The champs begin to pare down their roster
After the first week of training camp, WNBA teams have begun the painful process of reducing their roster to 12 players. As part of that process, the defending champion Seattle Storm waived Brooke Salas on May 11.
Salas went undrafted out of New Mexico State but was signed to a training camp contract on May 2. The 5-foot-11 guard out of Placentia, California’s El Dorado High School finished up her career in Las Cruces with 1,931 points, making her the second-leading scorer in program history. Over her last two seasons with the Aggies, she averaged 19.1 ppg, winding up with 15.3 ppg for her career.
The team has a logjam at guard on the training camp roster. After waiving Salas, they still feature nine players listed as guards, including fellow rookies Recee’ Caldwell, Presley Hudson, and Macy Miller. Those rookies are competing against entrenched veterans Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, promising second-year players Jordin Canada and Sami Whitcomb, and newly signed free agent Shavonte Zellous. It was always going to be difficult to make the roster, especially at this position, and Salas wasn’t able to overcome the odds.
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The Storm will continue evaluating the roster as they prepare for their preseason contests. Their first game will be on May 15 when the Phoenix Mercury come to Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington. Two days later, they will visit the L.A. Sparks at Hutto-Patterson Gym at Pasadena City College.
Following their final preseason game against the Sparks, the Storm will have six days to decide which players will receive the same unhappy news given to Salas and which will become part of the team. The roster must be cut down to 12 players no later than May 23.
Seattle will kick off the defense of its title on Saturday, May 25. The Storm will face off against the Mercury at Angel of the Winds Arena at 3:30 p.m. ET in a game that will be televised on ABC. The game will feature a ring ceremony in honor of the 2018 title.
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