RebKell's Junkie Boards

[root_thing]

[Shades]

https://justwomenssports.com/stephanie-white-phoenix-mercury-head-coach-finalist-wnba/

[Richyyy]

I definitely saw Chasity Melvin mentioned somewhere as well, I think as someone who interviewed for one of the open positions.

Nakase does have a fair amount of coaching experience, just not all of it in the US. As more women start getting employed on the men's side I think we're going to have to get used to that being a pool that WNBA teams reach into when they have head coach openings. What's going to be interesting is if more male assistants in the men's game start seeing the WNBA as a viable route to advancing their careers. Because if those guys want to apply for WNBA openings and are willing to do the job for regular WNBA-level salaries, they're going to draw interest.

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

[PickledGinger]

I'm sure this has been discussed before but how are Sophie Cunningham and Alanna Smith both Unrestricted with only 3 years of play? It's supposed to be 5.

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Unspoken expectations are just premeditated resentments.

[Richyyy]

[Shades]

[PickledGinger]

But does anyone have an aswer as to why that happened? Did Phoenix mis-file their contracts or something?

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Unspoken expectations are just premeditated resentments.

[root_thing]

No, it’s not like Phoenix management held a press conference and announced, “Shit, we screwed up!” Richyyy has a theory that makes the most sense. There is a rule change that takes effect in 2022 that forces a team to guarantee the 4th year of a rookie contract if they pick up the option. Consequently, management has to think harder about whether they want to keep a player. In all likelihood, the Mercury front office thought this rule kicked in last season. They weren’t happy with the performance of Cunningham and Smith through their first two years, so the team decided not to pick up their options. In reality, Phoenix had another season to evaluate risk-free. Cunningham then went out and had a much better season, changing everyone’s opinion of her. And that’s how we got here: Oooops!

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You can always do something else.

[Richyyy]

There's also the element that I've also been going on about on Twitter - https://twitter.com/RichardCohen1/status/1478862276551753728?s=20 - which is that they're so close to the cap that they can't even afford Kia Nurse's qualifying offer (whether you'd want to give it to an injured player anyway is a separate question). Cunningham and Smith would've been a similar price, so they would've been forced to make roster moves to get under the cap by now. So Smith probably would've been cut anyway, but they could've kept Cunningham instead of Megan Walker, for example.

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

[Shades]

Phoenix waives Megan Walker.

So maybe that’s a sign they’ll keep Cunningham, if possible?

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Nnekalonians 1:14 - Thou shalt not accept that which is not earned

[SCook]

[Richyyy]

[WNBA 09]

[mercfan]

So which reporters got played?

Cause I ain’t see a coach.

[johnjohnW]

Is there a rumor? A coaching announcement on a Friday night wouldn't inspire much confidence in me.

[ChicagoAnnie]

[mercfan]

[Luuuc]

[UK1996]

Joke

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Kentucky Wildcats, Sky, & Spurs

[mercfan]

Coaching news aside, after dumping Walker, who is realistically in the Mercury market without moving any of the big three? I've always had my eye on DeShields but she may be out of our price range and we may not have a spot for her to get a bunch of playing time.

We desperately need to upgrade our post presence off the bench. Does Elizabeth Williams have a home for next year? She may be a nice fit to spot minutes for Griner.

[Richyyy]

[mercfan]

[Richyyy]

[TotalCardinalMove]

[johnjohnW]

Man this new salary cap is gonna make free agency dull and brutal going forward.