WNBA -- 2023 Season | The Boneyard

WNBA -- 2023 Season

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Training camps starting soon and roster news has already begun


Whoa...
That decision seemed almost pre-determined.
The good news for Engstler is it could give her time to get to another camp.
 
Whoa...
That decision seemed almost pre-determined.
The good news for Engstler is it could give her time to get to another camp.
Reports on social media state that she's been dealing with a back injury while playing overseas, so it will be interesting to see if she can make a W roster this season.
 
Need to find the tweet, but I recall that Balogun was released by the Aces as well. She was a long shot to make the squad considering the roster. Hopefully she'll find opportunities overseas.
 
Need to find the tweet, but I recall that Balogun was released by the Aces as well. She was a long shot to make the squad considering the roster. Hopefully she'll find opportunities overseas.

Per the WNBA transactions, she has
 
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Fever have waived their top picks from the 2020 (#3), 2021 (#4) and 2022 (#4) drafts.
Chicago lost both Diamond Deshields (#3) and Gabby Williams (#4) from 2018, Katie Lou Samuelson (#4) from 2019, waived their 2021 #8 pick Shyla Heal and traded their first round picks for the next three drafts for Marina Mabrey. At least Indiana has a solid young core.
 
Need to find the tweet, but I recall that Balogun was released by the Aces as well. She was a long shot to make the squad considering the roster. Hopefully she'll find opportunities overseas.
She was waived the same day she showed up to camp. So it seems likely was deemed not fit to play, perhaps nursing a injury.
 
Chicago lost both Diamond Deshields (#3) and Gabby Williams (#4) from 2018, Katie Lou Samuelson (#4) from 2019, waived their 2021 #8 pick Shyla Heal and traded their first round picks for the next three drafts for Marina Mabrey. At least Indiana has a solid young core.
They had a solid core last year too with who they drafted (Henderson, Egbo, Hill and Engstler). I get it's a numbers game but man, wouldn't it be best to see how she fared against this incoming draft class? Cripes, she's a great rebounder. Seeing her battle against Saxton would be fun to watch.
 
They had a solid core last year too with who they drafted (Henderson, Egbo, Hill and Engstler). I get it's a numbers game but man, wouldn't it be best to see how she fared against this incoming draft class? Cripes, she's a great rebounder. Seeing her battle against Saxton would be fun to watch.
Just read that she was waived because of an ongoing injury.

 
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Just read that she was waived because of an ongoing injury.



Fair, but I've also heard she's been on site training for the last few months. If she's able to train, why not give her a week to prove whether she's healthy enough? Something doesn't make sense to me but it's a gut feeling on my part.
 
Fair, but I've also heard she's been on site training for the last few months. If she's able to train, why not give her a week to prove whether she's healthy enough? Something doesn't make sense to me but it's a gut feeling on my part.
If that's the case, I'm with you. It's not as if she was a total wash in her rookie year: played 18 mpg, averaged 5.2 ppg and rpg, which is pretty much the same scoring rate as Destanni Henderson and 1.4 ppg more than Lexie Hull.
Give her a week to 10 days to see how she matches up with last year's team and this year's rookies.

If she's feeling ok from that back injury, look for her to pop up somewhere that likes tough, defensive play. For some reason, I could see James Wade asking her to drive north and slightly west to Chicago.
 
If Engstler is injured does she still take up a roster spot? That can't be the whole reason they cut her. Linn Dunn is 75... and it shows :(
 
If Engstler is injured does she still take up a roster spot? That can't be the whole reason they cut her. Linn Dunn is 75... and it shows :(
No her contract is not guaranteed. Unfortunately the W doesn't really allow much room for retaining non-franchise players who are injured with it's strict cap space, especially one with an early first round salary. I get why the waived her but it still stinks. This is why the league at the very minimum needs to start expanding rosters .
 
No her contract is not guaranteed. Unfortunately the W doesn't really allow much room for retaining non-franchise players who are injured with it's strict cap space, especially one with an early first round salary. I get why the waived her but it still stinks. This is why the league at the very minimum needs to start expanding rosters .
Good post and I'm so with you. I've really got to wonder just how long league management will put off some degree of expanding rosters or adding another team or two. Given the increased attention on WBB, one would think you've got to invest some resources to grow the sport -- it's necessary. Not to mention, they're practically cannabilizing their product. :mad:
 
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If I was Phoenix I'd look to sign her and Chennedy Carter. Both young and talented and can play multiple positions on a team that is a bit older
 
Richard Choen of Herhoopstats is back with this training-camp primer, which gives an excellent overview of each team going into camps. It will bring you up to speed when looking at the transactions over at the WNBA site.

 
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I think about this daily. And Elissa Cunane
She's in the Connecticut Sun camp trying to grab a spot at power forward. Here's Richard Cohen's projected depth chart for the Sun at that position. Cox, from what I was able to read, had a pretty good winter overseas.
PF: Alyssa Thomas/Lauren Cox/Mikiah Herbert Harrigan/Caitlin Bickle

As for Cunane, she's not listed on anybody's training camp roster.
 
I still can’t believe that Lauren Cox never panned out in the league. I thought was pro ready on both ends coming out of college :oops:
Same. If there’s something to be learned from her and Kalani Brown’s situation, it’s that overall mobility and athleticism seem to trump everything else when it comes to making it in the W these days.
 
Same. If there’s something to be learned from her and Kalani Brown’s situation, it’s that overall mobility and athleticism seem to trump everything else when it comes to making it in the W these days.
I think that's a really solid observation and, in some cases, some players can't get past that (I think of Brown and Alaina Coates here). However, I also think you've got to have/develop a well-rounded game that needs to be continually fine-tuned and worked on. A successful example of a player doing this was Megan Gustafsson, who is still not a guarantee with Phoenix, but had a really solid off-season in Greece. Cox has worked hard oveseas...we'll (maybe) see if it leads to a spot. Another player who seems to working hard to add to her game is Kylee Shook, who held on for a bit, got cut, but has worked overseas to fine-tune what she can bring to a WNBA team.
Roster or team expansion might help, but this is one tough league for a lesser or not-athletically-gifted big.
 

Interesting that Hammon's is in consideration. As a Raptors fan, I'm excited about the idea for selfish reasons. At the same time, it would be a big loss to Vegas if this does happen. A'ja isn't happy per Twitter from what I've seen.
 

Interesting that Hammon's is in consideration. As a Raptors fan, I'm excited about the idea for selfish reasons. At the same time, it would be a big loss to Vegas if this does happen. A'ja isn't happy per Twitter from what I've seen.
Maybe it's just me, but for some reason your embedded link isn't working. Can you re-post just the hyperlink? Thanks!
 
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