2025 WNBA Regular Season | Page 39 | The Boneyard

2025 WNBA Regular Season

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cancontent said:


Just announced in a press conference I think is still going as I type this.
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www.espn.com

WNBA expanding to Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia by 2030

The WNBA is expanding to 18 teams over the next five years, with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia set to join by 2030. Toronto and Portland enter next year.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

As I read the ESPN story I was reflecting on the expansion fee. The article points out the 250 million it is five times what the Golden State franchise was charged.

As the new ownership groups for the three expansion teams announced are NBA franchises aren't they in a weird way paying the franchise fee to themselves?
 
cancontent said:


Just announced in a press conference I think is still going as I type this.
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Great news! My dream is a 20 team league. That feels like a perfect number to get more women in the league without diluting the talent and having enough teams to split it into 4 divisions/2 conferences. With 18 teams, that increases the league to 216 players! Roster sizes also need to increase to 15 but that's another discussion...
 
willtalk said:
I don't care what Dawn Staley did initially for the Olympics. We need to remember she used her far less in the last Olympics. I like to watch individual players on defense when I see something that strikes me about their play. I can not speak for Loyd's early time in Seattle because I did not pay that much attention to her play. I have been watching her with the Aces. She seems to get herself out of position especially on switches or when the team double teams.

One example of this was the last play in their last game. The Aces were up by three with 7 second seconds to play. The defense needed to defend against the three. You play up close becaue it does not matter if they get around you for a drive. However not only did Loyd play off her man on the inbounds but she got caught initially reacting and and going the wrong way then having to recover, leaving her man for a wide open three, which she was missed. That was horrible defense to end the game. She was fortunate she got bailed out.

I have watched her make simular mistakes thoughout the season. She even gets beat quite a bit on the ball. Often fast and quick players never develop good defensive foot work and spacing. Another player who, for a while, had a rep as a good defender but in reality was not was Odyssey Sims. I watched her during her first season with the Sparks and she would constantly lose her man. That was only on switches or inbound plays. I figured out she probably had a peripheral vision issue. When a player got out of her narrow field of vision she lost them. I do not think that is loyds issue though
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Good morning @willtalk :
Reading your posts to @baggerbob and myself, I wondering if you had a dark and/or bitter roast coffee this morning? Certainly gave an edge. ;)

Please note in my overall statement that I acknowledge Loyd isn't the defender she once was. Incidentally, Coach Staley didn't use her much in the last Olympics much in that capacity, because, well, Coach Cheryl Reeve was calling the shots. As the Olympics went on, Reeve increasingly went with Jackie Young over both Loyd and Taurasi, no doubt about it.

Like many, I think Vegas has a flow issue which may or may not get solved by Hammon this year. Aaliyah Nye's solid play once again helps Hammon go with the 1-4 approach, but not certain that will hack it against all teams. I sometimes wonder how much Hammon thinks about development on that squad because that second big slot has been an issue since Parker was injured. Many candidates have not lived up to what she wants and a lot of these folks play pretty well elsewhere. I'm starting to wonder where the issue is....with the players and/or the front office/coaching staff getting/developing the right players. They hit it right with Nye (thus far), but that could've been the luck of the draw.
 
CamrnCrz1974 said:
This was Laimbeer's problem with playing Wilson next to Cambage. It clogged the lane.
Jackie Young's development under Hammon as compared to Laimbeer is well documented. Her individual improvement was one of the key parts to help Vegas to win two titles.

Not having Candace Parker (a playmaking power forward with shooting range) has really hurt the team. Coupled with Loyd's inability to find her role and fit (the way she was able to in 2018 and 2020, with Bird and Stewart in Seattle), and you see the problems mounting with Las Vegas.

Vegas also suffers from the 2024-25 Phoenix Suns Syndrome - lack of quality depth. Outside of its top players, Vegas has very little depth (especially with Clark signing with Seattle and Hayes signing with Golden State).

On the plus side, Aaliyah Nye looks to be one of the second round steals. While she is only averaging 5.6 ppg, Vegas is 3-2 in games in which she has scored in double figures -- which she has done in three of the last five games.
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Nye is shooting 40% from deep, roughly what she did in college.
 
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alot of handringing on twitter about expanding too soon, but Golden State and Phoenix are showing that there is a ton of talent out there around the globe. just have to invest in scouting and be smart about roster building, stop recycling the same old guard that keep getting moved around from roster to roster.
 
So, Dallas trades Alyssa Smith to Vegas for draft picks. I guess this means a lot more playing time for Li.
 
