What Stood Out During Nneka and Skylar's Press Conference

A lengthy summary of all the talking points from the press conference.

On Monday, February 19th, the Seattle Storm had their official Press Conference to introduce eight-time WNBA All-Star Nneka Ogwumike and six-time WNBA All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith. The press conference lasted nearly a full hour as the local media had plenty of questions for the new players along with Seattle’s front office.

If you haven’t had a chance to watch the press conference you can check out the Seattle Storm’s official YouTube channel at the link below.

In this article, I’m going to go into great detail on nine major talking points that stood out to me during the event. This article comes out first for my paid subscribers as I continue to thank you for your great support. For everyone signed up for the Free Newsletter it’ll be delivered to you on Friday.

Impact of Jewell’s Loyalty

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jewell’s loyalty to the Storm franchise has been pointed out a couple of times recently including at the press conference. I think the franchise wants to make it clear how much it means to the organization that Loyd re-signed for an additional two years despite the difficult season in 2023 where the team won just 11 games.

Loyd is one of the most talented players in the WNBA and would no doubt have been one of the highest sought-after free agents this year if she hadn’t signed her two-year extension. But by doing so, the Storm front office could sell a vision of the future of the team that included All-Stars Loyd and Ezi Magbegor to other big-name free agents.

This is something the team was unable to do in 2023. As Breanna Stewart delayed her decision, Seattle was trying to sign other free agents but they couldn’t guarantee that Stewart would be returning. Those players didn’t want to wait around while teams still had a lot of salary cap money left to spend and signed with other teams. Once Stewie decided on New York, it took so long that even Options B and C were no longer available.

Because Jewell signed early, Storm General Manager Talisa Rhea and Head Coach Noelle Quinn were able to be aggressive in Free Agency from day one. And Loyd was recruiting too.

Skylar Diggins-Smith specifically mentioned that she wanted to play with Jewell Loyd and that was the biggest reason why she signed with the Storm. SDS mentioned she and Jewell were talking a lot.

Nneka Ogwumike also mentioned that she and Jewell had talked about playing together but weren’t certain where that would be. It was before Loyd signed her two-year contract extension at the end of this year and it could have even been as far back as the 2022 off-season before the Storm placed the franchise core tag on Loyd.

Ogwumike clearly wanted to play with both Loyd and SDS and Seattle was able to navigate their roster to get that done. Jewell signing her contract extension ended up being a huge deal for the franchise and could have lingering effects that resonate with the franchise over the next several years.

Nneka’s Ready to Teach

Another topic that was brought up during the press conference was Nneka’s leadership. Nneka is the President of the WNBAPA (Player’s Association) and has been a very strong leader for the entire league. She will bring that wisdom to Seattle.

Diggins-Smith joked about how there will always be an adult in the room with Nneka on the team. Ogwumike will not allow the team to lose focus.

Coach Quinn talked about how during Nneka’s recruiting trip Jordan Horston joined them for dinner. During the dinner, Ogwumike “poured into Jordan” lots of knowledge. This was before Nneka’s trip to New York and with no guarantee that she would sign with the Storm. “But that’s just the kind of person Nneka is,” Quinn said.

Quinn talked about during her pitch that Seattle needed a legitimate low-post scorer. Once Nneka learned that Ezi didn’t do a lot of scoring with her back to the basket she specifically talked about changing that. That she will work with Ezi to teach her things (working on low-post moves).

Not Concerned About Nneka’s One-Year Deal

One thing that immediately stood out to me when we learned about the contract details was that Nneka only signed for one year. But both Jewell and Skylar are signed for two years through the 2025 season.

I don’t believe this indicates that she isn’t committed to the franchise. I did wonder if maybe Ogwumike wasn’t certain how many more years she would play in the WNBA and that’s why she only signed the one-year deal. However, during the press conference, Nneka said she plans on playing for several more years.

So why did Nneka only sign the one-year deal then?

