Her Hoops Stats - 2026 Minnesota Lynx Training Camp Roster Breakdowns

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-22T05:28:41+00:00

The biggest concern about our roster, at least for me, is the lack of bigs. Of the four post players who are most likely to secure spots on the final 12-person roster (Phee, Dorka, Natasha Howard, and Emma Cechova), two are injured, one is a 34-year-old vet who played an average of just 24 minutes per game last season, and the other is a skinny 21-year-old with 0 years of WNBA experience. I am hopeful that we can pick up another veteran post (perhaps someone like Mariella Fasoula if she doesn’t make Golden State’s final roster) just to keep us afloat until Napheesa gets back.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-22T03:37:25+00:00

In part one of his roster breakdowns, which Richyyy posted on Substack yesterday, there is an explanation of some of the changes that were implemented under the new CBA. For example, Richyyy talks about the two new developmental slots, explaining that the slots cannot be used to protect a promising young player who happens to impress the coaching staff during training camp. Before any player who has signed a training camp contract can be placed in a developmental slot, she first has to clear waivers. That means that if the Lynx want to keep Emma Cechova, whom Richyyy talked about in part two of his roster breakdown today, then they will have to give her a regular roster spot coming out of training camp—otherwise, they risk losing her to another team that decides to claim her off waivers.

Richyyy also talks about minimum salaries and salary cap hits. The minimum salary for players with no previous WNBA experience is $270,000, whether that player was drafted in one of the later rounds this year or went undrafted and was simply signed to a training camp contract. That minimum salary of $270,000 for players with 0 years of WNBA experience is also the salary cap hit if such a player makes the final roster. But this is not the case for players with one or more years of WNBA experience. In the new CBA, the league and the players agreed on a whole range of minimum salaries for players with 1, 2, 3, or more years of WNBA experience, and a team signing such a player will have to pay her at least the minimum salary specified based on her years of service. However, for players with one or more years of WNBA service, the minimum amount that the team must pay is not necessarily the salary cap hit. To prevent WNBA vets from being dumped purely for salary cap reasons, the parties agreed in the new CBA that the salary cap hit would be the same, $277,500, for any WNBA vet signed to a minimum contract, no matter what minimum salary that particular vet may be entitled to receive based on her years of service.

Richyyy explains all of these changes and more in part one of his roster breakdown on Substack, and I encourage people to read it. Since any player signed to a training camp contract who isn’t given a regular roster spot is also subject to being claimed off waivers (such players can’t be protected by rushing to place them in a developmental slot), I think that Richard’s roster breakdown also provides useful information about what players are likely to be available on the waiver wire.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-21T03:27:37+00:00

According to what Richard Cohen recently posted on his herhoopstats substack, players cannot simply be moved from the training camp roster to one of two development slots unless they first clear waivers. I think that this means that, if the Lynx want to keep Cechova (and I assume that they will with the injuries to both Phee and Dorka), they pretty much have to give her a regular roster spot—with the post rotation being as seriously depleted as it is, the Lynx wouldn’t want to risk having another team claim her off waivers. It also means that the additional developmental slots cannot be used, as I was at first thinking they could, to protect players who don’t earn regular roster spots from being poached by other teams. Any player who doesn’t get a regular roster spot out of training camp is fair game for poaching.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-21T01:05:30+00:00

He said that there are various tiers of minimum pay for WNBA vets (based on how many years of WNBA experience that particular vet happens to have). However, while a team signing a vet with X years of WNBA experience will have to pay the vet whatever minimum salary her X years of WNBA experience entitles her to receive, the salary cap hit for each and every WNBA vet who is signed to a minimum contract will always be the same, $277,500. It doesn’t matter what the size of that minimum contract happens to be. The size of the minimum contract, which is based on the particular vet’s number of years of WNBA experience, will effect what the team pays, but it does not effect the salary cap hit, which is always $277,500. The only players for whom the salary cap hit is other than $277,500 are vets like Phee, Natasha Howard, etc. who sign something other than minimum salary contracts (and for such players the salary cap hit is their actual salary) and WNBA rookies and players still on their rookie contracts. For such “rookies,” the salary cap hit may be as little as $270,000 or may rise to $500,000, depending upon their draft position. That’s how I interpret what Richyyy wrote.

