Chicago Sky<\/p>\n
Bright spots:<\/p>\n
Finding an All-Rookie season from Sydney Taylor out of the Polish league<\/p>\n
The Rickea Jackson trade was a win for four games<\/p>\n
Concerns:<\/p>\n
Marquee free agent point guard addition missed half the season with a vague knee injury<\/p>\n
Still the worst front office in the league by some margin<\/p>\n
Still one of the least attractive destinations for free agents<\/p>\n
Do not own their own first-round pick until 2029<\/p>\n
No rotation-caliber players under 25<\/p>\n
Yeah, I got nothing. Given the track record, there\u2019s no path to contention here while Jeff Pagliacca is at the helm, and even if ownership does the right thing tomorrow, there\u2019s still little hope of even righting the ship until 2030 given the lack of draft picks, barring some stars bucking years-long trends by electing to go to the Sky.<\/p>\n
The only saving grace is that the lowest score I can give is a half-star and not zero.<\/p>\n
Hope Rating: \u00bd \u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/p>\n
Connecticut Sun<\/p>\n
Bright spots:<\/p>\n
About to become a much better free agency destination<\/p>\n
Extra first-round pick in a class with decent depth<\/p>\n
Concerns:<\/p>\n
The involvement of Tilman Fertitta<\/p>\n
Almost all the young players did not improve<\/p>\n
Shed an as-of-now unknown number of points in lottery odds after losing the DooDoo For JuJu game Thursday night<\/p>\n
This is officially the last article I\u2019m writing in which it\u2019s Connecticut and not Houston. I will not remember these last couple of teams fondly; that was some painful basketball. Did you know Saniya Rivers just had the worst offensive season<\/a> in the League Pass era?<\/p>\n As I wrote last year, discounting the Wubble season, after each of this franchise\u2019s previous skids, it added: Tina Charles and Kara Lawson; Jonquel Jones; and now, hopefully JuJu Watkins. <\/p>\n Because if not, things are pretty bleak. Le\u00efla Lacan is pretty clearly a plus starter despite by far the worst offensive context in the league, and Aaliyah Edwards is still worth rotation minutes, but every other player under 25 on this roster might be too poor at putting the ball in the hoop to be playable, and the Diamond Miller renaissance has failed for the third time.<\/p>\n On the other hand, you could really talk me into a Lacan-Rivers-Watkins starting backcourt managing to do enough to get the combination of Olivia Nelson-Ododa and whoever wants to move to Houston and start at power forward to the No. 8 seed.<\/p>\n The nice thing about taking a ton of chances on players like Rivers, Edwards, the now-Tempo Aneesah Morrow, Nell Angloma and Gianna Kneepkens is that even if they\u2019re all very unlikely to become a starting-caliber player on a playoff team, collectively the odds aren\u2019t bad that one of them pops. Although it is still looking pretty unlikely, supplanting that in free agency is about to get way easier than it used to be.<\/p>\n Hope Rating: \u2b50\u2b50\u2b50\u2606\u2606<\/p>\n Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women\u2019s Sports Daily Los Angeles Sparks<\/p>\n Bright spots:<\/p>\n Probably getting a coaching upgrade this winter<\/p>\n Two likely late lottery picks in a class with a strong middle<\/p>\n Total odds that either Sparks pick ends up No. 1 is 7.5%*, and the odds that at least one pick jumps into the top two are 15.5%*.<\/p>\n Concerns:<\/p>\n There\u2019s no way Cameron Brink is going to be good on this team<\/p>\n Two of the worst contracts in the league (Dearica Hamby and Ariel Atkins) for two more years<\/p>\n Cameron Brink is a lot like a Kristi Toliver in 2009, or a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2010s, or Courtney Williams in 2016 or Wyatt Langford right now: probably going to make their next team look really smart for acquiring them, but in the meantime absolutely certain to do nothing great in this situation. I\u2019d say somebody should probably be fired to preemptively fix that, but general manager Raegan Pebley was fired in July, with Lynne Roberts following her today<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bigger issue for the Sparks is that they\u2019re locked into much of the roster Pebley built, and it doesn\u2019t align to any particular competitive window. Dearica Hamby is still tough to build around as an outstanding play-finisher who hasn\u2019t held up defensively in years; Rae Burrell is also purely a play-finisher; Monique Akoa Makani is a complementary piece; and Erica Wheeler is guaranteed starting-level money for backup-level play.