I think there could be several factors and they all make sense.

Ezi Magbegor is set to be a free agent again in 2025. If the team doesn’t sign her to a contract extension before the end of this season, they will either be forced to use the core tag on Ezi Magbegor or she will become an Unrestricted Free Agent. Per HerHoopStats Salary Cap sheets Magbegor is set to make $155,000 this season. She very likely will command close to the max contract above $200,000 or around that in 2025. With Nneka only signing the one-year deal the Storm can figure out their budget next season that could require Ogwumike making less than she does this year ($204,500) if that means keeping this new era core together.

There is another name that could play a big role in Seattle’s 2025 Free Agency plans and that name is Gabby Williams. The Storm have built a strong relationship with Gabby over the past two years. She has played her best in the WNBA when playing for the Storm. The team’s system works well for Gabby’s skillset. It’s a really good fit.

Due to her playing for the French National Team and it being an Olympic year combined with the prioritization rules, it was known that Williams would not be able to play in the WNBA this season. But Gabby has indicated she plans to return to the WNBA and that likely happens in 2025. Fortunately, the Storm only have two guaranteed contracts on the books for next season which means there will be money to spend but they just have to figure out how much for each player. I’m sure Seattle will want to budget for Nneka, Ezi, and Gabby. With Ogwumike only signing for the one-year deal the team will have more flexibility to figure everything out.

Lastly, there is one more factor to keep in mind. In 2025, the Golden State Bay Area WNBA team is joining the league. That means there will be an expansion draft. During expansion drafts, the other teams in the league are allowed to protect a certain number of players (usually around 5 or 6), and one of the remaining players will be taken away to join the new franchise.

It is unclear exactly how the expansion draft rules will work as we haven’t had an expansion draft in the WNBA since the Atlanta Dream joined in 2008. I don’t know if the expansion draft will take place before or after Free Agency. On the one hand, I could see why current teams wouldn’t want to sign new players only to have them taken away by the expansion franchise. But also, if the expansion draft takes place before Free Agency then some teams might not have enough players on the roster where the expansion team could take one. For instance, Seattle has five players under contract currently for 2025. If they’re able to protect 5 or 6 players, then that would mean the expansion team wouldn’t get any of Seattle’s players. That wouldn’t be fair to other WNBA teams that could lose players.

I don’t know if the expansion process was a reason why Nneka didn’t sign a two-year deal but that could be one possibility.

Skylar Ready to Shoulder the Load

I think everyone acknowledges that Jewell Loyd shouldered far too much of the load, of the burden. Constantly being double and triple-teamed on a nightly basis. And yet Jewell was still able to average 24.7 PPG. Despite her best heroics, it wasn’t enough against the extremely talented competition of the WNBA. Seattle finished with the second-worst record in the league.

Despite the losses, the team was relatively competitive on most nights. Adding another scorer as talented as Skylar Diggins-Smith will pay immediate dividends. Skylar averaged 19.7 PPG during her most recent season (2022). In 2021, she averaged 17.7 PPG and played a significant role in leading the Mercury to the WNBA Finals. SDS is arguably the most talented scoring point guard in the league. Her career average of 16.7 PPG matches Loyd’s (16.6 PPG).

From her career stats, Diggins-Smith is the most consistent scorer on the roster. Just edging out Loyd and Ogwumike (16.5 PPG).

Skylar talked about being able to help Jewell so that she doesn’t have to do all the scoring on her own. She also talked about doing whatever she could to get all of her teammates involved and set up for success.

Having a more consistent offense will be key for the Storm this season.

Skylar’s Passion and Vulnerability On Full Display

Speaking of SDS, her passion and her vulnerability was very evident during the hour-long press conference. And during my one-on-one interview with her. She talked to me about different ways the offense could work and I could hear her passion in the details as she explained it.

Diggins-Smith wears her heart on her sleeve. It’s probably why some fans have looked at her as a hothead. Sometimes the most passionate people are mistaken for being angry or having an attitude. But they can be misunderstood.

