite their height, they aren’t exactly the same type of players. Yueru is a more traditional Center, scoring most of her points down low and near the rim.

Will the Storm play Malonga and Yueru together off the bench at the same time? Or will they keep them paired with another veteran? For example, they could pair Magbegor and Malonga, and Ogwumike and Yueru together

Knowing that Nneka and Ezi are both All-Star level players that will likely play 30 MPG and that Malonga will likely get more playing time than Yueru, how much court time will Li Yueru see? Will she still be a regular in the rotation? Or will she be more in a specialist role where she mainly plays against teams who have taller lineups? Think the Atlanta Dream, who have added Centers Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner this offseason.

Will this team be better than last year?

My last question for now is whether or not this team will be better than last season. That might be easier said than done. Despite a disappointing ending to their season, where they were swept in the playoffs by the Las Vegas Aces, the team finished with a 25-15 record over the regular season. That was a 14-win improvement from their 2023 campaign. The Storm finished with the 5th-best record in the league behind the New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, Connecticut Sun, and the Las Vegas Aces.

This 2025 team will also be without 6-time WNBA All-Star Jewell Loyd. On paper, the team’s starting lineup might appear weaker than the 2024 team. Let’s say it’s Skylar Diggins, Lexie Brown, Gabby Williams, Nneka Ogwumike, and Ezi Magbegor (2025) versus Diggins, Jewell Loyd, Gabby, Nneka, and Ezi (2024). But that isn’t the only factor.

For one, the bench appears to be stronger with more depth. Alysha Clark, Lexie Brown, Katie Lou Samuelson, Dominique Malonga, Erica Wheeler or Serena Sundell, and Li Yueru seem better on paper compared to Victoria Vivians, Joyner Holmes, Mercedes Russell, Jordan Horston, Sami Whitcomb, and Nika Mühl. Obviously, the 2025 squad missing Jordan Horston is a huge deal.

One reason the Storm could be better this season is that they should have Gabby Williams available for the entire season. She wasn’t able to join the team last year until after the Olympic break, which meant she played in just 12 regular-season games in 2024. Having Gabby available for the entire season and bringing back Alysha Clark should both help minimize the loss of Horston, who will miss the entire season with a torn ACL.

Another reason I think Seattle could be better this season is in regards to how they run their offense and who they run their offense through. I wrote about this five months ago, before the team traded away Loyd, about how Seattle’s front office might want to consider building the team around Ezi Magbegor, who is a significantly more efficient player than Jewell Loyd. Loyd has shot 40% over her entire career, but it has been three years in a row that she has shot below 40%. Meanwhile, Magbegor has a career average shooting 52% and hasn’t shot below 50% in any of her five WNBA seasons. Furthermore, with Loyd no longer on the team, the Storm will likely run their offense more through Nneka Ogwumike. Nneka is a career 54% shooter and has never shot below 50% in 13 WNBA seasons. Running more of the offense through Ezi and Nneka should increase the Storm’s offensive efficiency.

There is also the chemistry factor. Nneka, Ezi, Skylar, and Gabby all got to play together last season. Can they build off of that in Year 2 with this group? Chemistry is a legit factor in the success of a team. It’s why the Las Vegas Aces went through their struggles before becoming two-time champions. Then it was why the Aces beat the Liberty two years ago, because they had already built that chemistry together. It’s why the Aces beat Seattle last year. On paper, Seattle was pretty much just as good as Las Vegas, but the Vegas team had a championship core that had been together for years. The Liberty were able to win their first championship in their second year together with the same group. It’s not unrealistic that the Storm could be better this season just because they’ve had more time and experience playing with one another.

With that said, there are still a lot of new and returning faces, and it’s possible it’ll still take several games into the regular season before they really find their chemistry and what works best.

I’m not entirely confident that the New York Liberty or the Minnesota Lynx improved their rosters from last year. And we know the Connecticut Sun, who finished third, have lost multiple star players. I do think the Indiana Fever are going to be better. I can picture the Storm finishing as a Top 4 team if all goes well. But it’s certainly not a guarantee, and that’ll make the season interesting to watch.

Notes:
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