After she missed the 2025 season with a knee injury, New York Liberty fans were excited to welcome Betnijah Laney-Hamilton back to the court. She started off well enough with 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists in her first game. Not much later, Laney-Hamilton fell out of Chris DeMarco’s rotation, and the Liberty eventually waived her a few days ago.
Laney-Hamilton may not be the same player she was during the Liberty’s title run in 2024 after that devestating knee injury, but she can still be an impactful 3-and-D player and competitor for any team in the W.
The Wings could use more of that. They ask a ton of Azzi Fudd as the main perimeter defender on the team, and when they lose games, a lack of tenacity usually factors into it. Laney-Hamilton is a tough defender and a championship veteran. She wouldn’t solve all of the Wings’ issues, but she would help with perimeter defense and overall grit.
However, the Wings already have 12 players on the roster and would have to waive someone like Sug Sutton to make room for Laney-Hamilton.
Azzi Fudd carries a heavy burden for the Wings
The Wings have the sixth-best defensive rating in the W at the moment. That’s pretty solid, but there’s more to it than that ranking suggests.
The Wings allow the twelfth-most points in the paint per game with 41.8. Jessica Shepard has been great offensively, but she doesn’t contribute much on defense, Alanna Smith has struggled with injuries all season long, and Awak Kuier, who leads the team in blocks per game, averages just about 15 minutes of playing time. That lack of paint defense has been the Wings’ downfall in many games. Natasha Howard even joked about how nice it was to play against a team that can’t defend the paint after Minnesota beat Dallas earlier this season.
Having another tough perimeter defender behind Azzi Fudd would at least help with keeping guards and wings out of the paint. Combined with a potential Alanna Smith resurgence, it could help just enough to allow the Wings to survive that issue in a favorable playoff matchup.
The most intriguing part of envisioning Laney-Hamilton on the Wings is how it could ease the defensive load on Fudd. She played a long college season with UConn before jumping right into her rookie season, and Jose Fernandez relies on her for heavy minutes. Since the beginning of July, Fudd has only played fewer than thirty minutes in one game and logged at least 34 minutes in six games. She missed the Wings’ loss to the Valkyries with knee soreness.
The Wings need her to be healthy for the playoffs, so having a veteran who can take some of those minutes on the wing she’s playing would be helpful.
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