I love seeing passion. Even if it doesn’t always result in positives because it shows how much a person cares. Skylar talked about how joining the Seattle Storm was the perfect situation for her during this period of her life. And that she felt extremely supported by the team, the front office, and the owners.

Most notably, around the 51-minute mark Diggins-Smith was brought to tears as she talked about her doubts, her postpartum depression, and how she didn’t know if she wanted to continue playing in the WNBA. That she didn’t know if she could get back into playing shape. But how Bridget Pettis wouldn’t let her give up, wouldn’t let her quit, and helped her lose over 50 lbs. Most importantly, she was there for her and gave her confidence, love, and support when she needed it the most; how grateful she was to have Bridget.

It’s not easy to be that open and that vulnerable in front of a room full of media. But Skylar was. It was beautiful and I really appreciated that she was willing to go there.

The New Practice Facility is a Big Deal

There can be no doubt that Seattle’s brand new practice facility that is opening within the next couple of months played a huge factor in star players signing with the Seattle Storm. When players see ownership making that kind of investment in their players it’s going to resonate.

Nneka talked a lot about how she hadn’t been thinking about herself enough. She’s always been so focused on helping others and what’s best for others that she wasn’t prioritizing herself. But she did this year. And she joined a team that was going to invest in her to see her maximize her abilities.

She talked about the private practice facility and that is something they deserve. It should be standard around the league but it is not.

Skylar talked about it as well and referenced other teams that have shared facilities. Where they might call it the team’s practice facility but then they’re told they can’t be in there during certain times of the day.

The Storm have shared a practice facility with Seattle Pacific University for as long as I can remember. They may have used the Sonics Furtado Center back when Seattle still had an NBA team but for the first time in franchise history, they will have a brand new facility exclusive to them. It will cover all of the players’ needs and be catered specifically to them.

Diggins-Smith talked about when she was drafted to Tulsa, Oklahoma that team didn’t even have a weight room players could use. But she also referenced the Las Vegas Aces, who do have a fancy practice facility, and how that has clearly benefited the back-to-back WNBA Champions.

The owners built this practice facility to invest in their players and give their players the best opportunity to succeed. It is an asset for the franchise to continue to lure players to Seattle in Free Agency and in its first year of existence it played a factor in Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith joining the Storm.

The Gap is Wide Between Owners

The above carries us over to another topic. There is a significant gap between some of the other WNBA franchises. However, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. This is something that happens in all sports. The Seattle Mariners ownership has been known to pinch pennies and I don’t think that’s a coincidence that they also have only made the playoffs once in over 20 years! Meanwhile, a team like the Houston Astros who are consistently in the Top 10 and often in the Top 5 in spending have also won two World Series Championships in recent years.

Dr. Jerry Buss was well known for spending heavily to turn the Lakers franchise into Show Time. He spared no expense and led them to 10 Championships during his time as owner before he passed away. Having an owner who cares, invests heavily, and is heavily invested can and will make a difference.

So it shouldn’t come as a shock that we have that in the WNBA as well. Right now, we have teams like the Las Vegas Aces, the New York Liberty, and the Seattle Storm whose owners are incredibly committed to supplying their team with the best.

Mark Davis gave Becky Hammon a million-dollar contract recruiting her back to the WNBA after she had spent many years working under San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich. The investment immediately paid off as she was able to lead the Aces to their first WNBA Championship and then won the whole thing again in her second year becoming the first WNBA team to win back-to-back titles since the 2001-2002 Los Angeles Sparks. As Skylar talked about, the team’s investment in their practice facility in Las Vegas was giving them a competitive advantage. One that Seattle hopes to have moving forward.

