Napheesa Collier returns to the playoffs with the No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx on Sunday. It may be her last playoff series with the team.
On the surface, that is a shocking statement to make. Collier has only ever played for the Lynx, dating back to the 2019 WNBA Draft when they selected her sixth overall out of UConn. Through eight seasons with the team, she has played in 209 games, averaging 18.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and making four All-WNBA Teams. Twice, she was the MVP runner-up.
Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore make for a crowded room at the top for all-time Lynx players, but Collier's start to her career has been dazzling, and she has done it all for the Lynx. In the process, she has elevated them to great team success, including three consecutive 30-win seasons and a trip to the 2024 WNBA Finals.
Why, then would Collier leave?
Collier could walk in free agency
The first piece of any departure is optionality. Does Collier have the ability to leave the Lynx this upcoming offseason? The answer to that quesiton is certainly yes.
Last season Collier signed a supermax contract with Minnesota, but only for a single season. She may have done that to bet on the success of the league, hoping that her max amount next season would be higher than if she had signed a two-year deal.
She may also have signed a one-year deal to give herself optionality this offseason, and she will have it. Not only will she be an unrestricted free agent, but a number of teams will enter the winter with the ability to offer her a contract. Teams such as the Golden State Valkyries will try to convince her to join a winning enterprise, while a team like the newly-moved Houston Comets could pitch her on being the centerpiece of her own team once more.
For therein lies the other piece of a departure: motivation. Why would Collier want to leave the Lynx? They are a top-notch organization, with one of the two or three best coaches in the league and a talented roster that just earned the No. 1 seed.
The answer is Olivia Miles, the league's latest rookie phenom. Miles entered the league and was immediately playing at an All-WNBA level. She will receive MVP votes this year as a rookie. In a flash, this is no longer Collier's team. It is Miles' team.
That does not mean that the two could not coexist, of course. Plenty of superstars have teamed up in the past, especially when one is a post player like Collier and the other a versatile point guard like Miles. Phee could choose to re-sign in Minnesota and play alongside Miles as the two-headed leaders of the team.
Will she, however? Or will she choose to explore the other options? The Lynx deserve a lot of credit for how they pivoted this season and earned the top seed after losing multiple key players last offseason. Even so, the rest of their core are all in their 30s; a roster retooling around Miles will be coming soon.
Collier could choose to take her leave after this year, especially if the team has an early exit in the playoffs. There is unfinished business in Minnesota, as they have fallen short of a title in recent seasons, but if they don't appear close after this postseason, that could be the end for Collier.
The Lynx play the New York Liberty in the first round, a rematch of the 2024 WNBA Finals. It's a matchup filled with star power and scar tissue. And for Napheesa Collier, it may be the last series she ever plays in a Minnesota uniform.
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