2025 WNBA Pre-Season Thread | Page 12 | The Boneyard

2025 WNBA Pre-Season Thread

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Dillon77 said:
Regarding Stanford's less prominent alums, I think they fell into two categories:
  • They fell into the right situation, regarding style of play and/or a stable environment. Carrington was drafted and nurtured initially by Curt Miller who thought so much of her, he reacquired her for the Wings. Carrington offers what Miller wants.
  • They bounced around to find the right place at the right time, all while working on their game. That certainly applies to Samuelson and Smith who kept working it here, there and everywhere before finding the right spots, Smith got her shot in Chicago, then joined Minnesota while Karlie got a break with the Mystics before also joining the Lynx.
  • So, if Haley Jones wants to keep hoopin', work on that game (shooting, in particular) and go where there are opportunities. And, if my logic flow holds, she, too, may find her way to Minnesota. ;)
p.s. Players like Jones, Amihere, Mckenzie Holmes, etc. are seemingly all getting close(r) to holding those slots. If they can really work it next year, there could be lots of new opportunities following the 2025 season, with so much of the rosters blowing up and two new teams coming into the league.
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Holmes had the disadvantage of being out due to injury. Don't recall if she played overseas at all before the start of the WNBA. She gets some time playing professionally overseas, it will help her catch up.

Amihere has improved this off-season, but it seems more is needed from her (e.g. consistent outside shooting?). More time overseas and challenging herself with Canada Basketball during AmeriCup will help.

Haley Jones, perplexes me because of how quickly things changed for her after being drafted. Initially it seemed the Dream wanted to get her ready to take on a starter role. Last season, not so much and this pre-season her minutes were non-existent. Someone please correct me, but I don't know if she did much during the last couple off-seasons (Athletes Unlimited maybe)? Like Holmes and Amihere more time overseas could help.

Two more teams next season will help for sure, but they need to be ready. The talent pool coming out for the 2026 draft are also waiting in the wings to compete for roster spots.
 
BigTenGuy said:
She regressed big time after her sophomore year. Her efficiency stats were quite poor both her junior and senior years, after being quite good (90th+ percentile) her first two years. I first watched her during the championship year and thought she was great, but thought she was decidedly mediocre after that. Hard pressed to think of a similar career path for a # 1 high school recruit.
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Interestingly, none of the #1 recruits from 2016-2019 panned out for solid pro careers (Lauren Cox, Megan Walker, Christyn Williams and Haley Jones).

Extend it to #2 recruits and include 2015, and no one has lit it up:
-2015 #1 was Katie Lou Samuelson, #2 was Asia (AD) Durr
-2016 #2- Joyner Holmes
-2017 #2-Evina Westbrook
-2018 #2-Charli Collier
-2019 #2-Jordan Horston
 
bballnut90 said:
Interestingly, none of the #1 recruits from 2016-2019 panned out for solid pro careers (Lauren Cox, Megan Walker, Christyn Williams and Haley Jones).

Extend it to #2 recruits and include 2015, and no one has lit it up:
-2015 #1 was Katie Lou Samuelson, #2 was Asia (AD) Durr
-2016 #2- Joyner Holmes
-2017 #2-Evina Westbrook
-2018 #2-Charli Collier
-2019 #2-Jordan Horston
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Just gave me an idea for an off season topic ;)
 
bballnut90 said:
Interestingly, none of the #1 recruits from 2016-2019 panned out for solid pro careers (Lauren Cox, Megan Walker, Christyn Williams and Haley Jones).

Extend it to #2 recruits and include 2015, and no one has lit it up:
-2015 #1 was Katie Lou Samuelson, #2 was Asia (AD) Durr
-2016 #2- Joyner Holmes
-2017 #2-Evina Westbrook
-2018 #2-Charli Collier
-2019 #2-Jordan Horston
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Think it's a little early to put Horston on this list. She's played decent if not significant minutes since being drafted in comparison to Jones. Thought she made the all rookie team in her first year too.

Unfortunately her ACL injury has her out this season. Would have been interesting to see how she fits in with this new roster.
 
Dillon77 said:
Just saw this over on the WNBA Transaction Page:

- Betnijah Laney-Hamilton of the New York Liberty is out for the 2025 season due to a Non-WNBA Injury.

Since the "non-WNBA" aspect of the injury was brought up, assuming that was done because Laney-Hamilton's salary won't count against the Liberty this year? (Or am I wrong?). That said, this is a loss now that Thornton is now longer on the team as a back-up.
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Having Rebekah Gardner healthy should help a lot. Plus, Fiebich will almost certainly take on a bigger role.

You are correct in that her salary won’t count against the team since they technically “suspended” her as opposed to, say, Katie Lou Samuelson whose injury occurred in Camp. That gives the Liberty enough money to add yet another impact player (some are speculating Emma Meesseman).
 
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darrell said:
Having Rebekah Gardner healthy should help a lot. Plus, Fiebich will almost certainly take on a bigger role.

You are correct in that her salary won’t count against the team since they technically “suspended” her as opposed to, say, Katie Lou Samuelson whose injury occurred in Camp. That gives the Liberty enough money to add yet another impact player (some are speculating Emma Meesseman).
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Define "some" . The last time you posted about Messeman, she went to Twitter to quash the rumour. ;)
 
Here is something interesting about the 2023 draft. A draft that looks like a poor one in retrospect.



I think Cooke has been waived a couple of times already in her career too.
 
cancontent said:
Define "some" . The last time you posted about Messeman, she went to Twitter to quash the rumour. ;)
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By “some”, I should have instead said “eager Liberty fans”. $185k is a lot of wiggle room and I’m assuming they want the best of the best.
 
