Should the Storm Build Around Ezi Magbegor?

Is it time to shift focus in Seattle?

This is a topic I’ve been thinking about for a while now. In some ways, since before the team made their major Free Agent acquisitions at the beginning of 2024 with Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike. Before that decision was made the franchise had two major options and paths to take the franchise forward.

First, is the route they eventually took. The “New York Liberty” philosophy. The team had All-Stars Jewell Loyd and Ezi Magbegor along with talented rookie Jordan Horston. They also had at least a handshake deal with Gabby Williams to bring her on late in the season after the Olympics in France. They could attempt to lure multiple All-Stars from other teams to see if they could replicate the success that the New York Liberty had in 2023. After adding Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Courtney Vandersloot to the team, the Liberty finished with the second-best record in the league and reached the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2002. New York achieved everything they had hoped for in one single season. Well, everything except taking the crown away from the Las Vegas Aces. New York fell short by just a couple of games but they knew they were on the right path and would bring that core group back together again in 2024. As we know, this time they climbed the mountain top to win their first-ever WNBA Championship.

The other option for the Storm was to get closer to a full rebuild. The last time the Seattle Storm had to fully rebuild the team they did it to perfection. Lauren Jackson’s health was on the decline but she still managed to play during a portion of the 2011 and 2012 WNBA seasons. Coach Brian Agler was able to get them to the playoffs but not beyond the first round. 2013 should have been the first year of the team’s rebuild with Lauren Jackson unofficially retiring and Sue Bird taking the entire season off for knee surgery. However, the great Tina Thompson had other plans. Thompson almost single-handedly willed the Storm to the playoffs that season. The Storm finished 17-17 and Thompson led the team in points (14.1 PPG) and rebounds (5.8 RPG). They would ultimately fall in the first round to the eventual champions (Minnesota Lynx), but that season is one of the most memorable because of what that team accomplished after losing both Bird and Jackson. 2014 marked the end of long-time Storm members Tanisha Wright and Camille Little. The Storm finished with the worst record in the WNBA (12-22). Seattle won the lottery and selected Jewell Loyd out of Notre Dame in the 2015 draft. After finishing the 2015 season with a 10-24 record, they won the lottery again. This time, they took Breanna Stewart out of UConn. The team returned to the playoffs in 2016 and once they added Natasha Howard in 2018, they became champions again.

The longer rebuild option Seattle could have taken would have meant that Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith did not sign with the Storm in 2024. They would have kept their 4th overall pick and Coach Noelle Quinn (mostly) confirmed to me that they would have selected Rickea Jackson. The team would have been built around Jewell, Ezi, Jordan Horston, and Rickea Jackson. If they had missed the playoffs again (no guarantee), they would have been in prime position to land the #1 overall pick in 2025 which is likely to be UConn’s Paige Bueckers. The problem with that is that there is a lot of “If this happens…” and then “If this also happened…”. Several variables could have altered the team’s plans. The Storm could have easily ended up as the 8th or even 7th seed and been swept in the first round by either New York or Minnesota. In that scenario, they would have had either the 6th or 7th overall pick (4 lottery teams + Golden State).

The 2024 Storm team did not replicate the success the New York Liberty created in 2023. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth trying to repeat that success. On paper, a team with Jewell Loyd, Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Ezi Magbegor, Gabby Williams, and Jordan Horston looks like they could compete with any other team in the league.

There is uncertainty surrounding this team. It’s hard to believe that the Storm will bring back everyone at this point. And even if they wanted to, both Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams are Unrestricted Free Agents. They could opt to go play for any different team. With all that in mind, it may be time to look at other options. It might be time to build the team around Ezi Magbegor.

Let’s go over some of the reasons the Storm might want to go in that direction.

Recent WNBA Champions

If you want to build a championship contender in the WNBA, you better have a strong post player to build your team around. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at all the recent championship clubs.

The New York Liberty won its first championship after adding Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones. Before that, the Las Vegas Aces won back-to-back championships after building around A’ja Wilson.

In 2021, Candace Parker returned home to Chicago to help lead the Sky to their first WNBA Championship. The Storm won their third and fourth championships in 2018 and 2020 as Breanna Stewart led the franchise back to glory. In 2019, Emma Meesseman rejoined Elena Delle Donne as the two of them led the Mystics to its first WNBA Title.

