As one of the four playoff teams from Unrivaled’s first season, the Lunar Olws were allowed to protect two players in the draft ahead of the league’s second season. Considering that the Lunar Owls were one of the strongest rosters during last season, coach DJ Sackmann was presented with a very difficult choice.
Protecting Napheesa Collier was a no-brainer. She was the league’s leading scorer last season and was named the first-ever Unrivaled MVP. Even with the crushing injury news, no one can blame Sackmann for protecting Collier. The Lunar Owls also protected Skylar Diggins, leading Allisha Gray, the team’s second leading scorer and one of the most productive two-way players in the league, up for grabs.
Protecting Diggins made sense in a way and there wasn’t one perfect choice. She was the Lunar Owls’ leading playmaker, a great pick-and-roll partner for Collier, and an energizer. Still, considering how good Gray has been for the Mist, how well she would fit next to Marina Mabrey and Aaliyah Edwards, and that Diggins has been sidelined for three games now, the decision to let Gray go doesn’t look good.
Allisha Gray is off to a good start
Allisha Gray averaged 22.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4 assists over her first three games with the Mist. She is the team’s leading scorer—despite inexplicably coming off the bench for two games—and the sixth leading scorer in the league. She also ranks ninth in assists per game.
Gray, who has a very versatile offensive skill set and 3x3 experience, thrives in Unrivaled. If she were still on the Lunar Owls, they may have started the season very differently.
With Collier and Diggins sidelined, the Lunar Owls have been playing Marina Mabrey, Aaliyah Edwards, Rachel Banham, Temi Fagbenle, and Rebecca Allen. They lost three straight games and only escaped a crushing defeat once. Mabrey and Edwards have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting, averaging 27 and 24.7 points per game, respectively. The other three have produced little.
If the Lunar Owls could start Gray, who, unlike Diggins, is healthy and available, next to Mabrey and Edwards instead of Allen, the team’s offensive production would look completely different. They would have three 20-point scorers and another playmaker to help Allen, Banham, and Fagbenle get involved more offensively.
The Lunar Owls must figure something out quickly
The Lunar Olws showed some significant improvements in their third game of the season, but it still wasn’t enough to beat the Laces. If they don’t figure out how to get more offensive production out of everyone other than Mabrey and Edwards, the Lunar Owls could quickly find themselves with a pile of losses so massive that they can’t recover anymore.
Their next three games are against the Mist, Vinyl, and Breeze—three strong, star-studded teams.
Despite three bad losses, it’s not too late yet. Last season, the Rose only won one of their first five games and then went on to win a championship. Of course, last year, everyone was still getting used to Unrivaled’s unique style of play. This year, some teams and players already have a significant advantage because of how many returners they have. Only two of the currently available Lunar Owls players have Unrivaled experience. Edwards was a backup for the Mist last season, and Mabrey was on the Phantom but missed most of the season with an injury.