Joe and Clara Tsai, owners of the New York Liberty, have done a lot in a short amount of time to turn the New York franchise around. The team was struggling under cheap owner James Dolan, who didn’t care about the Liberty at all and moved them out of Madison Square Garden and to a much smaller arena, the Westchester County Center. With limited capacity, the Liberty finished dead last in fan attendance in 2018 and 2019 averaging less than 3,000 fans per game both years per Across the Timeline.

But look at the Liberty since Tsai took it over. They’ve been moved to Barclay’s Center. They are given luxuries. The team has even been given access to charter planes violating WNBA league rules. But that was a statement made by the Liberty’s owner that they were going to do whatever it took to build a championship-quality team. Even if it meant breaking the rules. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Liberty then had an insanely successful Free Agency in 2023. With Jonquel Jones demanding a trade to the team. Then Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot both left their successful teams to form the supergroup.

Seattle, with their brand new state-of-the-art practice facility being built, then led to the Storm having the most successful Free Agency period this year.

Meanwhile, there are the have-nots. The Chicago Sky lost their entire 2021 Championship team within a couple of years because their top players opted to sign with other teams or demand trades to organizations that were going to invest more and provide more to their players.

We’ve seen the Los Angeles Sparks lose Chelsea Gray, Candace Parker, and Nneka Ogwumike in just the past few seasons. The Sparks have often been treated as an afterthought, consistently being forced to change their home gym to make way for the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the LA Kings, concerts, etc.

The Indiana Fever is another team whose ownership has been questioned especially when it comes to their specific investments in their WNBA team. And once again, it’s not a coincidence that if you have owners who don’t care, the product on the court then suffers. The Fever have now missed the playoffs seven years in a row.

The gap between certain owners in the WNBA is large and the players are paying attention. They talk. They know who’s committed to going above and beyond expectations to meet players’ needs. And they know which owners treat their WNBA teams like afterthoughts. That will continue to be reflected in WNBA Free Agency in 2025 and 2026 and so forth.

Skylar Hinted About a Trade to Seattle Last Year

Wait what!? Did I hear that right? And was this public knowledge? Skylar talked about a potential trade proposal to be sent to the Seattle Storm. This obviously would have taken place either before or during the 2023 season. Skylar indicated that she even had talks with someone in the organization about the potential trade. But ultimately it didn’t go through because she wasn’t going to be able to play due to being on maternity leave and giving birth to her second child.

That’s really interesting though. It sounds like the Storm were eyeing Skylar a year ago. That certainly could have put the wheels in motion to get something done in 2024.

Maybe I can dig deeper into this because I don’t think was publicly known.

Not a Super Team Yet

Lastly, there is work to be done. Both Nneka and Skylar were asked about the Las Vegas Aces, the New York Liberty, and the movement to build Super Teams across the WNBA in certain locations. Adding Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike to a team that already had Jewell Loyd and Ezi Magbegor could certainly be considered a new Super Team. But they aren’t ready to say that quite yet.

And I think that’s the correct viewpoint to have. I’ve mentioned that Seattle could have a similar season to the 2023 New York Liberty. Especially when it came to the team having some struggles early on and not knowing how every piece fit exactly. Obviously, throughout the 40-game season, they were able to gel together and reach the WNBA Finals. But it’s going to take time. That is a best-case scenario for the Storm.

This season will be fascinating because I could see Seattle finishing as the top seed in the WNBA but maybe things won’t work out quite as well and they finish 5th or 6th instead. It’ll probably be somewhere in between.

What I did love was hearing Nneka’s comments about the process. The commitment to being great every single day. To work hard and be great in their practices and everything they have to do to prepare for success in the WNBA. No shortcuts. Just hard work.

Don’t forget to check out my audio podcast exclusive interviews here.

Notes: Thanks for all the support. If you know any Seattle Storm fans who want more coverage for their favorite team but aren’t aware of my work please put in a good word and let them know.

Follow me on the socials:
Twitter: @WNBAStormChaser
Threads: @WNBAStormChasers
BlueSky: @wnbastormchasers.bsky.social