WNBA Offseason Primer: Dallas Wings
By Ben Dull
January 15 marked the official start of WNBA free agency. The WNBA released an official list of core players, reserved players, unrestricted free agents and restricted free agents.
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With the help of The Summitt’s WNBA salaries database compiled by our own Howard Megdal, we’ll take a look at each WNBA team going into free agency, aiming to answer the following questions:
- Which players are free agents?
- Which players are still under contract?
- Who are some potential prospects worth targeting in the upcoming WNBA Draft?
- Which players on the free agent markets would be good fits to add for 2018?
The Dallas Wings finished last season with a record of 16-18. As the 7 seed, they were eliminated by the Washington Mystics in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.
The Wings entered the season with five rookies and two second-year players on their roster. A trip to the playoffs was more than a moral victory for a team committed to playing so many young players. Skylar Diggins-Smith, the all-WNBA point guard and team leader, also made her first playoff appearance in 2017. Diggins-Smith suffered a torn ACL in 2015, missing the remainder of the season in the franchise’s final season in Tulsa — the Shock were swept by the Mercury in the best-of-three first round series.
Allisha Gray started all 34 games at the two spot for the Wings and averaged 13 points per game. Second year wing Aerial Powers returned from offseason hip surgery to appear in 12 games. Powers also averaged 10+ points per game. Veterans Glory Johnson and Karima Christmas-Kelly started at the forward spots, and rookie Kaela Davis shot 43% from deep off the bench. Theresa Plaisance and Courtney Paris split time in the middle. Both are free agents, and their future with the team may be impacted by news of Liz Cambage’s desire to return to the WNBA. Dallas still has Cambage’s rights — she last played in the WNBA in 2013.
Now let’s break down Dallas’ situation — current free agents, players still under contract and the status of their 2018 draft picks.
Unrestricted free agents (UFAs): C Courtney Paris
Restricted free agents (RFAs): F/C Theresa Plaisance
Reserved players: C Liz Cambage, F Kayla Thornton
Core player: G/F Karima Christmas-Kelly
Players under contract:
- G Skylar Diggins-Smith through 2019
- F Glory Johnson through 2018
- G/F Aerial Powers through 2019 (team option)
- G Allisha Gray through 2020 (team option)
- G/F Kaela Davis through 2020 (team option)
- G Saniya Chong through 2020 (team option)
- F Evelyn Akhator through 2020 (team option)
- F Breanna Lewis through 2020 (team option)
2018 draft picks: No. 6, No. 18, No. 30
Cambage’s return to the Wings will have an effect on many things. This team got very small when they’d play Christmas-Kelly or even Powers up a position. Plaisance would be a nice change of pace center, should the Wings seek to retain her. Thornton played as hard as anybody in the league last season, and she swung several games with her tenacity on the boards and on defense. Paris is a vet capable of dominating on the offensive glass and a solid finisher near the rim. Adding Cambage back into the mix will lead fans and viewers to crank up the expectation level for this team, but Dallas would be wise to at least see what they have in Evelyn Akhator (2017 No. 3 overall pick) and Breanna Lewis — both played sparingly last season.
Phrase it this way: If you’re Fred Williams and the Wings front office, what do you want to do with the minutes Cambage spends on the bench? Johnson could slide up to play some five. One of the three free agent bigs could be brought back to absorb some of that time. Or, knowing those minutes could come against opposing bench players, some development minutes could be allotted to Akhator and/or Lewis.
The decision to core Christmas-Kelly shows the Wings are just about set on the wing with four players all worthy of rotation minutes. Dallas could look to use its sixth overall pick on a point guard with enough skill and upside to grow into a role to possibly back up and play alongside Diggins-Smith.
Aside from all the personnel stuff, it will be interesting to see what Diggins-Smith has on her feet during games in 2018. She announced that she had signed a deal with Puma back in August. Diggins-Smith was last seen playing in Adidas in the Wings’ first round playoff game. Does Puma have plans to develop an on court signature shoe for her?
Players to possibly target in free agency:
- Ivory Latta (The Summitt’s No. 15 UFA) could be a target to help out as a backup point guard. If the Wings are really looking for some experience at that spot over Chong and potentially another rookie, there are vets to be had on the market. This is probably a stretch, though. Diggins-Smith played 34+ minutes per game last season. Assuming all their wings are healthy heading into the season, they won’t have many minutes to offer.
- Noelle Quinn could do more of the same for the Wings at either guard spot. She shot a hair under 40% on her three-point attempts (small sample size alert) last season for the Storm.
What are your expectations for the Dallas in 2018? How much does a Liz Cambage return raise their ceiling, and which players could the Wings target to improve their team?