hired longtime Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco<\/a> to succeed Sandy Brondello, who was canned after the season. Sabally, a unicorn with her ability and versatility on the court, signed in free agency. Laney-Hamilton, a defensive stopper who missed last season rehabbing from an injury, is back and ready to go.<\/p>\n![\"Sabrina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1211255877-1.jpg\")
Sabrina Ionescu #20 and Satou Sabally #0 of the Oregon Ducks hug as they come out of the game late in their 89-56 victory over the Stanford Cardinal during the championship game of the Pac-12 Conference women\u2019s basketball tournament at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on March 8, 2020. Getty Images<\/p>\n
The length, size and skill of this roster gives this team endless possibilities.<\/p>\n
That potential is an exciting thought for Ionescu, but could be a nightmare for everyone outside of the Liberty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis feels different because obviously we\u2019re at a different place in this organization,\u201d Ionescu said. \u201c[It] doesn\u2019t matter what you did a few years ago, it\u2019s where we\u2019re at now. And I feel like this hunger and drive to win again here in New York for the people who are returning but also the newcomers, it\u2019s like we all deserve to put our best foot forward and go out and win a championship together.\u201d<\/p>\n
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DeMarco has yet to see this full team together. Stewart (Fenerbah\u00e7e) and Marine Johann\u00e8s (Galatasaray) played in the EuroLeague women championship Sunday and are expected to arrive in Brooklyn by the end of this week.<\/p>\n
Leonie Fiebich and Raquel Carrera won\u2019t join the Liberty until their Valencia Basket season ends, which could be late May.<\/p>\n
Pauline Astier\u2019s exact arrival depends on the ZBL playoffs, but she should be here before the end of this month.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll take time to get everyone acquainted with the new principles and system DeMarco is incorporating. But there\u2019s belief within this group that the Liberty have what it takes to get back to the top of the WNBA.<\/p>\n
\u201cBringing the core back, the added pieces we had, we\u2019re right there,\u201d Laney-Hamilton said. \u201cAnd so now, it\u2019s just staying focused, making sure that we\u2019re taking it one step at a time, making sure that we\u2019re doing all the things that we have to do to reach our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Satou Sabally and Sabrina Ionescu sat shoulder to shoulder in the hallway outside the Liberty\u2019s practice court in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[436,5693,3675,16808,99,434,23316],"class_list":{"0":"post-597305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-new-york-liberty","9":"tag-oregon-ducks","10":"tag-sabrina-ionescu","11":"tag-satou-sabally","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-wnba","14":"tag-wnba-free-agency"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Satou](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2238798774.jpg\")
Satou Sabally of the Mercury looks to pass the ball around Sabrina Ionescu of the Liberty during the second quarter during Game Three of the first round of the WNBA playoffs at PHX Arena on September 19, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. Getty Images<\/p>\n