Geno's interest likely is influenced by his projection of Patterson's future performance. This past year, having a strong rebounder/defender who can score would have added a lot. Next year, would likely be a nice to have but not critical slot.
Agree that Patterson is the question here. If you look at the PER stats Gustin is the clearly superior player based on last year. She was around 25 and Patterson was only 12. You could probably add a few points to Ayanna's numbers because of the competition she faced and subtract a few from Gustin because of the easier competition she faced, but it still would not be close.
The difference of course is that Gustin is probably near her peak and has largely achieved her upside, and Ayanna is nowhere close and miles away from hers. Additionally there are limited backup minutes behind Aaliyah at the 4, and close to three more candidates to fill those other than Ayanna. Ice and Jana will be looked at mostly at the 5, but can also play the 4. Either or both could wind up ahead of Ayanna on the depth chart behind Aaliyah, and I would argue that right now Aubrey would be at the top of the backup 4 list.
Ice and Jana are promising but in their first year, Ayanna is still a question mark in her second year, but Aubrey is already a proven very good backup 4 in her first two years. She probably would be better than Gustin too, so we really have an All American candidate to start and a proven star backup before even considering Gustin, Ayanna, Ice, Jana or the possibility of small ball with Caroline. One potential problem would be if Aubrey was needed more on the wing like last year, and as a result might not be available for minutes at the 4.
If everyone is healthy the backup play behind Aaliyah should be much better this year. As long as Aubrey is available there, the floor is very high and proven. If one of the other three candidates stands out that could allow Aubrey to provide more help on the perimeter. Regardless of where she gets her minutes, Aubrey will be a supersub with substantial minutes, probably both upfront and on the wing.
I view Gustin as interesting and potential insurance if our young bigs disappoint and are not ready. The only scenario I could see Gustin in a big role would be if nobody is ready to play the 5, Aaliyah is forced to start there and Gustin starts at the 4. In that case she could be a key addition for this season, but discouraging regarding the future of our young bigs.
