RebKell's Junkie Boards

[J-Spoon]

It is not KLS going to Seattle that is the problem. KLS has a chance to do well in Seattle IMO. It is trading the #1 pick for her (especially when you consider that KLS before the trade was on the bubble in Dallas anyway)

Harris/Jefferson
Ogunbowale/Mabrey
Gray/Thorton/KLS
Sabally/Alarie/Gustafson
Harrison/NDour

pick 2, pick 5, pick 7

Even if Ndour doesn't play you have to cut two more from above to fit the first round picks in and Jefferson and Harrison have guaranteed contracts

I am not sure flipping PX's 1st round pick in 22 for MHH is going to be a very good look either

since you can technically include Talbot as part of the Howard trade considering Seattle basically got her from NY for an UFA they could have just signed the end result is

package 1
#1 pick in 2021 from NY, 1st round pick in 2022 from PX (Probably 5 to 9ish, but could be a lottery pick), 2nd round pick in 2022 from NY and Talbot

vs package 2 where they ended up
2nd round pick in 2022 from NY, KLS, MHH and Talbot

I find it hard to argue that package 2 is better than package 1 even if you are win now. You still have your core of Bird, Loyd and Stewart, you've got young bigs in Russell and Magbegor, you've brought in vet role players in Prince, Dupree, TY Young and Talbot, the #1 pick in 21 and two first round picks in 22 (Your own and PX's) is a great way to stay competitive now and build towards the future.

[Rock Hard]

[Richyyy]

In case anyone's interested, I wrote about all these deals, plus favourite and least favourite deals from free agency - Tradepocalypse, plus deals I like and don't like from WNBA Free Agency so far: https://herhoopstats.substack.com/p/tradepocalypse-wnba-free-agency-likes-dislikes

[CamrnCrz1974]

[SDHoops]

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

Richyyyy always writes well-written and thought provoking material. I haven’t read this yet but just seeing the blurb and Cam’s quote. I’ll add two things.

On Nurse, I agree with Cam. Even with her shooting struggles last year you can see she’s worked on aspects of her game. Her mid-range shot creation is a work in progress in a positive way. And she’s improved at getting free throw attempts.

On KLS, it’s interesting how a team like Seattle with a defensive structure is trading draft capital for an offense-first player with potential to be a force as well as potential to be forever a tweener without a starting role. It shows how the new salary structure is forcing teams into making “outside the box” moves. Teams built around multiple vets with star power are going to be hard to keep together.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[Richyyy]

Thanks Cam. I did say I still had plenty of hope for Nurse once she was back in a more suitable role (but as mentioned in the piece, what do they do in a year? Her rookie-scale deal ends, and they still have Taurasi/Diggins-Smith/Hartley under big contracts. It's an expensive rental).

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Independent WNBA coverage: http://www.wnbalien.com/

[root_thing]

Great job as usual Richyyy. It just blows my mind that Hamby will make less than Danielle Robinson and Lavender, or for that matter, Achonwa and Whitcomb. And that deal Sykes signed leaves me speechless. She must really, really, really love LA or she should fire her agent.

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You can always do something else.

[CamrnCrz1974]

[canadaball]

Great article

[DFWub2018]

[Shades]

[Michelle89]

[root_thing]

[Rock Hard]

The market dictates how much money you can earn. If there is a team that wants to pay player X a high dollar amount that is what the player should take. If any player take a deal that is less than what she is worth then that is on the player and her agent.

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You can win, as long as you keep your head to the SKY! Be OPTIMISTIC!

[tfan]

The weakest #1 pick since 1999 based on minutes played, was Janel McCarville who played 11.1 mpg in 28 games with 1.8 ppg in her rookie season.
Ann Wauters is the only other #1 pick in that period to average less than 20 (Samuelson was 20 mpg in 2020, 7.7 mpg in 2019) - 18.7 minutes for 32 games with 6.2 ppg.

Beyond "what is available at #1 instead of her", Samuelson has the question mark of is she a WNBA starter-level player. If they are trading for her in order to potentially win a championship with her starting at the three, she should be a starter level three. The jury may still be out on that. I think everyone would list her strength as 3-point shooting, but she is only shooting a career 30.3% from three [27.6% 2019, 31.7% 2020].

[Randy]

I would have least waited until draft night to see who declares and what offers could be had before trading No. 1. Another interesting question is whether Dallas would have ended up waiving KLS given their glut of player and draft picks.

[Iluvacc]

[willtalk]

I don't think she is as bad a defender as everyone makes he out to be. I watched her closely when she played for the USA qualifying team last year and whe was better than the player she rotated with. At least for that limited period of time. Often players get a reputation, either bad or good, and the keep it way beyond the point it no longer applies.

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No one one is ever as good as their best game, nor as bad as their worst.

[root_thing]

I don't think Katie Lou is that slow when she's healthy. The problem is that she always seems to have some kind of nagging injury -- foot, ankle, knee, whatever. At UConn, she didn't miss many games but was always playing injured. That leaves you functionally slow which is what counts. I know she missed time with Chicago due to a hand injury. That probably affected her shooting, which explains the underperformance in what is supposed to be her best skill. Throw in the difficulty of playing off the bench for long-range shooters, and that's how we get to where we are.

I think if she's healthy and can get regular minutes, Samuelson will be fine. However, recent history indicates that she is injury prone.

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You can always do something else.

[IM in OC]

[craigmont]

[RavenDog]

[PUmatty]

[Iluvacc]