6 Questions Entering Seattle Storm Training Camp

Here are the most pressing questions entering the 2026 WNBA season.

It’s been another wild WNBA offseason. This year, we weren’t even sure if we were going to have a 2026 season or not, as the CBA negotiations went well past the initial deadlines. The WNBA season was in jeopardy of being delayed or, worse yet, canceled. Fortunately, all the parties were finally able to come to an agreement that will pay the players significantly more money over the next several years.

Due to the CBA hangups, the league has had to cram in an expansion draft, free agency, the amateur/college draft, and training camp all within a couple of weeks.

I questioned which direction the Storm would go in after parting ways with Coach Noelle Quinn and hiring Sonia Raman. Would they still try to build around aging veterans, Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins, to try one last shot at a WNBA title? Or would they use the coaching change as a fresh start to start over with a major rebuild, building around their youth? Once we learned that Ogwumike was headed back to Los Angeles and Diggins moved closer to her home in Chicago, we had our answer.

It was the correct decision in my opinion. It felt like the right time to press the reset button on the franchise. They have younger players who have shown great promise already in Jordan Horston and Dominique Malonga. The team had a Top 3 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft and additional picks early in the draft. They’re already able to build a strong young core with that, and if they happen to be in the lottery again in 2027, they’re going to get another excellent player out of college. Plus, if any franchise knows the benefits of building around a young core through the draft, it’s the Storm. They’ve had the #1 overall pick four times in franchise history (Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, and Breanna Stewart). Those four picks are directly responsible for four WNBA Championships.

The Storm may have expedited their rebuild due to some potential luck and savvy business moves during the WNBA Draft. They selected Awa Fam with the third overall pick. Many analysts had her as the top prospect with the highest upside in the draft. Then they pulled off an impressive trade with the Golden State Valkyries to acquire LSU star guard, Flau’jae Johnson.

When entering a new era of Seattle Storm basketball, there are going to be a lot of questions to ask. Here are the top six questions I have entering training camp and the start of the 2026 WNBA season.

1. Will Ezi’s Offense Return?

Ezi Magbegor had her lowest statistical output since her 2nd year in the WNBA when she was just 21 years old. Magbegor averaged just 8.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.2 APG, and 2.2 BPG. Over the past couple of years, Magbegor had to take a backseat to Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, Gabby Williams, among others. She was often relegated to just being the team’s defensive anchor. They rarely would ever run plays or sets for Ezi on the offensive side of the ball.

I’ve long believed Magbegor has more to offer on the offensive end of the court. She demonstrated that in 2023 when she averaged around 14.0 PPG and 8.0 RPG and was named to the WNBA All-Star team. We’ve also seen it during her International play. She put up 30 points in the 2024 Bronze Medal game, helping lead Team Australia over Team Belgium.

Magbegor has often had to defer to others, as I wrote about in my previous article. In 2026, she should be given significantly more opportunities. Skylar Diggins, Nneka Ogwumike, Gabby Williams, Brittney Sykes, and Erica Wheeler all left during free agency. I think the majority of those were the team’s decision, but there is no denying that Seattle lost a ton of talent and a lot of scorers. They are going to need the remaining (and new) players to step up. Maybe none more so than Magbegor.

Ezi doesn’t necessarily have to be the team’s #1 option on offense, even if she’s now making close to a supermax salary ($1.25 million). Dominique Malonga may be the team’s leading scorer this season, but even if she is, it’s not like she’s going to score 30-40 PPG. Seattle will need Magbegor to step up her offensive game and her consistency on that end. Ezi should have the opportunity to be a 15 PPG player and the potential to earn another All-Star honor this season.

I’m really curious to see if Coach Sonia Raman dials up more actions for Ezi to score than Coach Quinn did. And if so, I’m interested to see if Magbegor takes full advantage of those opportunities.

