The Fever waive Asia Taylor to make room for the rookie out of UCLA
Three days after being cut by the Dallas Wings, rookie Kennedy Burke has been signed by the Indiana Fever. Head Coach and General Manager Pokey Chatman waived 6’1 forward Asia Taylor to make room for Burke on her team’s 12-player roster.
The Wings chose Burke with the 22nd pick in the 2019 draft. The versatile 6’1 combo guard out of UCLA had three solid preseason games for Dallas before being waived. She averaged 10.3 points and 2.0 rebounds while playing 20.3 minutes per game. During her second preseason game at Connecticut, Burke scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds, blocked two shots, and made 4 of her 8 shots. She led Dallas in points during the preseason and had the highest shooting percentage (44%) of Dallas players who appeared in all three preseason games.
Recently, WNBA general managers were asked, “Which sleeper rookie is most likely to be a success?” Burke tied for third place.
Burke averaged 15.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists for UCLA during the 2018-19 NCAA season. She led them to the Sweet 16.
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Dallas President and General Manager Greg Bibb waived Burke the same day he also waived Megan Gustafson. After waiving those players on May 22, Bibb told the Dallas Morning News those two players will play in the WNBA again. He said, “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”
It appears Burke will do so very soon.
For Taylor, she will be looking to catch on with another WNBA team after a successful season in Australia, where she averaged 18.9 points per game and was named MVP of her team. She played in all three preseason games for the Fever in 2019, scoring 11 points and grabbing five rebounds in 35 minutes of action.
Taylor was signed off waivers by Indiana last June. She scored 26 points in 14 games in 2018 for the Fever.
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