The Atlanta Dream have added Shyanne Sellers to the squad only days after the second-round draft pick was waived by the Golden State Valkyries. Details are scarce, but the transaction was noted on the WNBA website Monday afternoon.
Being "awarded on waivers" simply means an athlete was picked up after being waived in the first place. Sellers appeared in 130 games for Maryland and averaged 14.4 points and 4.1 assists her senior year and was also the first athlete in program history to clock 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Sellers seemed set to enjoy a successful rookie season at Golden State and was widely predicted to be drafted higher than No. 17. The fact that Golden State was able to pick her up in the first place was considered a win for the team.
“We were surprised Shyanne was available at 17,” general manager Ohemaa Nyanin said the night of the draft. “Her versatility excites us because it gives us an opportunity to slide her in another position or another.”
Shyanne Sellers joins a strong Atlanta Dream
Sellers will now head to Atlanta, where she will join a team that made significant changes during free agency. The team's most notable pickup was Brittney Griner, who previously spent her entire career with the Phoenix Mercury.
"Free agency has been everything I wanted it to be," Griner said at the time. "I was able to find where I wanted to go. Honestly what led me to that decision ultimately was the team, the players as individuals and then also my family. I'm thrilled for this chapter. This is my first time going into free agency and it was cool. It was a hard decision... You're leaving what you know, what I've known for my whole career... Also there's an excited factor of like, 'okay, this is like a rebrand now. I get to show them something different.'" Griner helped lead the Mercury to a championship in 2014, the year after she was drafted by the team.
Sellers will also play alongside Allisha Gray, who was traded to the Dream in 2023. Bringing Gray into the fold meant the Dream weren't major players in ths year's WNBA Draft — the team didn't have a pick until the second round, when they drafted Te-Hina Paopao (the team also added Taylor Thierry in the third round).
Paopao led the nation in 3 point percentage two years ago and has continued to grow her game ever since. She can hit a floater, hit the mid-range, and knows how to lead a team as a steady presence on the court. Paopao averaged 9.4 points and 2.8 assists this season and improved her steals per game average from 0.8 to 1.1.