The Portland Fire made a slew of roster announcements Thursday, one day before WNBA teams are no longer allowed to make offers to players on developmental spots in the league. The Fire announced Sug Sutton, Haley Jones, and Kamiah Smalls will be departing the team, and that they've converted developmental contracts for Frieda Bühner and Holly Winterburn. The team also activated guard Teja Oblak, who was previously injured.
The news definitely surprised fans of the team, who have enjoyed seeing Sutton, Jones, and Smalls on the court. The trio have put in solid performances for the team, and plenty of fans were already imagining a season that included them the entire time. But the move opened up two developmental spots for the Fire, and it's possible the team has been waiting until today to fill those spots and fully flesh out their vision for the season.
It's never easy to know why cuts do and don't happen in the WNBA, and fans are often frustrated by perceived slights against their favorite players. It's important to remember that these transactions are so often simply business moves— a reality that can be tough to swallow when real people are impacted, and talented athletes lose their jobs.
But that frustration and confusion should not be allowed to tip over into whispers of racism or anti-American sentiment just because some of the players on the team are European. That's a conversation that dogged a few teams last season after they drafted Europeans to their rosters — and it's one that a lot of fans had to admit they were wrong about in the end. Notably, the Golden State Valkyries were definitely on the receiving end of that kind of criticism at the beginning of last season, and the team's former vice president of basketball operations is now the GM of the Fire.
While it's always worth questioning the dynamics or demographics on any given team or within an organization, doing so doesn't always lead to the correct conclusion. The Fire, like any other team in the WNBA, have a vision for how they want their athletes to play. Their coach has introduced a new system of play to the league, and it requires a specific skillset and also the willingness to adapt, and it's possible that the team is targeting players who have demonstrated they have both more than others.
Hopefully Sutton, Jones, and Smalls will find new homes in the WNBA — and the Fire will prove they know what they're doing, with a roster that makes sense for what they are trying to accomplish.
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