Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="NycUcWbbFan, post: 5121175, member: 13453"] The comparison between Indiana and Dallas is not apt. Caitlyn came into [URL='https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/teams/IND/2024.html']Indiana[/URL] in 2024 with only one player left from 2019 #1 — Kelsey Mitchell. [LIST] [*]There’s been a steady rebuild [I]and[/I] development of Indiana’s roster to the point that you could say Caitlyn was the final crowning piece of Indiana’s rebuild; [*]I don’t think Paige has the same situation in Dallas. [/LIST] If the WNBA is to make [U]immediate use of Paige’s star power to capitalize on Caitlyn’s trajectory[/U], Dallas is probably the worst place for that to happen: [LIST] [*]Dallas has been the graveyard of [URL='https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/draft/2024.html']high draft picks[/URL] #2 while at Dallas; only Sabally and Siegrist have performed noteworthy well in Dallas; [*]Having a new GM, a new coach and a new stadium are all nice, in a build-it-and-they-will-come way (but will they? #0)… [*]But, Dallas still has Arike… [*]Hiring a respected coach that will change the center of gravity away from Arike will help (or trading Arike will be even better); [*]And, Howard said she is leaving (I guess she can still change her mind, and that is a market signal I will look for); [*]Same market signal with Sabally. [/LIST] [U]These headwinds are formidable[/U]. A new CBA and a “clean slate” may make them manageable. [U]But saying that lightning will surely strike twice[/U], in Caitlyn’s and Paige’s case is a little too unmoored for me at this point. #0 Indiana is crazy about basketball. Not sure about Dallas. A poster who lived in Dallas has said the Wings are an afterthought in Dallas. #1 Arike’s first year at Dallas. #2 Since 2019, [URL='https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/teams/DAL/2024.html']Dallas[/URL] had the following high draft picks: Allisha Gray (#4 2017), Azura Stevens (#6 2018), Moriah Jefferson (#2 2016), Satou Sabally (#2 2020), Charli Collier (#1 2021), Chelsea Dungee (#5 2021), Awak Kuier (#2 2021), Bella Alarie (#5 2020), Veronica Burton (#7 2022), Tearia McCowan (#3 2019), Maddy Siegrist (#3 2023), Kalani Brown (#7 2019), Odyssey Sims (#2 2014), Lou Lopez Senechal (#5 2023), Jacy Sheldon (#5 2024), Stephanie Soares (#4 2023). [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach