There are definitely some positives coming out of these last two games. Glad to see AC returning to form-I think to your point, that’s critical for a good playoff run. I agree we tried to answer the 3pt issue—hopefully Lexie getting some more minutes, she will start to gel. Chemistry isn’t built overnight, and some players, many players even, need time to do that.
I will say, it stings a little bit that GSV got handled by Dallas—but did they lose more INTs before that game? It does speak to the parity of the W beyond the top 3-5. I don’t have time to watch many games outside of the Storm beyond highlights, which is a shame because there is some great ball happening across the W.
Good point Cija, I believe Temi Fagbenle left the Valkyries immediately after they beat the Storm. If she doesn't play in that game, I'm pretty confident the Storm are able to win that one. But yeah, even still ... losing that game after beating Minnesota stings.
I like the rooting interests section, but I think we can be a little greedier. Vegas missing the playoffs is only bad for us if it's LA that gets in because of it! Plus rooting against Vegas always feels good, lol. The way I see it, all 5 lottery picks look amazing next year: somebody else will want Lauren Betts (quite possibly at #1 overall, which means us getting the #2 is about as good for us as getting #1) then there's 4 great guards that would all fill out team really well: Olivia Miles, Azzi Fudd, Flaujae Johnson, and Ta'Niya Latson. I think that's my order? I worry about Miles's defense though so if Fudd proves she can stay healthy she might look like the best of them 9 months from now. The other reason to draft Fudd is that if we have Fudd and Nika Muhl, Paige Bueckers would have to take a long look at us when she hits free agency in a few years. :-) Anyway, the real point is that I'm going to be rooting for us to get 2 lottery picks for however long Vegas continues to flail (even if ultimately I agree with you that we know 7 of the 8 playoff teams right now).
You make great points. We are definitely on the same wave length. A dream scenario would be that two of these three: Mystics, Valkyries, Sky - make the playoffs. Minnesota owns Chicago's pick, so it's crazy but there is a legit scenario where the Storm and the Lynx are both picking in the Top 3 or 4 of the 2026 draft. If both the Sparks and Aces miss the playoffs that is best case scenario. But the Aces missing the playoffs and allowing the Sparks to make the playoffs is much worse for Seattle, so you don't want to be too greedy.
Fudd's season is probably going to be the most interesting and if she can stay healthy. She probably does have the potential to go #1 or #2 overall. And I've written about the dilemma for Dallas if they have to choose between her and Lauren Betts.
Our ability to beat the zone basically just boils down to "hit 3's" right? I certainly hope we continue to do that, but I'm not yet convinced we will. I do agree with you that almost every move we made last off-season was designed to address this. AC loves an open 3. KLS and Lexie Brown are both known for it, and Wheeler can hit some as well. We even drafted the top college 3-point shooter in the 3rd round. My thought in January was "we just need one of these dice rolls on Lexie and Katie-Lou to work out" and that seemed like a reasonable bet, but, well ...
Well, hitting their 3's and working the high-low action as I gave some examples of in the article. The weakness of a 2-3 zone is the high-post area near the free throw line, the three-point line, and the short corners around 3-6 ft to the left and the right of the basket on the baseline.
Yeah that's fair. They did a much better job of that versus LA, like you pointed out. I wish it hadn't taken a loss to GS to get them to sort that out, but hopefully they've got that fix locked in now.
Definitely watching the Spark's record with interest. Having two top picks in back-to-back years will do a lot for enticing or retaining talent after the CBA blows all the teams up.
One point of information I haven't really been able to find is the status of 2027 draft capital. Who owns which picks? Obviously it's quite far into the future, but that class looks to be even more important than 2026. Is there a world where we try to trade into '27?
Overall, happy we handled business against the shorthanded Sparks. If it was anything less than a rout, I think it would have been a point of significant concern for this season.
Across the Timeline is an incredible resource for what you're looking for. They keep track of all the draft picks and who they belong to. Unfortunately, I don't feel the WNBA is as willing to trade picks as something like the NFL, where a team might trade a first or 2nd round pick for another team's first round pick the next season.
