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Report: Indiana Fever set to sign Betnijah Laney

By Howard Megdal

UNCASVILLE, CT - AUGUST 19: Betnijah Laney #44 of the Connecticut Sun interacts with crowd after the game against the Los Angeles Sparks on August 19, 2018 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. 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 Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
UNCASVILLE, CT - AUGUST 19: Betnijah Laney #44 of the Connecticut Sun interacts with crowd after the game against the Los Angeles Sparks on August 19, 2018 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. 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 Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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A strong fit for Pokey Chatman’s plan in Indiana.

More player movement is afoot, and just as with Sunday’s Minnesota Lynx deal with Damiris Dantas, the reported agreement between wing Betnijah Laney, who’d been with the Connecticut Sun, and the Indiana Fever reflects a team with needs taking on some excess talent another WNBA franchise can’t afford to keep.

Rachel Galligan was first to report the potential move, saying it was expected “within the coming days.”

Laney is a 6′, versatile wing, capable of doing some things that the Fever need most. She established herself last season in limited minutes, posting a player efficiency rating of 11.9 along with a 52.5 percent accuracy from the field. After playing 42 minutes, total, for the Chicago Sky in 2016 and going without a WNBA minute in 2017, it represented progress for her career path.

Worth remembering as well: it was Chatman, then Chicago’s GM, who drafted Laney in the second round back in 2015.

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Of all the numbers that jump out about Laney, the biggest for me is her Synergy defensive points per possession — her 0.729 ranked fifth in the league among the 127 players with at least 50 defensive possessions. Adding a defensive stopper at the wing is vital for a Fever team that finished eleventh in the WNBA in defensive efficiency last year, and allowed a league-worst 52.2 effective field goal percentage.

Despite her effectiveness, it is easy to understand why Laney would choose a different situation, especially with the GM who drafted her. Laney struggled to get regular time in Curt Miller’s rotation, fighting a number of other players at the 3/4 slots, including Shekinna Stricklen and Morgan Tuck. It’s also difficult to get regular time in Miller’s rotation without a three-point shot, and that hasn’t yet been a strength for Laney, who is 1-for-16 from beyond the arc in her career. Worth noting, however: she’s 11-for-38 from three this winter, playing with Dandenong of the WNBL.

Miller also had everyone else from last year signed, with the coring of Jasmine Thomas taking him well above $900,000 in committed salaries, perilously close to the salary cap.

Essentially, both with Dantas Sunday and this reported deal with Laney today, free agency is working precisely how it should, to get better opportunities for more players and better distributing the talent. I don’t imagine Nicki Collen and Curt Miller see it that way right at the moment, but it remains true.

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