<\/p>\n Getting the Mercury first and Akoa Makani for Kelsey Plum was a nice piece of business, but by the time the two upcoming first-rounders are entering their prime, Hamby and Wheeler will likely be, or soon to be, retired, and Burrell and Akoa Makani will both have hit free agency deals.<\/p>\n If I thought the veteran deals were moveable, I\u2019d say Los Angeles is positioned more than anyone for a hard sell and rebuild.<\/p>\n Hope Rating: \u2b50\u2b50\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/p>\n Phoenix Mercury<\/p>\n Bright spots:<\/p>\n Will probably have what could be the best top three in the league<\/p>\n Concerns:<\/p>\n Alyssa Thomas\u2019 peak has finally ended<\/p>\n No first-round pick<\/p>\n The Mercury took a lot of swings on their roster; most of them whiffed, and both Alyssa Thomas and Sami Whitcomb might be too far past their primes in a way that tangibly lowers the team\u2019s ceiling. So that\u2019s not a great start here.<\/p>\n On the bright side, Kahleah Copper firmly turned around her abysmal start, and No\u00e9mie Brochant and Natasha Mack are still cost-controlled pieces that could play big minutes on a contender. Assuming Phoenix re-signs Kelsey Plum, there\u2019s still some money to throw at the free agent market to improve on what was a dreadful bench this year. Given how much this roster is leveraged toward three players in their 30s, and the difficulty of finding the right frontcourt partner for Thomas, I\u2019d expect at least the Mercury\u2019s 2028 first-round pick to be shopped, if not their 2029 pick as well.<\/p>\n The path to contention here is pretty straightforward, even if it banks on no one suddenly entering the decline phase and nailing at least a couple of offseason acquisitions.<\/p>\n Hope Rating: \u2b50\u2b50\u2b50\u00bd \u2606<\/p>\n Portland Fire<\/p>\n Bright spots:<\/p>\n Carla Leite is awesome<\/p>\n One of the best coaches in the league<\/p>\n Found or developed a handful of good complementary pieces<\/p>\n Concerns:<\/p>\n Almost everyone turns the ball over way too much<\/p>\n The approach of using the end of the roster on a middling team to rotate through interesting role players that Connecticut and Phoenix also tried actually worked incredibly well here. <\/p>\n At the top of the roster, Carla Leite can be an offensive engine, Bridget Carleton can add usage without losing efficiency, adjusting Emily Engstler\u2019s shooting form makes her a strong complementary frontcourt piece, Sarah Ashlee Barker \u2014 assuming she doesn\u2019t lose more than expected to the ACL tear \u2014 is a high-leverage scorer, and Megan DiLeo can hold up in bigger minutes as a great play-finisher off the PnR. Frieda B\u00fchner could join that list if her 3-point shooting holds up in a larger sample.<\/p>\n Engstler, Barker, DiLeo and B\u00fchner turn the ball over too much for the limited playmaking ability they\u2019ve demonstrated in this system, and more importantly, Engstler is a free agent. That\u2019s probably not a huge concern, because what else is Portland going to do with its cap space, but it\u2019s a sign this franchise is limited in how quickly it can build to contention, barring a lottery miracle.<\/p>\n The early returns are encouraging for Alex Sarama\u2019s ability to make demonstrable gains in player development, and a full offseason should only help shore up that foundation as the Fire move toward a competitive window. Being able to develop quality role players also provides a solid base for possible future trades for stars if they don\u2019t come via the draft or free agency, another area where their unique payroll flexibility can shine.<\/p>\n Hope Rating: \u2b50\u2b50\u2b50\u2b50\u2606<\/p>\n
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women\u2019s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women\u2019s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!<\/p>\n
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