By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Liberty seek a rare title repeat after a wild close-season of sensational trades and signings across the league, as the WNBA looks to build on the momentum of a transformative 2024.
The Liberty’s core trio of Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu will return after delivering New York’s first title, with pundits expecting the team to make good use of new addition Natasha Cloud’s defensive mindset at guard.
The 2022 assists leader Cloud came to New York on a trade from the Phoenix Mercury, amid a league-wide reshuffle that has familiar faces on unfamiliar teams and eight new coaches across the 13-team WNBA.
The Mercury had perhaps the most dramatic reorganization, with Diana Taurasi retiring after two decades, the 10-time All-Star Brittney Griner going to the Atlanta Dream and guard Sophie Cunningham joining Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever.
Taking their place are Alyssa Thomas, the five-time All-Star who was once considered the face of the Connecticut Sun, and the Dallas Wings’ beloved forward Satou Sabally, joining the 2021 finals MVP Kahleah Copper.
“Phoenix continues to be intriguing because similar to last year, they’re top-loaded,” Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo told reporters. “The question is, how good are those complementary pieces going to be around those three?”
A clear winner of the close-season were the Fever, who brought in Cunningham and the steady veteran hands of Natasha Howard and DeWanna Bonner to aid their 2023 Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston and 2024’s top newcomer Clark.
Clark, the assists leader last year, emerged from the break visibly more muscular, going into the season as a possible MVP candidate.
“She has more strength to her, and you know, that was the thing a season ago, was young players, when they come in, I think one of the biggest adjustments is how physical the WNBA is,” said Lobo.
“How much better, how much stronger is she going to feel come playoff time or nearing the end of the season because of the strength she put on and how she’s able to absorb that contact a little bit better.”
The best player in the league A’ja Wilson will be uninterested in handing over that MVP title, however, after she became the first player to score 1,000 points in a single season.
Her Las Vegas Aces lost fan favourite Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks and beloved rookie Kate Martin to expansion team Golden State Valkyries but added the 2023 top scorer Jewell Loyd from the Seattle Storm.
A leader on and off the court, Wilson released her first signature shoe through Nike days before the start of the season and fans can expect her to be the architect of success again after winning titles in 2022 and 2023.
“I’m blessed to be able to be in such an elite league that I can learn every single day from others but also teach others as well at any point,” she told reporters.
“I’m grateful, I’m going to keep trying to do that as much as I can because I was once that young girl in the league trying to come up.”
The WNBA season tips off on Friday.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
