One big question Atlanta Dream fans just couldn’t help asking themselves was why Madina Okot didn’t get more opportunities in the playoffs. The 6’6” rookie could have provided some valuable size against Shakira Austin, Lauren Betts, Jonquel Jones, Han Xu, and Kiah Stokes. In the finals, especially, playing Okot and Angel Reese together for just a few minutes could have helped ease the defensive attention the latter drew from the Golden State Valkyries.
Karl Smesko ultimately didn’t trust that Okot was ready for the playoffs. Perhaps he was right, but if Okot wasn’t ready for the playoffs, it was because she didn’t get many chances to play through mistakes in the regular season. Despite Brionna Jones’s injury, Okot averaged fewer than ten minutes in the regular season.
A rookie who only got to play two seasons of college basketball needs more time than that to figure out her game and the pro level. This offseason, Okot should get plenty of reps in the WNBL. She should come back to Atlanta as a much improved, more confident player Smesko can trust to play key minutes off the bench as the Dream try to return to the finals.
Playing in the WNBL will help Okot’s development
Okot will suit up for the WNBL’s newest franchise, the Tasmania Jewels in Australia this winter, playing alongside fellow WNBA first-round pick Gianna Kneepkens. While Okot is new to the WNBL, she will offer the Jewels valuable size and inside scoring that should translate to more than nine minutes of action per game. Per an article by Chris Pike, coach Claudia Brassard expects Okot to be the team’s starting center “once she gets her feet under the table and a little bit more familiar.”
That’s a great vote of confidence for a young player who was clued to the bench in her first pro season. It should do wonders for her development.
The WNBL is full of WNBA-level talent this season. Han Xu, Jade Melbourne, Georgia Amoore, Stephanie Talbot, Maddy Westbeld, Anneli Maley, Isobel Borlase, Miela Sowah, Nyadiew Puoch, Sami Whitcomb, Shay Ciezki, and Teonni Key were all on WNBA rosters this season. So, Okot doesn’t just have a chance to play extended minutes, but she will also get to do it against high-end talent and proven veterans.
Spending the offseason playing in the WNBL has been valuable for many fringe WNBA players before her. Veronica Burton, for example, played for the Bendigo Spirit in the 2024-25 season, right before her breakout year with the Valkyries.
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