The Minnesota Lynx won their third and fourth championships in 2015 and 2017 after they added Sylvia Fowles to their squad. In 2016, it was Candace Parker again alongside Nneka Ogwumike who led the LA Sparks to their third championship.

We have to go all the way back to either 2014 with Diana Taurasi or 2013 with Maya Moore where the primary player on a WNBA Championship team wasn’t a Power Forward or Center. Of course, that isn’t to say there haven’t been tremendous guards who have had major impacts on championship teams. Players like Sabrina Ionescu, Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, Courtney Vandersloot, Jewell Loyd, Sue Bird, etc. have all been huge pieces to their championship teams. But there is a lot of evidence that shows how important a strong post player is to a championship team in the WNBA.

Use Minnesota as an Example

The Minnesota Lynx are a good blueprint to follow. Minnesota had one of the greatest dynasties in WNBA history that culminated by winning their 4th WNBA Championship in seven seasons back in 2017. In 2018, some of their older veterans were showing their age. Lindsay Whalen retired at the end of the 2018 playoffs. By 2019, Maya Moore decided to retire early as well. But the team drafted promising rookie, Napheesa Collier, who went on to win Rookie of the Year.

They spent a couple of years building around both Sylvia Fowles and Napheesa Collier during Collier’s early years. They added key pieces like Kayla McBride and Bridget Carleton. Fowles retired after the 2022 season. Now it was time to fully rebuild around Collier. This past season, they added Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith. As Phee continued to improve her own game, the Lynx surrounded her with pieces that complimented her. McBride and Carleton spaced the floor with excellent three-point shooting. Williams was effective as a partner in the pick-and-roll with Collier. And Smith was an excellent defensive compliment to help Phee. Just as Natasha Howard complimented Breanna Stewart on the defensive end in Seattle.

Collier was one fourth-quarter basket away from delivering Minnesota their 5th WNBA Championship this past season. It was as I was watching Phee lead the Lynx through the playoffs that I thought more and more about the Storm building around Ezi Magbegor.

If you want to argue against that idea. You’ll say, “Napheesa Collier was arguably the second-best player in the WNBA in 2024 only behind A’ja Wilson. She’s certainly Top 5 in the league at this point. Ezi isn’t that good.”

And you might be right. She isn’t as good as Napheesa Collier. Yet. Collier made her big leap around the time she was 26-27 years old. That also coincided with the time when Sylvia Fowles decided to retire cementing Collier as Minnesota’s #1 option.

Ezi Magbegor Hasn’t Reached Her Prime

I think it’s really easy to forget this because Magbegor has already played five seasons in the WNBA, but Ezi is still only 25 years old. And she will remain 25 for a good portion of the 2025 season. It is not hyperbole to state that Magbegor has not entered the prime of her career yet.

A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier are both three years older than Ezi. Stewie is five years older. Ezi still has so much more room to grow and improve. And we have already seen significant development over the years. When she first started with the Storm, Ezi was mostly a defensive specialist who could score around the rim. First, she developed a quick first step on strong drives to the rim. In 2022, she started developing her three-point shot. By 2023, Magbegor made 30 of 78 shots (39%) from beyond the arc.

After Breanna Stewart left, Magbegor was forced to step up. During her first year as the team’s primary post player, she averaged 13.8 PPG, 51% FG shooting, 8.1 RPG, 2.6 APG, and 1.9 BPG. She was named to the WNBA All-Star team and was one of the league’s best defensive players.

Even though the Storm added perennial All-Star Nneka Ogwumike, Magbegor was able to maintain most of her production even though she didn’t get as many shot attempts as she did a year ago. Ezi still averaged 11.7 PPG, 51% FG shooting, 8.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 2.2 BPG.

Nneka talked about helping Magbegor grow after joining the Storm roster. Ogwumike specifically mentioned wanting to work with Ezi on her post moves down low. Coach Quinn and staff also assigned Nneka to be Accountability Partners with Magbegor. That decision wasn’t an accident.

There is little reason to believe that Ezi will stop growing her game. If she is placed into a larger role where she plays a focal point of the offense her numbers will undoubtedly go up. We have already seen this to be true.

Ezi is Efficient

And here is another thing. General Managers should want to build around efficient players. If you are going to heavily rely on someone to get the job done, do you want a person that is streaky and inconsistent? No, you don’t. Consistency is important, especially when you’re trying to build a team around a player.

You won’t find a lot of success with high-volume, low-efficiency players. Scoring a lot of points doesn’t mean as much if the player is shooting below 40%. This is why analytics has become so important in sports.

Arike Ogunbowale is an incredible player. She is also an incredible scorer who can hit some insane shots. But she is not an efficient player. Ogunbowale has shot below 40% from the field in four out of her six seasons. She has been the Dallas Wings’ franchise player since 2019. During that time, they have missed the playoffs three times in six years. They have also only advanced past the first round one time (2023). In five out of the six seasons Arike has led the Wings, Dallas has been eliminated in the 1st round or missed the playoffs entirely. Building around inefficient players is not a recipe for success.

Remember all of those recent WNBA Champions I mentioned above and the players they were led by? Breanna Stewart is a career 47% FG shooter. Jonquel Jones is a 52% career shooter. A’ja Wilson (50%), Candace Parker (48%), Elena Delle Donne (48%), Emma Meesseman (52%), Sylvia Fowles (60%!!), Nneka Ogwumike (54%), etc. The lowest numbers out of that group are still just a couple of percentage points shy of 50%. Efficiency matters.

Through her five-year WNBA career, Ezi Magbegor has a career shooting percentage of 52%. She’s never had a season where she has shot below 50%. Even when her volume went up to roughly 11 shots per game in 2023, she still shot above 51%. And while it’s certainly possible that if her Field Goal Attempts went up to 15+ shots per game that her efficiency would dip below 50%. It’s hard to envision her going from 50-55% down to 35%.

Watch the Olympic Tape

Ezi Magbegor put on a show when it mattered the most in the Paris Olympics. During the Bronze Medal game between Australia and Belgium, Magbegor dominated. She scored 30 points on 71% (12-17 FG) shooting. Ezi also finished with 13 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and two steals. She was a force on both ends of the court.

The video clip above is a great highlight of Ezi’s talent. She pulls down the rebound and pushes the ball upcourt with elite pace for a big. Magbegor finds her guard to dump the ball off to. After the ball is moved from sideline to sideline, Ezi returns to run pick-and-roll with Sami Whitcomb. Whitcomb makes a beautiful pass back to Ezi who catches the pass, drives into the paint, spins away from the defense, and finishes with a nice touch around the rim. It’s a beautiful play. If you have the Peacock (NBC/Universal) Streaming App, I believe you can still go back and watch this game from the Olympics.

Ezi’s performance in the Bronze Medal game against Belgium was the best and highest-rated single-game performance of any player in the entire Paris Olympic tournament. A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Gabby Williams, and Emma Meesseman all played incredibly during the Olympics and had stronger tournaments than Ezi overall. But none had a higher single-game score than Magbegor.

After watching Ezi take on a larger role with the Australian Olympic team it’s not hard to imagine her doing that with the Seattle Storm. She is ready to take that next step.

Elephant in the Room

I was hoping to get this article done before all the recent news came out regarding Jewell Loyd. Unfortunately, the Bomb Cyclone weather disaster that hit Western Washington had other ideas. Losing all of my power, electricity, and Internet for four days right before the big Thanksgiving holiday certainly didn’t help me at all. But now that more news has come out and Jewell Loyd has officially requested a trade out of Seattle, we can talk a bit about it.

I previously wrote that big changes were coming to Seattle. The official investigation into the claims of player abuse, bullying, and harassment came back without any legitimate evidence of violations by Coach Noelle Quinn or her coaching staff. I don’t believe the Storm ownership group wants to fire Coach Quinn. These results appear to clear Quinn’s name regarding the allegations.

After Tanisha Wright (Atlanta Dream) and Teresa Weatherspoon (Chicago Sky) were fired this off-season, Coach Quinn is now the only African American woman who still has a Head Coaching job in the WNBA. That’s not ideal for a league where the vast majority of players are black women. Firing Quinn now after the investigations did not find any substantial abuse by her would be a bad look. And more importantly, several players including Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams have talked about the importance of being coached by someone that looks like them and as a former WNBA player, has been in their shoes. A person that they can relate to. In the best light, Quinn should be an asset to the Seattle Storm.

At least at this very moment, all signs point to Coach Quinn being the Seattle Storm’s Head Coach in 2025. And with that knowledge, Jewell Loyd has requested a trade out of Seattle.

The Seattle Storm gave Jewell Loyd everything she wanted. Loyd’s on the record stating as such. They brought in All-Stars Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith. They signed Ezi Magbegor to a contract extension. They brought back Gabby Williams. A beautiful new basketball arena was built in 2021 for the Seattle Storm (and Seattle Kraken). The ownership group built an incredible private practice facility and performance center. They hired people close to Jewell and promoted Pokey Chatman to Assistant General Manager. In the end, it wasn’t enough to keep the six-time WNBA All-Star satisfied.

Whatever issues and different perspectives Quinn and Loyd have with one another. It does appear that the damage is now beyond repair. Seattle will likely agree to trade Loyd to another team. But if they’re smart, hopefully, they won’t settle for a low-ball offer. What they might be able to get in a trade is something we can discuss in a future article. That is, unless it happens during Friday’s WNBA Expansion Draft.

If Loyd is dealt, that leaves Ezi Magbegor, Skylar Diggins-Smith, and Jordan Horston as the remaining core of the team heading into Free Agency after the expansion draft takes place.

While Diggins-Smith would likely take up the mantle as the veteran leader of the team. It would be the wise choice for the Storm to build around their 25-year-old All-Star Center.

Bide Their Time, Build a Winner

If the Seattle Storm trade away Jewell Loyd. This latest era of Seattle Storm basketball will officially be over. Hell, some may say that it ended after the 2022 WNBA season. With Sue Bird retired, Breanna Stewart playing in New York, and Jewell Loyd playing elsewhere, Seattle’s Big 3 that brought the city their third and fourth WNBA Championships, will have all moved on.

The team will have to decide what’s next for the franchise. If the group of Jewell Loyd, Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Ezi Magbegor, and Gabby Williams wasn’t able to advance past the first round of the playoffs or even pick up a single playoff win, do they really want to try and repeat the process they took a year ago? Will Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams even want to come back?

Could a similar roster minus Jewell Loyd actually find more success? Well, I do think it’s possible. Sometimes we see addition by subtraction. If the chemistry was off and players were feuding with coaches or not playing together as a team then it’s possible they could gel together more without those distractions. It could also benefit the team to play through more efficient players as I wrote about above. Having Nneka and Ezi take more shots than they did in 2024 could be a net positive for the Storm because of their higher efficiency. Plus, ideally, trading away a player like Loyd would land Seattle a strong asset in return to add to the team.

Is this the best path to take moving forward? I would say that if both Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams express their intent to return to Seattle, then that is the clear path forward. The Storm would still have the potential to finish as a Top 4 team if they brought back the rest of their core.

The alternative is to rebuild with a youth movement. If Nneka opts to sign elsewhere, the team should turn their focus into building around Ezi Magbegor (25). In this scenario, Jordan Horston (23) would likely be elevated into a larger role with the hope that she continues to develop and that they can tap into more of her potential. They could still bring Gabby Williams (28) back if she wanted to return. Ideally, Seattle would get a lottery selection or another talented young player in a potential Jewell Loyd trade. Then Skylar Diggins-Smith (34) could potentially play a similar mentor role that Sue Bird did during Jewell and Stewie’s early years.

One benefit to going this route is the team could build for the future. Seattle might not be able to compete with teams like the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces right now. But what about 3-5 years from now, when Ezi is between 28-30 and Jordan is around 26-28? Seattle’s players would be entering their prime at the same time that Stewie and Jonquel Jones hit their mid-30s, and Napheesa Collier and A’ja Wilson are on the wrong side of 30 as well.

In the current WNBA landscape, the Indiana Fever are in the best position to succeed after the era of the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty super teams. But Seattle could be right there with Indiana, especially if they were to acquire another top talent in the draft either via a Jewell Loyd trade or from LA’s 2026 first-round pick that Seattle acquired in the Kia Nurse trade.

Maybe Seattle’s time isn’t now. Maybe their time will be in 2028 or 2029.

In Summation

With Jewell Loyd requesting a trade to leave the Storm, I think it’s in the best interest of the franchise to build around their young All-Star Center, Ezi Magbegor. Ezi is extremely talented and is a gifted two-way player that can dominate defensively and has proven to be an efficient scorer on the offensive side of the ball. The Seattle Storm should seriously consider rebuilding the franchise around her. They can update the offense to get Ezi involved in more plays. They can look to add pieces in free agency that will benefit her. Whether that’s another big body down low or better three-point shooters to space the floor.

What do you think? Do you think Ezi is ready to become the face of the franchise? Do you think she could develop and grow like we’ve seen Napheesa Collier do in Minnesota? What is the best strategy for the Storm to take moving forward?

Notes:
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