BigTenGuy said:
She regressed big time after her sophomore year. Her efficiency stats were quite poor both her junior and senior years, after being quite good (90th+ percentile) her first two years. I first watched her during the championship year and thought she was great, but thought she was decidedly mediocre after that. Hard pressed to think of a similar career path for a # 1 high school recruit.
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Others mentioned but very similar for Christyn Williams. Her big game performances seemed to peak in her freshman year, as did her efficiency. Got better in some areas through college. The injury killed her WNBA start, but hasn’t been able to stick on a roster after attempting for multiple seasons.
 
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Options exercised for Dorka, Diamond, Aliyah Boston, Maddy Siegrist, and Jordan Horston. This might be a reason Berger was waived. And I think those are the only ones from that 2023 class that were picked up. Dorka being the only non-first rounder.
 
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Is anyone as surprised as I am that Lucy Olsen ended up making the Mystics' roster? Here are her preseason stats over 36 minutes in two games: 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 of 14 shooting for 14.3%. I like watching Lucy play, but with all the cuts we've seen among rookies and returning players who had far more impressive preseasons, I wasn't expecting her to make the team.
 
Jonathan14 said:
Is anyone as surprised as I am that Lucy Olsen ended up making the Mystics' roster? Here are her preseason stats over 36 minutes in two games: 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 of 14 shooting for 14.3%. I like watching Lucy play, but with all the cuts we've seen among rookies and returning players who had far more impressive preseasons, I wasn't expecting her to make the team.
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Haven't seen the list, but I can see where you're coming from.
 
Stagnant said:
Options exercised for Dorka, Diamond, Aliyah Boston, Maddy Siegrist, and Jordan Horston. This might be a reason Berger was waived. And I think those are the only ones from that 2023 class that were picked up. Dorka being the only non-first rounder.
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Can (everyone) help me understand:
  • The player (Dorka, in this case) decides not to play with the WNBA team for personal reasons.
  • Juhasz's contract with the Lynx goes through the 2026 season.
  • So, did the Lynx have to honor the contract of Juhasz in 2025 or risk losing her? As such, are they going to pay her (even though she's not playing by her own volition?).

If so, I'm wondering if the Lynx exercised this contract as insurance for 2026, because it looks like those of other forwards -- Collier, Smith, Shepard -- all end after the 2025 season.
 
Jonathan14 said:
Is anyone as surprised as I am that Lucy Olsen ended up making the Mystics' roster? Here are her preseason stats over 36 minutes in two games: 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 of 14 shooting for 14.3%. I like watching Lucy play, but with all the cuts we've seen among rookies and returning players who had far more impressive preseasons, I wasn't expecting her to make the team.
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Don't quote me as I'll need to examine their roster a little more closely to feel assured in this opinion...

I think the issue is that there is slim pickings at her position so they have no choice but to retain her despite not being the level of talent needed to be successful.
 
I am surprised Lucy made it. She was fortunate. Fortunate that there was a massive shortage of guards. And honestly, the Amoore injury helped. I think they would have preferred to keep Prechtel.

But to Lucy’s credit. She seems to have beaten out Green and Jensen for that last spot.
 
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GamecockFam said:
Don't quote me as I'll need to examine their roster a little more closely to feel assured in this opinion...

I think the issue is that there is slim pickings at her position so they have no choice but to retain her despite not being the level of talent needed to be successful.
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I pretty much agree. Because Amoore got injured and some of their moves this off-season they don't have many guards at all. I think Lucy can play a little bit of both (point guard and 2 guard). I do think she struggled a lot in the games but maybe it's just a game issue and she's been killing in practice. I remember on the men's side Jamal Murray missed something like his first 17 shots in the NBA. I do feel her ability to create her own shit and make basic reads on offense is there.
 
jdote33 said:
I pretty much agree. Because Amoore got injured and some of their moves this off-season they don't have many guards at all. I think Lucy can play a little bit of both (point guard and 2 guard). I do think she struggled a lot in the games but maybe it's just a game issue and she's been killing in practice. I remember on the men's side Jamal Murray missed something like his first 17 shots in the NBA. I do feel her ability to create her own and make basic reads on offense is there.
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I'm happy Lucy made the cut; she's a great kid and talented....scored 26 in Iowa's upset of USC. I too was surprised she's still alive after her poor shooting in those 2 preseason games. Like jdote33 wondered, maybe she's performed way better in practice so far.

I also have wondered if there are marketing factors involved? Kate Martin averaged 2.6 points and 1.6 rebounds her rookie season, yet she was #4 in the league in merchandise sales last year and #3 this year. Why is that??
There is definitely an Iowa fandom effect that extends beyond just Caitlin Clark. Plus Lucy's home is not far away in Pennsylvania. Mystics were 10th in attendance last year out of 12 teams. Who knows?

sportsnaut.com

Top selling WNBA jerseys: Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers among most popular

Top selling WNBA jerseys: Who sold the most WNBA jerseys? Here is a list of the 10 top selling WNBA jerseys right now.
sportsnaut.com sportsnaut.com
 
They all need to get better. Berger and Jones were on rosters for a while and got cut this year. I always think of Karlie Samuelson; who is way better than Lucy Olsen and Kate Martin btw. I always think that if she can get waived 10 times and is a journeyman wnba player… then it can happen to anyone.
 


I just skipped to the interview with Cathy. I thought it was pretty interesting and wanted to share
 
Stagnant said:
They all need to get better. Berger and Jones were on rosters for a while and got cut this year. I always think of Karlie Samuelson; who is way better than Lucy Olsen and Kate Martin btw. I always think that if she can get waived 10 times and is a journeyman wnba player… then it can happen to anyone.
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Agree. I wrote a post yesterday citing Samuelson's work ethic and stick-to-it attitude paying off.
 
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