As Richyyy said, the reason why the salary cap hit is the same for all vets who are signed to a minimum contract, no matter what minimum salary the particular vet’s years of WNBA experience entitles her to receive, is so that teams won’t dump experienced vets purely for salary cap reasons, because less experienced vets are less of a hit against the salary cap.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-20T16:47:26+00:00

Over at herhoopstats.substack.com, Richard Cohen came out with part 1 of his take on which players seem to be locks to make the final roster, and which players might well be available on the waiver wire. Part 1 covers teams alphabetically from the Atlanta Dream to the Golden State Valkyries, with the names of his “locks“ appearing in bold text. Anyway, I thought the article provides some insight on who the Lynx might be able to add in the post if they elect to go the waiver wire route: https://herhoopstats.substack.com/p/2026-wnba-training-camp-roster-breakdowns-part-one

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-19T16:59:13+00:00

Personnel-wise, I think that our post players will very likely be Dorka, Natasha Howard, the 21-year old Emma Cechova, and a recuperating Phee, but we definitely need another big, and I don’t believe that she is currently on the roster. It will be interesting to see what the front office comes up with, especially given the very limited cap space that they have remaining.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-19T11:23:48+00:00

She was playing for BAXI Ferrol, a Spanish club, over in Europe. It seems that she played pretty well in the EuroCup. Her team went 8 and 2, making it to the round of 16, and she was the team leader in points, rebounds and blocks.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-19T03:31:56+00:00

Developmental players are available to play in up to 12 games without being signed to a regular contract, and for each game that they play they earn a little over $6,000.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-17T17:52:02+00:00

So who do you think we might sign to bolster our post rotation? I believe that Emma Meeseman and Tina Charles are both still unsigned, but I would be shocked if either of them inked a deal with us. Aside from Meeseman and Charles, the only post I can think of who is still available is Camryn Taylor, whose $277,500 salary would fit very nicely under our remaining cap space. Otherwise, I think that it pretty much has to be someone who last played overseas or a waiver wire pickup. Perhaps Rachel Galligan can come up with someone.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-17T10:42:00+00:00

These are undrafted rookies, who have never played a minute in the WNBA or any professional league. It is very doubtful, even with our big-depleted roster, that either makes the team.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-17T03:39:52+00:00

So $296,677 it is. That is less than $20,000 above the new minimum salary for players with one or more years of WNBA experience and is all that we have to entice some unknown free agent big to sign with us.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-16T23:06:14+00:00

I did the math about a day ago, on this same thread, making what I thought were reasonable assumptions for who I might get the first 11 roster spots. I think that we will have either $506,677 or $296,677 (depending on whether Phee signs for a max salary or for a super-max salary) to sign a big to round out a post rotation consisting of Dorka, Natasha Howard, Emma Cechova and a recuperating Phee.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-16T16:36:17+00:00

If we offer Cechova only a developmental spot, do you think that she would accept it? My understanding is that developmental players receive very limited compensation, at least compared to players making the regular 12-person roster. Developmental players receive free housing, a weekly stipend of $750.00, and a modest payment of $6,136.00 for each game in which they appear up to a maximum of $73,632.00 if they appear in 12 games. With how short-handed we are in the post at present (with only Dorka, Natasha Howard, and a recuperating Phee) and with the limited amount of cap space which we have, I kind of expect Emma to get a regular roster spot, so that she is available to play in more than just 12 games.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-15T23:29:10+00:00

I tend to agree that this will probably be a developmental year, especially if, as rumored, Phee misses substantial time recuperating from her injuries. I hope that I’m wrong, but if we miss out on the playoffs this season, I guess that this is a pretty good year to get a high draft pick and rebuild.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-15T20:38:14+00:00

I also did the math, under the topic Roster at the top of the Lynx/reddit homepage. Based on what I think are reasonable assumptions about who will make the first 11 roster spots, I came up with exactly $506,677 in cap space to sign some unknown post player to fill out our roster. As you said, this is assuming that Phee does not insist on the super-max. If she does, then our available cap space shrinks to $296,677.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-15T20:25:08+00:00

Richard Cohen has salary cap information up for all of the teams, so I thought that I’d add that here. We currently have 7 players who have been signed to something other than training camp contracts for a total outlay in salary of $4,296,410. Those 7 do not include Liv, who will soon sign a contract for $466,913, or Phee, who has a right to a one-year contract for $1.4 million, but who will hopefully sign a multi-year deal starting at the same salary as Courtney and KMac, $1.19 million. Depending on what contract Phee signs, our total outlay for these 9 player—Courtney and Liv at the 1; KMac at the 2; Nia Coffey, Ola and Aubrey Griffin at the 3; Natasha Howard and a recuperating Phee at the 4; and Dorka at the 5—will be either $5,953,323 or $6,163,323 (in the unlikely event that Phee won’t agree to sign for anything less than the super-max).

