Sure, she's only six games into her rookie season, but Olivia Miles is putting in the kind of performance that gets a player named Rookie of the Year at the end of the season. Miles, who was selected as the No. 2 overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx is showing no signs of slowing down.
She went big with her first WNBA game and racked up 21 points and eight assists, making her the fifth player to hit more than 20 points and more than five assists in their debut game. She also became the first WNBA player to net 45-plus points and 20-plus assists in her first three games, and is currently averaging 15 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in 30.3 minutes on the court.
Miles, who has made it abundantly clear she just wants to continue to grow and learn from the best in the league, has transitioned almost seamlessly into the WNBA. She has things to work on (her three-point shooting, specifically) but her ability to read the court easily translated into the league. There's also plenty of reason to suspect her three-point shooting will get better, and chief among them is the fact that it wasn't an especially strong skill during her early years at Notre Dame, but she improved over time.
While some suspected or even posited that Miles decided to spend an extra year in college to land lucrative NIL deals, it's becoming clear that whether that was part of the appeal or not, taking the year to develop at TCU was exactly what she needed. Miles came into the WNBA actually ready to be there, which isn't always something that's true of rookies.
It's hard to overstate what Miles is actually doing on the court as well. She's leading an offense of some of the best players in the league, and she's doing so naturally. In fact, her leadership is so organic that Cheryl Reeve, who tends to favor a veteran-heavy roster and give her rookies shorter minutes, has praised her for how she keeps the team moving. Coming into a professional league and commanding a lead over women who are five to ten years older than you isn't easy, but Miles has managed to do it without, it seems ruffling any feathers in the process.
Being able to gain the trust of seasoned veterans isn't the kind of thing you can coach — a player just has to have it. If Miles keeps this up, she'll be a lock for ROY — and it'll be a well-deserved award.
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