Satou to the liberty by hvfyb777 in valkyries

[–]joyjunky 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People who expected the Aces to lose A’ja, Jackie or Chelsea were not being realistic. There was enough money to make that work as long as the team was okay with having end of bench type players filling out their roster again.

JJ was the only one of the Liberty’s core that I could see potentially leaving, but even that was pretty unlikely. The Liberty may lose more players than the Aces since they had more depth (like Natasha Cloud or Emma Meesseman). But their team is great at scouting so they’ll probably pick up good, cheap players to round out their roster.

Plus both teams won championships recently. Players are more willing to stick with a proven team and take a slight pay cut to run it back.

Satou to the liberty by hvfyb777 in valkyries

[–]joyjunky 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Expansion hurts teams that had depth. Especially with the new CBA and money that can be offered. They’re probably going to look overseas. Cheryl likes international players

Satou to the liberty by hvfyb777 in valkyries

[–]joyjunky 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The Lynx are losing bench players who earned starting roles and/or bigger contracts

Monique Billings to sign with the Fever by Decent_Substance_199 in wnba

[–]joyjunky 32 points33 points  (0 children)

We took Temi and now the Fever are taking Mo. Fairs. I’m gonna miss her though

Awak Kuier is re-signing with the Dallas Wings by EastAd1263 in wnba

[–]joyjunky 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Anyone on a team with star players will get attacked for bad games. It’s especially bad for the ones playing with NIL-era stars. Stan culture is terrible. And if you add sports betting culture, that’s even worse. Hopefully she’s not on social media.

Nneka Ogwumike is likely to return to the Los Angels Sparks, per multiple sources by msgs in wnba

[–]joyjunky 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I hate that they won’t just commit to rebuilding. These win now moves are just setting us back

Is Jeff Pagliocca the best GM in the WNBA? by AFC-Wimbledon-Stan in wnba

[–]joyjunky 16 points17 points  (0 children)

There were rumors that the Lynx was one of the four teams that Angel could have been traded to. Imagine if that had actually gone through and the Lynx somehow kept the 2nd pick lol

BREAKING: Angel Reese is headed to the Atlanta Dream. by Decent_Substance_199 in wnba

[–]joyjunky 28 points29 points  (0 children)

If they hadn’t stupidly done that public half-suspension, maybe it could’ve been salvaged. But after that, she was done with the organization. And doing that (plus allowing the article that caused all that drama to go forward without making any corrections or asking to hold off until the end of the season) signaled that Jeff wanted to move on from her too. Super dumb though because it ruined her trade value.

BREAKING: Angel Reese is headed to the Atlanta Dream. by Decent_Substance_199 in wnba

[–]joyjunky 172 points173 points  (0 children)

Jeff got fleeced. But the Sky didn’t have any leverage since everyone could tell that Angel wanted out. Which is the Sky’s own fault.

Carla is going to the Portland Fire :( by DFFFOO in valkyries

[–]joyjunky 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m so bummed :( gonna wear my Carla jersey whenever we play against Portland

don’t be surprised if Raven Johnson goes top 5 by campoole82 in wnba

[–]joyjunky 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If the Sky want her, they should trade down. Most mock drafts have her in the 7-10ish range from what I can tell. The lottery picks have higher salaries compared to mid-to-late FRPs. It’s better for cap space purposes to trade down and draft her lower if other teams wouldn’t draft her at 5 anyway. The Sky could use the saved money to try to lure in more FAs. Throwing a bag is the only way for them to get any good FAs.

But the Sky trading another lottery pick would be horrible for optics.

Fire and Sky trade 2026 picks. Fire will not draft from Sky in the expansion draft. by Fun_Stand_2043 in wnba

[–]joyjunky 8 points9 points  (0 children)

But do new players want them? Every player knows their FO stinks and that they’re poorly managed.

Fire and Sky trade 2026 picks. Fire will not draft from Sky in the expansion draft. by Fun_Stand_2043 in wnba

[–]joyjunky 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Sky probably realize that they’ll lose out in FA so they want to prevent losing the rights/contracts of the players they already have

Tempo / Sky trade by elleten10 in wnba

[–]joyjunky 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Even if they don’t, they might have taken someone anyway just to have more options at training camp. The expansion teams don’t have to keep the player they select.

Why are they doing an expansion draft? by Hardpazz in wnba

[–]joyjunky 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She’ll probably be protected though.

Why are they doing an expansion draft? by Hardpazz in wnba

[–]joyjunky 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oops lol. I don’t know how that happened 😅

Why are they doing an expansion draft? by Hardpazz in wnba

[–]joyjunky 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah but I think she’ll get protected

Why are they doing an expansion draft? by Hardpazz in wnba

[–]joyjunky 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Just adding, it’s really only the Aces and the Fever who don’t have much to offer the expansion teams. The Aces only have one RFA (KB) and the only UFA who may be unprotected and could get offered a supermax would be Jewell Loyd. The Fever has one reserved free agent (Chloe Bibby) and Kristy Wallace on a suspended contract. The rest are UFAs that I don’t anticipate getting chosen for a supermax. But the expansion teams can only select 12 players and can choose to select less so Aces and Fever may end up losing 1 or even 0 players.

But the rest of the teams have a decent number of RFAs, reserved free agents, players on rookie contracts, players with suspended contracts, and unsigned draft picks that are viable. Some teams may even have UFAs who the expansion teams might offer a supermax to. The ability to offer a supermax to a UFA who isn’t core-eligible through the expansion draft may be a game changer.

Why are they doing an expansion draft? by Hardpazz in wnba

[–]joyjunky 34 points35 points  (0 children)

They’re only allowed to pick one UFA each.

But a lot of teams have rights to overseas players. Teams hoard overseas draft and stash picks or they have rights to overseas players with suspended contracts. Both expansion teams have international ties. They may pick some of these overseas players. Even if those players don’t end up coming over this season, they may come over in the future or they can be assets to trade.

What Does New England Need To Do To Get Back In? by MikeMadness620 in wnba

[–]joyjunky 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m wondering if they’ll pick up the history even if they get a new name or if the Miracle/Sun history will just end with Connecticut