I like the way you're thinking. We currently have 4 picks in the first 16 in 2026 and that's probably too many, so trading some for a (good) 2027 pick might make sense. I say too many, but that's only because I think Nneka and Skylar will continue to play for the Storm after the Grand Reshuffling that will be 2026 free agency. If they leave then those 4 picks let us pivot into a rebuild quite elegantly. But I think continuing to compete while also weaving in 1-2 good rookies is the more likely path.
Yeah, it's probably doubtful that all four draft picks make the team next year but there is also a lot of uncertainty. Not only due to the CBA with everyone becoming free agents but also because we don't know what the new CBA rules will be for roster size or if they'll do something like I've suggested and allow teams to carry 2-3 practice players that can be on the team to replace random Hardship contracts. Maybe roster sizes become 14 or 15 instead of 12. I really hope they increase it at least to 13 players, or something like 12 players but allow for 3 practice players that can move up if injuries occur.
But I suppose it also depends on what happens this season. I tend to agree that Nneka and Skylar probably play out the rest of their career in Seattle. But there is always the chance the Storm decide to just go into a full rebuild around younger players like Ezi, Dom, Gabby, Jordan, and their top 1-2 draft picks from 2026.
Good point. I would love to see the league adopt practice squads, and even just adding a 13th spot would help a ton. BUT. I've seen multiple podcasts with Sue Bird where she talks about the last CBA negotiations and explains that this issue comes down to money. Specifically, do the players want to take less money per player in order to "fund" an extra roster spot. Last time around they decided "no" and twice I've seen Sue pose the question this way to current players and the players who were campaigning for roster expansion are suddenly like "um, well, I can see both sides." This was stark on her recent Straight to Cam appearance where Dearica Hamby's face is giving "hell no I'm not giving any of my money to a bench player."
There are definitely some positives coming out of these last two games. Glad to see AC returning to form-I think to your point, that’s critical for a good playoff run. I agree we tried to answer the 3pt issue—hopefully Lexie getting some more minutes, she will start to gel. Chemistry isn’t built overnight, and some players, many players even, need time to do that.
I will say, it stings a little bit that GSV got handled by Dallas—but did they lose more INTs before that game? It does speak to the parity of the W beyond the top 3-5. I don’t have time to watch many games outside of the Storm beyond highlights, which is a shame because there is some great ball happening across the W.
Good point Cija, I believe Temi Fagbenle left the Valkyries immediately after they beat the Storm. If she doesn't play in that game, I'm pretty confident the Storm are able to win that one. But yeah, even still ... losing that game after beating Minnesota stings.
Minnesota should give Temi a share of the Commissioner's Cup money.
I like the rooting interests section, but I think we can be a little greedier. Vegas missing the playoffs is only bad for us if it's LA that gets in because of it! Plus rooting against Vegas always feels good, lol. The way I see it, all 5 lottery picks look amazing next year: somebody else will want Lauren Betts (quite possibly at #1 overall, which means us getting the #2 is about as good for us as getting #1) then there's 4 great guards that would all fill out team really well: Olivia Miles, Azzi Fudd, Flaujae Johnson, and Ta'Niya Latson. I think that's my order? I worry about Miles's defense though so if Fudd proves she can stay healthy she might look like the best of them 9 months from now. The other reason to draft Fudd is that if we have Fudd and Nika Muhl, Paige Bueckers would have to take a long look at us when she hits free agency in a few years. :-) Anyway, the real point is that I'm going to be rooting for us to get 2 lottery picks for however long Vegas continues to flail (even if ultimately I agree with you that we know 7 of the 8 playoff teams right now).
