The Seattle Storm were the second team to make a bold win-now move before the trade deadline. First, the Minnesota Lynx traded for defensive standout DiJonai Carrington. Then, the Storm traded for first-time All-Star Brittney Sykes. They sent Alysha Clark, Zia Cooke, and a 2026 first-round pick to the Washington Mystics.
For the Mystics, this signals a full buy-in into their rebuild and young core. For the Storm, it is an attempt to bolster their playoff chances. While the Storm landed one of the most interesting young players in the league when they drafted Dominique Malonga, the roster also features three current All-Stars. A team with that much star power is built to win now.
Sykes should help with that. Not only will she make an already strong defensive team even better, but she also adds another high-level scoring guard and playmaker to the mix. The 31-year-old likely won’t be able to help the Storm fix all of their issues, though. Seattle hasn’t been a great 3-point shooting team this season, and Sykes is not the type of player who will change that.
The Storm have struggled from three this season
Seattle currently ranks seventh in 3-point percentage across the league. The only other potential playoff teams shooting a worse percentage are the Las Vegas Aces and Golden State Valkyries. The Storm also don’t take a ton of threes compared to other playoff contenders.
Skylar Diggins has been a consistent 3-point threat most of the season. Erica Wheeler has cooled off significantly, only shooting more than 33 percent twice in the last ten games. Other than Diggins and Wheeler, only Nneka Ogwumike is shooting 36 percent or better for the season.
The Storm have only won four of their last ten games, losing to Washington, Dallas, Los Angeles, Indiana, and Minnesota. Over that stretch, the Storm only shot 35 percent or better from behind the arc three times. They shot 45 percent in wins over the Sun and Sky, and 36.8 percent in a loss to Washington. They also hit a low of 13.3 percent in a loss against the Fever.
While the Storm have been able to win games despite their lacklustre shooting, this lack of consistent production from behind the arc could hurt them in the playoffs, especially against teams like Minnesota or New York, who can build up a big advantage by knocking down a bunch of threes.
Brittney Sykes hasn’t been a great 3-point shooter over her career
Brittney Sykes brings a lot of talent that the Storm need to match up with the best teams in the league. However, she doesn’t bring much 3-point shooting. Over ten WNBA seasons, Skyes averages 30.4 percent shooting from behind the arc. Before the trade, she shot 31.8 percent from three on 2.6 attempts per game.
With the Mystics, Sykes had to create many of her shots herself. Her shooting percentage may improve a bit if she gets more opportunities to knock down catch-and-shoot threats.
Still, Sykes is not the kind of player who will be able to turn around the Storm’s 3-point woes. They will either have to make another move or find ways to win without reliably knocking down threes.