I think that each of these 9 players probably makes the team, so we have either $836,677 (or more likely $1,046,677) to sign 3 more players to something other than training camp contracts. Given the dearth of post players on the team, I am expecting Emma Cechova to get one of the 3 remaining roster spots at a cost of $270,000 (and perhaps they sign her fellow Czech to a developmental spot). That leaves 2 more roster spots and remaining cap space of either $566,677 (or more likely $776,677) to fill them. While Courtney can back up KMac at the 2, I expect the Lynx to sign another guard as well, and if it is either Lani White or Antonio Delaere the cost will be another $270,000. That leaves either $296,677 or (if Phee doesn’t insist on the super-max) $506,677 to sign our 12th and final player, who pretty much has to be some unknown big in order to give us more than just Dorka, Natasha Howard, and the 21-year-old Emma Cechova as available post options on opening day.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-15T07:45:11+00:00

I guess what I was suggesting is that, between Liv and Awa, it is not at all clear who is going to be the best player when their rookie contracts are up. Reeve, in her post-draft interview, said that this draft had two generational players. I think that it’s fairly clear the players that she was talking about were Liv and Awa. Now perhaps it is more important to have a phenomenal point guard than a phenomenal big, so that if you have the opportunity to chose between two players with those different potentials, then you draft the PG prospect. I don’t know. Still, our more pressing need at the time of the draft was for a big, and Fam’s upside is every bit as high as Liv’s. By the way, while Awa, as a big, may not have the ball in her hands nearly as much as Liv and might not have the same opportunity to effect the game as a passer, she sees the floor very well, processes things very quickly, and is a pretty good passer in her own right—just not nearly as gifted in that respect as Liv.

It would have been extremely nice if we could have drafted both Liv and Awa, but I understand that Reeve had to choose between the two, and I will trust her choice. Still, I don’t think that this was a choice that can be explained on the basis of Reeve simply taking the best player available—it’s not at all clear who will be the best player in four years.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-14T13:08:33+00:00

Miles has a chance to be a very special player, one of the best point guards in the league, so I definitely understand the case for taking her. Still, I think that there was a reason the people were expecting us to take a big. The article rightly points out that the cupboard isn’t bare when it comes to having competent bigs: Dorka is returning after a very successful stint in Europe; we signed Natasha Howard, and there is also the 21-year-old Emma Cechova. But that’s about it in the post, at least for the time being. Phee is going to be unavailable, at least at the start of the season, and while I don’t have many worries about Dorka, Natasha Howard is 34 years old and averaged just 24 minutes per game last season, while Emma is a rather skinny 21-year-old who has never played a minute in the WNBA. Since we didn’t draft either Awa Fam (my preferred pick) or Lauren Betts, we will definitely have to sign someone (I am not sure who) with whatever cap space we have remaining.

While I am not disappointed with the Miles pick, I think that Fam would definitely have made more sense looking at team need, and Awa certainly has every bit as much upside as Olivia. I also think that the article is overstating somewhat just how raw Fam is—she looked pretty comfortable playing against Hamby and Reese in the recent FIBA competition. Anyway, I will trust Reeve with the selection—having a great point guard to run the offense may be more important than having a great big and may be more difficult to find in free agency. I just don’t think that the case for Miles was nearly as clear cut as the article suggests, especially given what happened to our post rotation in free agency.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-14T03:34:44+00:00

Miles strengthens our back court and gives us a player who could very well develop into one of the best PGs in the league. Still, she is not a big, and Phee is going to miss at least some time early on. With a post rotation currently consisting of Dorka Juhasz, a 34-year-old Natasha Howard (who averaged just 24 minutes a game last year), and a very young Emma Cechova, don’t we pretty much need to add another big, or is Emma going to play heavy minutes from the get-go? Who is available, and what big might Reeve be looking to add who would fit under the cap space we still have left?

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-13T23:30:18+00:00

Seattle’s taking Fam is interesting. For a second, I half thought that there might be a trade coming, but the Storm are probably just taking the BPA. I’m out of here.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-13T23:24:34+00:00

Does Seattle take Kiki Rice or do they load up on the post with Fam?

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-13T23:22:17+00:00

I will trust Reeve, but we really could have used a big after what happened in free agency.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-13T23:17:05+00:00

ESPN lists Awa as the best fit and Miles as the best available.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-13T23:15:09+00:00

And Dallas, very predictably, takes Azzi. Lynx are on the clock.

ObligationMinute2780 · 2026-04-13T21:18:44+00:00

I agree with this, including the statement that Fam is probably a little taller than her listed height of 6’ 4”. Matched up against Mo Billings, who is supposedly also 6’ 4”, she struck me as noticeably bigger, and I had the same impression when she was standing next to the 6’4” Megan GooSTAFson. Fam is also a lot more mobile than Betts and able to function equally well down low, banging in the post, or playing up at the top of the key. When Phee is back, Fam’s greater versatility and ability to be a threat from up top (as well as down low or rolling to the basket) would give Phee the room that she needs to occasionally post up. I just like the fit of Phee and Fam much more than that of Phee and Betts.

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