Prior to this season, the highest percent of games lost by at least 20 points was 30.0% (1998 Washington Mystics). So far his season, the Connecticut Sun have last an astonishing 47.1% of their games by at least 20 points. Their percentages of losses by at least 15 points, at least 25 points, at least 30 points, at least 35 points, and at least 45 points are also higher than any team in history (by much smaller margins). I understand that they trying to best position themselves to draft Juju Watkins in 2027, but do they have to the this bad?
 
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I think that her minutes will go to Geiselsoder, and, maybe, Dallas will keep Jones for tge rest of the season (she played very well on Saturday).
 
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Geew1992 said:
Not sure this is the move the Aces really needed
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They need some type of pffensive production from a big other than Wilson. Nalyssa and Stokes are opposites, offense and defense. Stokes is valuable, but not as your starting big.
 
I felt this the minute it was announced, that Nikki Fargas would make the Aces’ championship run a short one. Smith is a potentially nice acquisition, but not for a first rd pick. Aces already don’t have their ‘26 pick which is looking like a mid-rounder. I hate this franchise doesn’t value their draft picks. Did Fargas go to the Rob Pelinka School of Roster Management? :rolleyes:
It will not surprise me we will see better players acquired by other franchises in exchange for 2nd or 3rd rounders. Just wait and see. :mad:
 
Reypl21 said:
They need some type of pffensive production from a big other than Wilson. Nalyssa and Stokes are opposites, offense and defense. Stokes is valuable, but not as your starting big.
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I hear you. I just don't think it's gonna move the needle like people think. I don't think Smith is going to help A'ja at all
 
JDuro said:
I felt this the minute it was announced, that Nikki Fargas would make the Aces’ championship run a short one. Smith is a potentially nice acquisition, but not for a first rd pick. Aces already don’t have their ‘26 pick which is looking like a mid-rounder. I hate this franchise doesn’t value their draft picks. Did Fargas go to the Rob Pelinka School of Roster Management? :rolleyes:
It will not surprise me we will see better players acquired by other franchises in exchange for 2nd or 3rd rounders. Just wait and see. :mad:
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Based off of her challenges recruiting at LSU towards the tail end of her time there, it may be a situation of Pelinka studying her curriculum instead. ;)
 
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Aces still feeling the repercussions of exercising the 4th year option of Kierstan Bell and there was literally no reason to. she hadn't shown anything yet and now you're locked into a guaranteed roster spot/contract for a player who can't contribute

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Wow, going back to my closing paragraph in a prior post about the issue possibly being with Aces management (front office/coaching staff). I seriously have to wonder what the hey is going on there.
  • If anyone takes the names of Dan Padover and/or Bill Laimbeer as front-office guys in vein again, go hope on a plane piloted by Howard Hughes. Yes, they were taking first rounders, but they made the choices. Not all of 'em worked out, but they handed the ingredients to Hammon to finish. Which, to her credit, she did.
  • However, the front office of Vargas? Yikes. Kate Martin is offered up in the dispersal draft and is now one of many folk heroes in the Bay region. Kitley comes back from injury and that developmental program of Hammon lasts less than half a season. Tiff Mitchell, to me, at least hustles and pfft...
  • To me, N'lyssa Smith might benefit from being next to A'ja Wilson, but how much will Smith help the Aces? Particularly to the tune of a first-round draft choice? Somone got hosed and it wasn't Kurt Miller.

Speaking of Dallas:
  • Pure and simple, the Wings thought there were getting more from Miyisha Hines-Allen than Smith. Probably in a lot of ways, because Smith is from the area and a partner of Carrington. Didn't matter....business is business and Smith wasn't returning value.
  • Hines-Allen and Siegrist, when she returns will man the forward position. Big T, Geiselsoder and Li will battle for the center minutes.
 
aceboon said:
can't believe LV traded a first rounder for Nalyssa, let alone a first rounder in the 2027 draft

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Just as a refresher, the 2027 class features:
-Juju Watkins
-Madison Booker
-Hannah Hidalgo
-Mikaylah Williams
-Milaysia Fulwiley
-Clara Strack
-Tessa Johnson
-Khamil Pierre
-Talaysia Cooper
-Audi Crooks
-Addy Brown
-Oluchi Okananwa
-Zoe Brooks
-KK Arnold

Plus Zhang Ziyu is draft eligible, she's a 7-3 center from China who averaged 35.0 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game at the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup 2024.

If players continue to develop well, it might go down as the best draft class of all time.
 
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