Lou to Seattle Storm

[nwhoopfan]

For Sami’s three point shooting.

Sami made 154 3's in 4 seasons w/ the Storm. Lou has made 27 3's in 2 seasons so far. I think they came up a bit short in that exchange. Sami shoots them at a higher clip too.

 

[eebmg]

Yep. Hard to understand what they were thinking.

Although it wasn't a direct trade, they basically got KLS for Howard. Not even close to equal value.

In Genos presser, they said Lou was traded to Seattle for #1 pick, his face had that subtle incredulous look followed by "hmm".

 

[MSSportsGuy]

KLS was a very good college player and while she has been a very underwhelming pro I am not ready to throw the towel in on her yet. She's young and has shown she can knock down open shots but hasn't really developed any part of her game beyond distance shooter. When she utilized as a "stretch 4" it was a terrible fit because she isn't strong enough to rebound or defend most 4 players. Her confidence has likely taken a hit but she gets another shot to make a name for herself on a veteran team.

I don't get what Seattle is doing letting two starters get way in what was essentially two players who have yet to really develop plus add another veteran in her twilight years. Keeping Prince and Tuck (for the time being) is head scratching as well. I can't see the Storm getting another title out of this group though even with Stewie and Loyd.

 

[Dillon77]

Am I understanding correctly, they traded the #1 pick for Lou?

At the end of the day, yes. To paraphrase, ESPNW's write-up:

The NY Liberty traded that No. 1 pick to the Seattle Storm in the Natasha Howard deal. Howard, 29, was a starter for the Storm's 2018 and 2020 WNBA championship teams.

Then Seattle flipped that No. 1 pick to Dallas in exchange for former UConn forward Katie Lou Samuelson and the Wings' 2022 second-round draft pick.

 

[Farney]

I enjoy the analysis of people who say Lou is the same player who got 4 minutes of game action in Chicago or had to stand on the perimeter in Dallas as Arike had the ball. It’s like you haven’t seen her play in the games in Spain. Or you think Seattle doesn’t have 2 incredibly unselfish players who draw attention and will give her the ability to use her full arsenal.

I look forward to being right on this: Lou is going to have a big year in Seattle.

 

[Huskee11]

Yep. Hard to understand what they were thinking.

Although it wasn't a direct trade, they basically got KLS for Howard. Not even close to equal value.

Looking at the transaction by itself, it looks to me more like Lou for Charli Collier.

Based upon how Lou has been playing this year in Spain, I get it. She has been outplaying a lot of big names. I will admit to not knowing much about Collier, though. 2021 seems like an unusually weak draft.

I also know teams are limited by financial considerations. Hard to keep a veteran championship team together in the WNBA, NFL, NBA, etc. Things that may not make sense often become clearer in that light. Keeping money available for Stewie is undoubtedly a priority.

 

[baggerbob]

I think we need to wait and actually see KLS play in Seattle before we declare it a good fit. Magbegor had her moments as a rookie but has a long way to go.


Again though, it's really about the defense. I'm gonna go ahead and go on the record saying those 2 will never be anywhere near as good on D as the departed pair.

Well, it's mostly about the D. Clark hit 48% and 52% behind the arc the last 2 years. She was 55% overall last year and is a 50% shooter for her career. When your 4th or 5th scoring option can average double figures and be nearly automatic behind the arc, that's pretty damn rare. KLS has a long, long, long way to go to have that kind of efficiency.

You seem pretty sure, If Ezi went to college at Uconn would be a junior. She is only 20, and has been on Australia's national team for 3 years. I firmly believe she will be a lot better then Howard. L Jackson seems to see her as the future of Australian basketball.
She knows a little more about talent then you or I.

 

[Waquoit]

If she flops here too, will the Yarders here blame her teammates and coach like they did at the other places she's been?

 

[UConnCat]

Howard wanted out of Seattle. Clark got a contract from Washington that the Storm were not willing to give her. Perhaps they should have received more for Howard but who knows what went on.

Losing Howard and Clark hurts defensively for sure. Howard was not great in the bubble.

 

[UcMiami]

Seattle is going to have to pay Stewart and Loyd both a truck load of their cap next year so signing Howard and/or Clark a boat load this year was not going to happen. Personally I think they will miss Clark more than Howard as she was so solid. They have Dupree and Magbegor to fill in for Howard (and Langhorne's retirement) and have also added Talbot and Young today to FA contracts so their forward position is getting pretty filled. MHH was drafted first round #6 by Reeves who generally does pretty well at evaluating talent. The one spot they haven't filled yet is Clark's defensive stopper and spot scorer at the guard/wing. Maybe they see Young or MHH filling that role?

I like the pickup of Lou - she has had a tough first couple of years as a pro, but I think Seattle is a great fit. Evaluators certainly seem to like her - drafted 4th, traded for the 6th pick from the year before, and then traded for this year's #1. Hard to succeed as a rookie through injury and a coach who didn't want you. But three different GM's have now evaluated her as a high first round draft value and the two GM's trading her also put a very high price on her.

 

[Dokey]

Sami made 154 3's in 4 seasons w/ the Storm. Lou has made 27 3's in 2 seasons so far. I think they came up a bit short in that exchange. Sami shoots them at a higher clip too.