You make great points. We are definitely on the same wave length. A dream scenario would be that two of these three: Mystics, Valkyries, Sky - make the playoffs. Minnesota owns Chicago's pick, so it's crazy but there is a legit scenario where the Storm and the Lynx are both picking in the Top 3 or 4 of the 2026 draft. If both the Sparks and Aces miss the playoffs that is best case scenario. But the Aces missing the playoffs and allowing the Sparks to make the playoffs is much worse for Seattle, so you don't want to be too greedy.
Fudd's season is probably going to be the most interesting and if she can stay healthy. She probably does have the potential to go #1 or #2 overall. And I've written about the dilemma for Dallas if they have to choose between her and Lauren Betts.
Our ability to beat the zone basically just boils down to "hit 3's" right? I certainly hope we continue to do that, but I'm not yet convinced we will. I do agree with you that almost every move we made last off-season was designed to address this. AC loves an open 3. KLS and Lexie Brown are both known for it, and Wheeler can hit some as well. We even drafted the top college 3-point shooter in the 3rd round. My thought in January was "we just need one of these dice rolls on Lexie and Katie-Lou to work out" and that seemed like a reasonable bet, but, well ...
Well, hitting their 3's and working the high-low action as I gave some examples of in the article. The weakness of a 2-3 zone is the high-post area near the free throw line, the three-point line, and the short corners around 3-6 ft to the left and the right of the basket on the baseline.
Yeah that's fair. They did a much better job of that versus LA, like you pointed out. I wish it hadn't taken a loss to GS to get them to sort that out, but hopefully they've got that fix locked in now.
Definitely watching the Spark's record with interest. Having two top picks in back-to-back years will do a lot for enticing or retaining talent after the CBA blows all the teams up.
One point of information I haven't really been able to find is the status of 2027 draft capital. Who owns which picks? Obviously it's quite far into the future, but that class looks to be even more important than 2026. Is there a world where we try to trade into '27?
Overall, happy we handled business against the shorthanded Sparks. If it was anything less than a rout, I think it would have been a point of significant concern for this season.
Across the Timeline is an incredible resource for what you're looking for. They keep track of all the draft picks and who they belong to. Unfortunately, I don't feel the WNBA is as willing to trade picks as something like the NFL, where a team might trade a first or 2nd round pick for another team's first round pick the next season.
https://www.acrossthetimeline.com/wnba/drafts.html#season=2027
I like the way you're thinking. We currently have 4 picks in the first 16 in 2026 and that's probably too many, so trading some for a (good) 2027 pick might make sense. I say too many, but that's only because I think Nneka and Skylar will continue to play for the Storm after the Grand Reshuffling that will be 2026 free agency. If they leave then those 4 picks let us pivot into a rebuild quite elegantly. But I think continuing to compete while also weaving in 1-2 good rookies is the more likely path.
Yeah, it's probably doubtful that all four draft picks make the team next year but there is also a lot of uncertainty. Not only due to the CBA with everyone becoming free agents but also because we don't know what the new CBA rules will be for roster size or if they'll do something like I've suggested and allow teams to carry 2-3 practice players that can be on the team to replace random Hardship contracts. Maybe roster sizes become 14 or 15 instead of 12. I really hope they increase it at least to 13 players, or something like 12 players but allow for 3 practice players that can move up if injuries occur.
But I suppose it also depends on what happens this season. I tend to agree that Nneka and Skylar probably play out the rest of their career in Seattle. But there is always the chance the Storm decide to just go into a full rebuild around younger players like Ezi, Dom, Gabby, Jordan, and their top 1-2 draft picks from 2026.
Good point. I would love to see the league adopt practice squads, and even just adding a 13th spot would help a ton. BUT. I've seen multiple podcasts with Sue Bird where she talks about the last CBA negotiations and explains that this issue comes down to money. Specifically, do the players want to take less money per player in order to "fund" an extra roster spot. Last time around they decided "no" and twice I've seen Sue pose the question this way to current players and the players who were campaigning for roster expansion are suddenly like "um, well, I can see both sides." This was stark on her recent Straight to Cam appearance where Dearica Hamby's face is giving "hell no I'm not giving any of my money to a bench player."