Renee Montgomery, Atlanta Dream agree to terms on deal

A league source confirmed to The Summitt Wednesday evening that unrestricted free agent guard Renee Montgomery and the Atlanta Dream had agreed to terms on a deal. WNBAInsidr first reported the news on Twitter.

Terms of the deal have not yet surfaced. The minimum Montgomery and all other veterans with three or more years of experience could earn in 2018 is $56,100. Montgomery’s maximum salary for 2018 would be $113,000.

Free agents can officially enter into new deals with a team beginning February 1. Montgomery was a key member of the Minnesota Lynx championship run in 2017. She served primarily as the team’s backup point guard. Montgomery logged at least 12 minutes off the bench in four games of the 2017 WNBA Finals.

In Montgomery, first year head coach Nicki Collen gets an experienced guard that can both get to the basket and knock down open shots. Montgomery is a career 34.6% shooter from long range and has attempted 100 or more threes in eight of her nine WNBA seasons.

Montgomery has missed just 12 regular season games in her nine year pro career. She was selected fourth overall by the Lynx in the 2009 draft. Montgomery was dealt to Connecticut in 2010 for Lindsay Whalen, and the two clubs swapped 2010 first round picks in the deal as well. Connecticut used that first overall pick to select Tina Charles out of UConn; the Lynx selected Monica Wright out of Virginia with the second pick.

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The Sun shipped Montgomery along with their first and second rounders in 2015 to Seattle in exchange for Camille Little and Shekinna Stricklen.

Things came full circle in July of 2015, when the Lynx dealt Wright to the Storm for Montgomery and a 2016 second round pick.

A bigger move may be on the way for the Dream, especially if Montgomery plans to be the starting point guard. Layshia Clarendon and Tiffany Hayes were the starters in the backcourt for Atlanta in 2017. Both were All-Stars in 2017 and are still under contract with the Dream.

Brittney Sykes later joined Clarendon and Hayes in the starting lineup last season. Montgomery has been an All-Star, the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year, and perhaps most importantly: a WNBA champion in 2015 and 2017.

Related Story: Atlanta Dream Offseason Primer

Angel McCoughtry is expected to return to action after sitting out the 2017 season. A deal with Montgomery sends a clear message that Collen and the Dream are aggressively looking to make moves so they can compete not just to make the playoffs, but make a run once they get there.

Montogmery took to Instagram Wednesday evening to thank the fans and the people of the Lynx organization: