Rookies Allisha Gray, Kaela Davis giving Dallas Wings
Transitioning from college hoops to the WNBA is difficult. Only the best neophytes carve out an immediate role for themselves, even fewer are a net positive out of the gates. Expecting rooks to defend at the pro level and carry others to victory right away? A pipe dream.
Unless of course, you’re talking about Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis.
The Dallas Wings drafted these two wings out of South Carolina using the fourth and tenth overall picks in the 2017 Draft, respectively. Both coming off an NCAA Championship with South Carolina, they were thrown into the fire with second-year wing Aerial Powers out and the Wings’ rotation shallow to begin with.
The results have been everything head coach Fred Williams could have hoped for. Gray has started in all seven games, winning Rookie of the Month in May after averaging 12.7 points and 4.6 rebounds a night on a true-shooting clip of 53.1%. Davis has been a spark off the bench, putting up 9.4 points a game on 56.8% true shooting.
Looking at what’s brought on this quick success for Gray and Davis (#GRAYVIS?), it begins with the system around them. Williams has preached an up-and-down offense, with spacing for his scrappy team to work off spread pick-and-rolls. The Wings rank third in pace, giving their young pieces ample opportunity to get out and run. Their offense doesn’t revolve around certain players, instead favoring ball movement and motion for all to participate in. This gives Gray and Davis the green light to attack as they please.
“I love this system,” Gray told The Summitt Friday night, following the Wings’ game against the New York Liberty. “I love that they urge you when you get a rebound just push it and go. They just give us freedom to play.”
The two also credit each other, having the privilege of playing alongside a former teammate as they tackle the challenges of professional basketball with a friendly face.
“We’ve been through a lot together,” Gray said. “And for us to be drafted to the same team, I was able to adjust quickly because I had somebody that I knew, that I was able to talk to.”
Gray has emerged as a WNBA-level starter remarkably fast. On a team lacking defensive options, she has been reliable on that end. She has the size to shut down opponents trying to use their strength, the speed to stick with zippy attackers, and will help on the defensive glass. Aside from the sporadic rookie mistake, there isn’t anything not to like. Gray recently held the Liberty’s Sugar Rodgers to an 0-for-6 shooting night.
“She’s a solid defensive player,” Williams told The Summitt Friday night in New York. “Even in college, I thought she was a player who always tried to guard tough opponents. With her size, being about six foot, causes some problems when the other smaller guards try to shoot over her.”
On the other end, Gray is already a weapon for her squad. Dallas scores 104.6 points per 100 possessions with Gray on the court, more than any other Wing and a number that would put them fifth in the league. She can handle the ball in the pick-and-roll, and uses her size well to bully smaller wings on the drive and loft a mid-range jumper in. Gray is crafty finishing around the rim, and although she’s shooting just 28% from three, her form is solid and she shot better in college. If her deep ball comes around, the Wings really have a gem on their hands.
Davis brings a similar skillset, only she brings it off the bench. She’s shooting 45.8% from the field and 37.5% from deep, working off pick-and-rolls and striding past defenders on drives. Her 6’2 frame helps her get inside and loft bunnies over smaller guards; the in-between game is where she cooks. Her length is a serious problem for those trying to score on her. Defensively, the effort and peskiness is evident quickly. In a display of her coaching staff’s trust in a tenth-overall pick just a month into her WNBA career, Davis had a play drawn up for her late in a tight game against the Liberty.
“I think it’s just doing the same things that you’ve always done well,” Davis told The Summitt Friday night in New York, speaking of the early-season success. “Do what got you here in the first place. Don’t come in trying to do anything different or anything super spectacular.”
Together, this tandem has given the Wings exactly what they needed, something you’re lucky to get from rookies. These are two plus defenders that are constant threats to score in this system. They’re only getting better from here, while the Wings’ top “veterans” are only just hitting their primes. Gray and Davis’s superb start to the season don’t just make the present fun and potentially competitive, but the future of this team bright with a serious shot at building something special.
“They have a great work ethic,” Skylar Diggins-Smith, Dallas’s star point guard, told The Summitt. “What sets them apart is their mentality. They’re always trying to learn, very competitive, really happy to have them on our team.”