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Dream waive Kizer; so what will the final roster look like?

By Bria Felicien

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 24: Lynetta Kizer #5 of the Minnesota Lynx shoots against the Las Vegas Aces during their game at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 24, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 24: Lynetta Kizer #5 of the Minnesota Lynx shoots against the Las Vegas Aces during their game at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 24, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /
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Dream must cut one more to finalize roster

The Atlanta Dream narrowed its current roster to 13 players after the team waived veteran forward Lynetta Kizer on Tuesday.

Atlanta still has to make one more cut to make to finalize its roster before the WNBA’s deadline of May 23. Each WNBA team has 12 roster spots, and though there is no timeline for Angel McCoughtry’s return, she will have one of them.

Kizer signed a training camp contract with the Dream in February after spending the 2018 season with the Minnesota Lynx. She spent the offseason overseas playing alongside Dream guard Tiffany Hayes at CCC Polkowice.

The Tulsa Shock drafted Kizer out of Maryland in 2012. Kizer also played in Phoenix, Indiana and Connecticut.

Head coach Nicki Collen has already said that the final decisions will depend on how the staff decides it wants to move forward with working around McCoughtry’s absence, however long it will be.

The final cut

Head coach Nicki Collen has already said that the final decisions will depend on how the staff decides it wants to move forward with working around McCoughtry’s injury.

There’s no way to guess the final cut, but we can talk about the remaining pieces of the roster.

McCoughtry, Elizabeth Williams, Jessica Breland, Tiffany Hayes, Renee Montgomery and Alex Bentley have contracts with full protection. Monique Billings, who averaged 11 minutes and 3.3 points per game and Brittany Sykes, who averaged 9.7 points per game and started in seven of them, seem secure in their roles with the team.

To help fill the void left by McCoughtry’s injury, the Dream acquired forward Nia Coffey via trade with Las Vegas and signed Haley Peters to a training camp contract.

“(Nia’s) level of athleticism and her strength, are actually very Angel-like her ability to get to the rim, play through contact, get on the offensive glass. Be able to play a little bit of four, little bit of three,” Collen said last week at a Dream practice. “So she’s been fantastic. I’m not surprised, but her skill is better than I even thought.”

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Peters hasn’t played in the WNBA since 2017, but arrived late to training camp while playing overseas in the French League. She was also nominated for league MVP.

“I just know from watching her so much that she’s going to bring the ability to post up a small guard, to really shoot the three, just knows how to play basketball,” Collen said.

The Dream traded for Marie Gülich on draft night, and Collen has spoken highly of the center throughout camp.

“It’s how we play, she is very good and pick and pop and pick and roll,” Collen said of Gülich last week. “She understands when to re-screen and when to twist actions. She’s just playing with a different level of confidence cause she knows there is opportunity.”

As previously mentioned, Bentley, a member of the Belarus national team, will miss time this season for Eurobasket commitments, so we must pay attention to guards Blake Dietrick and Maite Cazorla, who Collen may have to rely on during Bentley’s absence.

Who does she believe can do that?

Cazorla is a rookie Collen drafted out of Oregon earlier this year after competing in the Final Four. Collen called Cazorla pro-ready on draft night. And there’s also Dietrick, who is currently signed to a training camp contract after making the team last year after being signed to one. Dietrick played in college at Princeton.

Collen’s final roster will be announced within the next couple of days.

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