Ivana Dojkić Requests Her Release from the Storm

The team announced today that they have released the rookie point guard from her contract.

In a bit of shocking news, the Seattle Storm announced that they have released rookie point guard Ivana Dojkić from her contract. This allows her to return back to Europe where she will prepare to play basketball over there.

Per the Storm’s PR they sent out this press release.

The Seattle Storm announced today that the team has agreed to release guard Ivana Dojkić from her contract, allowing her to begin preparations for her upcoming season of competition in Europe.

“My time in Seattle has been amazing and I am truly grateful for my first season in the WNBA,” said Dojkić. “Unfortunately, I have some commitments in Europe that will force me to leave right now, but I hope to return to the WNBA in the future.”

Dojkić signed as a free agent with the Storm prior to the 2023 season, appearing in 23 games and making 15 starts during her rookie campaign. She averaged 6.5 points, 2.8 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 0.8 steals in 20 minutes per game, shooting 40.3% from the field and 41.8% from three-pointer range.

With roughly a month before the end of the WNBA regular season, it is still a bit of a surprise to see this move made. Especially, as the team just announced that Gabby Williams (who also has played point guard) will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a stress fracture in her foot.

Why Would Dojkić Request Her Release?

Ivana Dojkić has had a very interesting season with the Seattle Storm. The 25-year-old rookie had a very strong start to her WNBA career. She played as a solid bench player often playing as the backup point guard through the first seven games of the season. She impressed enough that she was inserted into the starting lineup during Seattle’s 8th game against the Phoenix Mercury. During her first career start, she finished the game with 14 points and four assists.

Dojkić excelled early scoring in double figures in five of her first seven career starts. She scored a career-high 16 points against Las Vegas on June 15th. She continued to play well through the rest of June, especially during the two games against the Minnesota Lynx. She put up 14 points and nine assists at Minnesota and then came close to a triple-double with seven points, six rebounds, and 10 assists two days later in Seattle against the Lynx.

Unfortunately, that success didn’t carry over into the month of July. Her production and minutes continued to drop off as the weeks went on. She went from starting and playing 30+ minutes per game, down to playing 20+ MPG, then playing into the teens, and eventually just single-digit minutes.

When the team was playing a game literally every other day in late June and into July, Dojkić did comment about how she wasn’t used to that tough of a schedule. And leading up to the All-Star break it definitely felt like she was really starting to struggle with the wear and tear of a long season. Interestingly enough, her best game recently came as the first game after the All-Star break where she was likely able to rest and recover her body. She scored eight points in that game in about 20 minutes of action.

As July turned to August, her playing time decreased even more. In the last three games she played, Ivana played four minutes, two minutes, and four minutes. Mostly, coming in during garbage time or if she played earlier in the rotation she was often pulled quickly after one or two plays.

Lastly, she became a DNP (Did Not Play) - Coach’s Decision during Seattle’s most recent two games.

The last time I spoke with Coach Quinn about the quick hook, she specifically mentioned Ivana missed some important defensive assignments (against Dallas) and that they needed to play someone who wasn’t going to make those mistakes.

I was actually planning to interview Ivana Dojkić today when I got to the arena before any of this news broke because I wanted to reach out to her and hear how she was doing. How she felt about her decreased playing time and what if anything the coaches told her to work on to start earning more of that playing time back.

If I had to guess, this move was likely requested by Dojkić prior to the Gabby Williams injury. This would make sense in retrospect as to why she became a DNP/Healthy Scratch over the last two games. Ivana likely was unhappy with her playing time and her reduced role.

It’s also possible that she was homesick. This is the first year Dojkić is playing in the WNBA and is also her first time ever in the United States. I was hoping to talk with her about this as well because anytime you have to go live in a new country it can be really difficult to adjust to.

Ultimately, my best guess is that Ivana Dojkić was frustrated with her current role on the Storm. Where she was now behind several players on the depth chart including Jewell Loyd, Sami Whitcomb, Gabby Williams, Kia Nurse, Jordan Horston, and possibly even Jade Melbourne.

She was likely unhappy as the days and weeks went on and that is why she requested her release from the team early. Now she can go back to Europe, rest a little, and then start preparing for her season over there where she will likely be back in a starting role with extended minutes.

Why Would the Storm Release Her Early?

There are two parts to this equation. First, the player has to request her release from the team which happened. Then the team has to agree to do it. With the Gabby Williams injury, it is a little surprising that the team would also be willing to lose Ivana Dojkić for the final month of the season.

But as I mentioned above. This request for release likely came prior to Gabby Williams’s injury on Tuesday, August 8th. It probably took a week or more to figure out all the contract details and release Dojkić from her contract. So my best guess is the release was approved prior to knowing Gabby Williams would be out.

There are other factors as well. As Seattle did earlier by releasing Arella Guirantes so she could go play in the FIBA Americup games, the team granted her release to leave things on good terms. In general, I don’t really recall times when the Storm organization has gotten into any really nasty contract disputes with a player. They tend to do right by the players and therefore likely released Dojkić to keep a positive relationship moving forward.

Another reason could be that the team ultimately felt that Ivana Dojkić was not a player they believed to be a part of their long-term future. Unlike Seattle’s other three rookies on the roster, Dojkić was only signed to a contract through the 2023 season and would be a free agent next year. Coach Quinn and General Manager Talisa Rhea may have decided that she isn’t someone they see on the roster in future seasons.

Per HerHoopStats, she would be a Reserved Free Agent which means that if the Storm want her back next season, they will have her rights and no other WNBA team can sign her in 2024 unless they relinquish those rights.

UPDATE: After talking with Kevin Pelton (ESPN) it sounds like the Storm have already relinquished her rights by releasing her now. So if Ivana Dojkić wants to play in the WNBA next year, look for her to sign with a different WNBA team.

With the team not likely to make the WNBA playoffs this season, the front office may feel it is a better use of these final 12 games by playing 20-year-old point guard Jade Melbourne. The Australian rookie is under contract for the next three years so the team may prioritize her development over the 25-year-old Dojkić who isn’t under contract in 2024.

With Williams out with an injury and Ivana Dojkić released from her contract, players like Jordan Horston, Jade Melbourne, and even Kia Nurse should see extended playing time through this final month of WNBA action in Seattle.

Let me know what you think about this move! Were you surprised to see the news break? Were you upset? Do you agree with my potential reasons for why this happened? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!