This is where there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. The Sky had their 3 point specialist, the Wings had a ball hog in Arike. Lou will get her threes at Seattle.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Seattle is going to have to pay Stewart and Loyd both a truck load of their cap next year so signing Howard and/or Clark a boat load this year was not going to happen. Personally I think they will miss Clark more than Howard as she was so solid. They have Dupree and Magbegor to fill in for Howard (and Langhorne's retirement) and have also added Talbot and Young today to FA contracts so their forward position is getting pretty filled. MHH was drafted first round #6 by Reeves who generally does pretty well at evaluating talent. The one spot they haven't filled yet is Clark's defensive stopper and spot scorer at the guard/wing. Maybe they see Young or MHH filling that role?

Which Young is on Seattle now?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Which Young is on Seattle now?

Tamera. More warmed up leftovers. I'll try to contain my excitement. Didn't play last year and averaged 5 ppg in '19 for the Aces.


edit--and she's 34, so another move that flies in the face of trying to make the lineup younger

 

[MilfordHusky]

Tamera. More warmed up leftovers. I'll try to contain my excitement.

I thought TY has played well.

Try to keep and open mind. Some of the new Seattle players have been really good, but may be past their primes. Others are younger and up and coming. You seem to be focused on all the negatives but none of the positives. They couldn't keep Clark and Howard. I think they are recovering ok. Yes, the team will be different, but they still have Stewie and Sue and Jewell.

 

[nwhoopfan]

You seem pretty sure, If Ezi went to college at Uconn would be a junior. She is only 20, and has been on Australia's national team for 3 years. I firmly believe she will be a lot better then Howard. L Jackson seems to see her as the future of Australian basketball.
She knows a little more about talent then you or I.

She had a promising rookie season. Barely played in the playoffs and produced zippo, obviously the Seattle coaching staff didn't think she was ready yet when the games really mattered. Hopefully with a year of seasoning she'll make a big leap.

 

[Dokey]

Sami made 154 3's in 4 seasons w/ the Storm. Lou has made 27 3's in 2 seasons so far. I think they came up a bit short in that exchange. Sami shoots them at a higher clip too.

Sky already had a 3 point specialist, Wings had ball hog Arike. And Lou is ten years younger than Sami.

 

[UcMiami]

I also forgot that Kitija Laksa was drafted last year by the Storm but needed to recover and so did not sign but they own her rights. FYI both Young and Talbot signed training camp contracts, they have I think picks #11,22, and 33 (three picks anyway) and a roster of 14 already counting Sue, Laksa, Young, and Talbot so are probably pretty set for training camp.

 

[Dillon77]

I also forgot that Kitija Laksa was drafted last year by the Storm but needed to recover and so did not sign but they own her rights. FYI both Young and Talbot signed training camp contracts, they have I think picks #11,22, and 33 (three picks anyway) and a roster of 14 already counting Sue, Laksa, Young, and Talbot so are probably pretty set for training camp.

I'd forgotten that, as well, so I took a trip to Latvia via Google to see she's playing for TTT Riga, where -- after six games -- she's leading them in minutes played (30 mpg) and scoring at 12.8 ppg on 37% overall shooting/41% from three.

Under the title of "it's a small world," TTT Riga has been whacked twice by UMMC Ekaterinburg, featuring Jonquel Jones and one Breanna Stewart, who just might be Ms. Laska's teammate in the Pacific Northwest. BTW, they've got Laska listed as 6'1" and a small forward on the roster.

If she does come over to the WNBA, there will be a number of players vying for that small forward slot (KLS, Harrigan, Laska). Of course, in this day and age, one could probably slip over to the 2 behind Jewell Loyd. Stay tuned.

 

[Orangutan]

This is where there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. The Sky had their 3 point specialist, the Wings had a ball hog in Arike. Lou will get her threes at Seattle.

It wasn't just the raw totals, it was the percentage. She only shot 31.7% from 3 last year.

 

[Kaizen]

This is where there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. The Sky had their 3 point specialist, the Wings had a ball hog in Arike. Lou will get her threes at Seattle.

In 34 games in 2017, she averaged 4.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 12.2 minutes per game.[14]

On February 1, 2018, Whitcomb re-signed with the Storm on a multi-year deal.[15][16] She averaged 2.9 points and 8.5 minutes in 31 games during the regular season,

With the Storm in 2019, Whitcomb averaged 7.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 35 games.[14]

For the 2020 season, Whitcomb led Seattle's reserves with a career-high 8.1 points per game alongside 2.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 16.5 minutes.[23]

I think Lou will perform better than Whitcomb in Storm.

 

[Orangutan]

I like the pickup of Lou - she has had a tough first couple of years as a pro, but I think Seattle is a great fit. Evaluators certainly seem to like her - drafted 4th, traded for the 6th pick from the year before, and then traded for this year's #1. Hard to succeed as a rookie through injury and a coach who didn't want you. But three different GM's have now evaluated her as a high first round draft value and the two GM's trading her also put a very high price on her.

Chicago had to trade a first round pick in addition to Lou in order to get Stevens. Though they already had an extra first round pick from the sign-and-trade of Ndour. In aggregate, the deal ended up being more or less Ndour + Samuelson for Stevens.

She has every chance to succeed in Seattle given that she'll have more opportunity than she did in Chicago and will have better teammates and a better overall infrastructure than in Dallas. And the success she's had in Spain will surely give her confidence.

But ultimately she's got to prove she can do it in the W. The relative chaos that was the 2020 Dallas Wings didn't stop Gray or Mabrey or Sabally from performing well. I think this is a make or break season for Lou. Seattle put a lot on the line for her. Now it's time to deliver.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I think Lou will perform better than Whitcomb in Storm.

I don't. I hope she proves me wrong.

 

[chrissaran]

Great to see Breanna welcoming Katie Lou to Seattle.