even if Natasha Cloud\u2019s situation<\/a> has attracted more attention. Charles also had a more productive 2025 season.<\/p>\nIn her return to the Connecticut Sun, the franchise with which she began her WNBA career in 2010 as the No. 1 overall pick out of UConn, the then 36-year-old Charles played in 43 of 44 games, leading the team with 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in over 28 minutes per game.<\/p>\n
The Sun, however, have opted not to bring back Charles for a second full-circle season. Instead, Connecticut signed Brittney Griner, effectively choosing BG over TC.<\/p>\n
The Sun\u2019s decision is instructive, providing a possible explanation as to why none of the WNBA\u2019s 15 teams have given Charles a call.<\/p>\n
A heralded offseason addition for the Atlanta Dream, Griner ended up occupying a more limited role in her lone season in the ATL, with the team truly taking off when Griner was moved out of the starting lineup. BG, nevertheless, exuded nothing but enthusiasm, supporting her teammates and making the most of her minutes. She accepted not being a featured offensive player, setting crushing screens even when she rarely received designed post-up opportunities. Defensively, she still made a difference as a rim protector.<\/p>\n
Charles, it just so happens, preceded Griner in Atlanta, where she served as the third offensive star alongside Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray. Under the previous coaching regime, Charles received dedicated actions in the 2024 Dream offense. For an Atlanta offense that, prior to the arrival of head coach Karl Smesko, tended to stagnate, throwing it to Charles served as a failsafe.<\/p>\n
While getting the ball to Charles on the block or at the elbow, where she could unleash a sweeping hook or fire off of midranger, did (and can) produce points, it is not optimal offense, especially in the WNBA of the mid-2020s, where offensive efficiency is increasingly prioritized. Charles converted 47.3 percent of her 2-pointers with Atlanta, and 45.3 percent with Connecticut, where she fulfilled a similar role with the 2025 Sun. Those numbers aren\u2019t good enough to justify her shot diet or usage.<\/p>\n
Charles impressively has maintained her 2010s-era game for longer than could have been expected, but her style is not conducive to consistently effective team offense.<\/p>\n
The Dream eschewed traditional post play as their offense took off in 2025. The Sun, presumably, envision empowering their young perimeter players in 2026, with head coach Rachid Meziane creating a modernized offensive environment for their collection of talents, particularly Le\u00efla Lacan. In such a system, it makes more sense to employ a big like Griner, who simply sets screens and rolls to the basket, rather than one like Charles, who requires offensive touches. Griner, even as she has lost a step or two, also has more defensive functionality thanks to her rim protection; Charles, never strongest defender, no longer offers much on that end.<\/p>\n
Griner\u2019s game, in short, has allowed her to navigate the star-to-role-player shift more smoothly than Charles. This reality is not a detriment to Charles, and she\u2019s certainly far from the first aging WNBA or NBA star to meet this fate.<\/p>\n
It likewise doesn\u2019t mean that a WNBA team couldn\u2019t benefit from her talent, even if Charles\u2019 surface-level productivity masks some of the challenges of incorporating her into win-now team, where offensive efficiency must be an every play priority, or a developing one, where the organization likely doesn\u2019t want to devote significant offensive usage to a veteran.<\/p>\n
One team stands out as an intriguing option: the Las Vegas Aces.<\/p>\n
Frontcourt depth is, once again, a concern for the defending champs, with Vegas believing that A\u2019ja Wilson will alleviate any potential issues. That\u2019s probably true. But what if A\u2019ja\u2019s unavailable? If Wilson is sidelined with foul trouble or an injury, or even just needs an in-game breather, could Charles be option as low-minute-but-high-usage fulcrum? Charles, more than other big on the Aces\u2019 roster, could do a rough A\u2019ja imitation, allowing the team to survive minutes without their M\u2019VP.<\/p>\n
It would be a small, situational star role\u2014but one that could also see Charles contribute to winning the championship that has eluded her throughout her WNBA career. The acknowledged admiration that Charles and Wilson have for each other inspires more confidence in Vegas emerging as a potential home for Charles.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s hope that the Aces or another team give TC a shot this season. (If she wants it, as the usually quiet Charles has given no indication about whether she desires to play another season.)<\/p>\n
What do you think? Where would you like to see Tina Charles play in 2026? Let us know in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With 8,396 points and 4,262 rebounds to her name, the second-most and most in WNBA history, respectively, will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630,105474],"class_list":["post-634157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-free-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}