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Skylar Diggins-Smith is pregnant; here’s what it means for Wings

By Howard Megdal

COLUMBIA, SC - FEBRUARY 09: Allisha Gray and Skylar Diggins-Smith of the 2018 USA Basketball Women's National Team talk during training camp at the University of South Carolina on February 9, 2018 in Columbia, South Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Travis Bell/NBAE via Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - FEBRUARY 09: Allisha Gray and Skylar Diggins-Smith of the 2018 USA Basketball Women's National Team talk during training camp at the University of South Carolina on February 9, 2018 in Columbia, South Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Travis Bell/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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WNBA star Skylar Diggins-Smith is pregnant.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Dallas Wings star guard Skylar Diggins-Smith announced that she was pregnant, throwing her 2019 season into question.

“Can’t wait to meet you!”, Diggins-Smith wrote, along with this video of her sonogram.

There are obviously multiple components to this development. First and foremost: the wonderfully talented and accomplished Diggins-Smith deserves to have a family on her terms, and her timeline. Relationships are extremely difficult in a league where so many players need to go overseas for what amounts to a majority of their 20s, and so a happy outcome is lovely to see.

But for the Dallas Wings, this could prove devastating to their 2019 plans. Diggins-Smith, of course, is a vital part of the Dallas team on both ends. She’s the engine for them offensively, finishing 2018 with the best turnover percentage of any season of her career, and seamlessly working with Liz Cambage to create mismatches all season.

Cambage is under contract for 2019, and all signs point to her returning as of now. But she’ll face even more double and triple teams without Diggins-Smith on the court to draw defenders. And there’s the small matter of who will get her the ball. Diggins-Smith led the Wings in assist percentage. Leticia Romero was a distant second, in just 146 minutes played. Third was… Cambage.

We projected Sophie Cunningham to go to Dallas in our most recent 2019 Mock Draft. She’d have to do a lot right away without Diggins-Smith on the floor.

This news changes Greg Bibb’s offseason significantly, with the Wings president needing to decide whether 2019 is a potential punt season before he even has a coach in place. That’s no small problem, either, needing to bring someone to Dallas who knows she might not get a chance to coach Diggins-Smith until 2020.

With all that said: this is Skylar Diggins-Smith. So I’m not discounting the possibility she finds a way to return to the court, say, three days after giving birth. Or plays until her third trimester. Or scores 33 in a playoff win and then delivers a baby in what would be the most unorthodox postgame media avail in WNBA history.

Whatever happens, though, we know two things: Skylar Diggins-Smith is having a baby, and that’s wonderful. And Skylar Diggins-Smith might not play in 2019, and that’s going to be a problem for the Wings.

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