2. Will They Play Awa at the 3?

One of the biggest questions entering training camp and the Storm’s 2026 season will be how the Storm fit 6’4” Ezi Magbegor, 6’6” Dominique Malonga, and 6’4” Awa Fam together? Would they dare play all three at the same time? Sue Bird recently talked about the insane height of WNBA athletes today on a recent episode of A Touch More. She said the New York Liberty might go with a lineup of Sabrina Ionescu (5’11”), Leonie Fiebich (6’4”), Satou Sabally (6’4”), Breanna Stewart (6’4”), and Jonquel Jones (6’6”). The Storm have the athletes to have a similarly tall lineup. They could roll out there with Natisha Hiedeman (5’8”), Jordan Horston (6’2”), Awa (6’4”), Ezi (6’4”), and Dom (6’6”).

Last year, for a similar article to this one, I asked if we would see a lineup where Coach Quinn played Ezi, Nneka, and Dom all at the same time. As the season progressed, more and more wondered if it would happen. Per the Advanced Stats page, it never happened during the regular season. It only happened in the final minute of the team’s last playoff game against the Las Vegas Aces. Ironically, they gave up an offensive rebound to 6’0” Jackie Young, ending the Storm’s season.

I don’t blame Quinn too much for not trying the lineup earlier, because after the team traded away Li Yueru, they were really lacking size off the bench. They missed Jordan Horston’s height a lot last season. Or even a player like Katie Lou Samuelson (6’3”), even if she’s not a post player. It wouldn’t be fair to use Mackenzie Holmes (6’3”), who rejoined the team later in the year, as the only post player off the bench as a third-round rookie. With that said, when the team was floundering toward the end of the regular season with several losses, they could have tried the 3-Big lineup to change things up. But from a coaching and roster management standpoint, I do understand the decision. If they played all three (Nneka, Dom, Ezi) at the same time and both Ezi and Dom got into foul trouble early in a game, they would then have to either play half a game with a small-ball lineup or rely on Holmes too much. Dom and Ezi are both susceptible to foul trouble, so it was a legit concern. And there is also the rest factor. If you sub two posts out at the same time, you’re forced to go small and could get abused by the likes of Aliyah Boston, A’ja Wilson, etc.

So here we stand in 2026 asking the same question. Will new coach Sonia Raman play Ezi, Dom, and Awa at the same time? They won’t move Ezi out of the paint because she is by far the team’s best rim protector. Malonga’s better suited to be near the rim because she’s an excellent rebounder. You wouldn’t want to pull her out to the wing and away from the basket. That leaves Fam. She’s not a great rim protector or rebounder yet. Those are two of her considered weaknesses right now. But as we’ve seen with players like Leonie Fiebich or Katie Lou, just because you’re tall doesn’t mean you have to play in the post. The question will be, does Awa Fam have the lateral quickness and speed to keep up with players like Gabby Williams, Jackie Young, Kahleah Copper, etc., on the wing? I think she might, but that’s still something we’ll have to wait to see in training camp or the early portions of the season.

I think Coach Raman is going to end up with the same predicament as Coach Quinn. If you play all three at the same time, who are you playing when the posts need a break or get into early foul trouble? The Storm should be better prepared for that this year after signing Stefanie Dolson in Free Agency, and Mackenzie Holmes returning with more pro experience, but I still believe they will likely err on the side of caution.

At least before I see any practices or preseason games, I think a lineup of Hiedeman, Flau’jae Johnson, Horston, Magbegor, and Malonga makes more sense than Hiedeman, Horston, Fam, Magbegor, and Malonga. And we have to remember, Awa is only 19 years old right now. She has a ton of potential and upside, but she is still a very young prospect with a lot to learn and develop. If she is not a starter in Year 1, that is OK.

Long term, you obviously want a Top 3 pick to be a starter and ideally an All-Star, but I think it’ll be OK if the Storm slow-play this one. Almost the entire roster is under 30 years old, and a large portion of the young core is 25 or younger. I do believe they should experiment with lineups this season and see if a Big 3 lineup (Awa, Dom, Ezi) can work, but I wouldn’t force it. Maybe they try it in practices, but not the actual games. Or they try it during the 2nd half of the regular season with 10-15 games left.

It’ll be good to know if those three can play together all at the same time, but they don’t need to come to that conclusion anytime soon.

3. Who Will Step Up?

I think there is a very high chance that either Dominique Malonga or Ezi Magbegor will be the Storm’s leading scorer in 2026. The next question becomes, who else is going to step up? Even if both Dom and Ezi averaged 20 points each per game (doubtful), the rest of the roster would need to average another 40 points total.

Maybe she’ll surprise me, but I am not expecting Awa Fam to average much more than 10 PPG during her rookie season. Especially, if she is playing as a backup off the bench and maybe only playing 10-15 minutes per game.

Natisha Hiedeman could be an option, but I feel her main focus will be to run the show and get others involved. Hiedeman has never averaged double-digit scoring, even during the two years she started in Connecticut. I do think there is a chance she hits that mark and averages a career-high this season, but I’m still not expecting it to be in that 15 PPG range.

The Storm’s second or third-leading scorer is probably going to be either Flau’jae Johnson or Jordan Horston. The team is going to need one or both of those players to be very productive. And the overall success of the team could depend on it.

I’m not expecting the Storm to make the playoffs this season, which I believe is partly (or entirely) by design. I think the vision is to rebuild through the draft, get one to two more lottery picks in 2027 and possibly 2028, and then start trying to compete for the playoffs around 2028.

If they exceed all expectations and make the playoffs this year, then not only did Dom and Ezi significantly improve their production, but the team would have to get major contributions from Jordan Horston and/or Flau’jae Johnson.

There seems to be a pretty clear path for Flau’jae to start for the Storm. I think the only way she doesn’t start is if they end up playing Awa at the small forward position, moving Horston to the shooting guard. I think from a depth and rotation standpoint, that is less likely than starting Flau’jae at the shooting guard and Horston at the small forward.

Because the roster is so young, and there should be ample opportunities, Flau’jae should be in consideration for the rookie of the year award. I think there is even an outside chance that Johnson could be the Storm’s leading scorer, but if that happens, I think Seattle might be in trouble.

4. What Impact Will Coach Sonia Raman Have?

This is the biggest question mark for me because it’s harder to project. I’ve seen Dominique Malonga become the youngest player in WNBA history to have a 20/10 double-double. I’ve seen Ezi Magbegor average nearly 14 PPG and be named to the All-Star team. I’ve seen Jordan Horston improve her game significantly during her second season in the WNBA, including increasing her field goal percentage from under 37% (rookie season) to above 49%. And I’ve seen Flau’jae Johnson have several impressive scoring performances at LSU. The one thing I haven’t seen is exactly what Sonia Raman does as a head coach at the WNBA level.

And how should she be judged? Certainly not by wins and losses in her first season. The Storm lost their Top 5 scorers from the 2025 season. That’s nearly 68 points per game in production that they’ve lost. In their place are a lot of rookies or young players, many of whom are 25 years or younger and inexperienced.

How can you judge a coach if not based on wins and losses? Well, we’ll look for trends. We’ll look for inspired play. Coach Natalie Nakase didn’t have a whole lot to work with from a talent perspective, but the Golden State Valkyries were scrappy as heck, and they were extremely well coached. They executed their game plan, specific to their opponents, often, and were able to win games they frankly had no business winning.

I’m not even expecting Raman to lead the Storm to the playoffs in their first year like Nakase did with the Valkyries. But there will be things to look for. Does the team play hard? Does the team look structured? Do they get frazzled and frustrated easily? Are the young players developing and improving as the season progresses? Do the established players increase their production from last season? Does Raman lose the locker room and the players’ confidence if the team loses too many games?

One common theme under Coach Quinn, unfortunately, was that her teams often struggled during the 2nd half of each season. This was under both the Sue Bird/Breanna Stewart and the Skylar Diggins/Nneka Ogwumike eras. They often came out flat after the All-Star break, losing more games than they would win. That would end up costing them playoff positioning, and in 2025, it nearly cost them a playoff spot and subsequently a lottery pick.

Whether Sonia Raman is a good WNBA head coach or not will take a while to determine. But it should be fun to watch. As long as they don’t end up with moments like this, they should be fine.

5. How Much Will Dominique Malonga Improve?

Of all the questions, this one is probably the most important for the future success of the franchise. Malonga’s 2025 season stats were very modest at 7.7 PPG and 4.6 RPG. A lot of that had to do with her slow introduction into the rotation. At 19 years old, the Storm took their time developing her. But we saw flashes of brilliance. She became the youngest player in WNBA history to have a 20/10 double-double when she put up 22 points and 12 rebounds in just 25 minutes against the Las Vegas Aces on August 8th, 2025. Malonga followed that up with another 20/10 performance with 20 points and 11 rebounds against the Los Angeles Sparks the very next game.

She had other shining moments, too. Like when she completely shut down Napheesa Collier in the 2nd half of a 94-84 Storm win over the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. A contest in which Seattle trailed by 11 points in the 3rd quarter, and Malonga completely changed the tide of the game.

Maybe no game demonstrated Malonga’s potential more than Seattle’s 79-70 road victory over the defending champs, the New York Liberty. Malonga played only 10 minutes, but completely took the game over. She finished with 11 points and eight rebounds as she dominated the Liberty players. No moment stands out more than the color commentator shouting, “Give it back to her! Give it back to her!” as Malonga proceeded to hit a turnaround fadeaway jumper over Breanna Stewart’s 7’1” wingspan.

Dom showed her ability to take over games against the best players in the world at 19 years old. She even stonewalled A’ja Wilson a few times in Seattle’s lone playoff victory over the Aces. If that’s what Malonga did at 19, what is she going to do for an encore in Year 2?

Seattle’s best path to another WNBA Championship is building a competitive team around Dominique Malonga as Malonga grows into her body and develops her game even further.

The expectations will be high for Dom this year. But we have to remember that she’s still only 20 years old. There will be more growing pains in 2026. Her development will be one of the most fascinating things to watch this season. The highs and the lows will all be important.

The question is, how much will she improve in just one year? I think expecting her to be a starter this season is almost a certainty. Will her minutes increase from 14 MPG to 25? Or will she start playing 32+ as Ogwumike would? I think expecting her to average double figures with increased minutes is very reasonable, but will it be something like 10-12 PPG, 13-15 PPG, or 17-20 PPG?

It’s important for the Storm to develop several young players, including Jordan Horston, and rookies Awa Fam, Flau’jae Johnson, and Taina Mair, but none are more important than Malonga’s growth.

6. Who Wins the Backup PG Spot?

Unless we get a major last-minute change, I expect Natisha Hiedeman to be the Seattle Storm’s starting point guard in 2026. I’m pretty confident that the Storm lured her away from a competitive Lynx team with the potential to be a starter. Hiedeman was a backup for the Lynx, playing behind Courtney Williams. She didn’t start a single game during her two-year stint in Minnesota. However, she was a starter with the Connecticut Sun for the two years before that, including 2022, when the Sun reached the WNBA Finals.

If Hiedeman is the starter, who will be the backup? We’ll get a much better idea of what the coaches are thinking when training camp begins and opens to the media. We’ll be able to see who is running the point with the 2nd team. There are definitely a few candidates.

The Storm drafted Taina Mair, the point guard out of Duke, with the 14th overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. I have to imagine they are going to give her a real chance to win the backup point guard position behind Hiedeman. If she plays above expectations, it’s possible she could eventually take over the starting point guard position (in a few years).

Jade Melbourne should also get some run at the point guard position. Melbourne may play the one or two in Seattle. She was the starting point guard for the Australian Opals 2024 Olympic team that won the Bronze Medal. Melbourne entered the league as more of a slasher/shooting guard, but has been training for years to play the one. Jade will be entering her 4th year in the WNBA, but is still only 24 years old. Like Mair, she will likely get opportunities as the backup point guard. If she continues to improve her game, she could also work her way into a starting role in future seasons.

While she primarily played backup shooting guard with the Storm last season, Zia Cooke could be an option to compete for the backup point guard spot. Cooke played point in high school and during some of her time at the University of South Carolina, where she helped the Gamecocks win a National Title, alongside Aliyah Boston, in 2022. I think this is less likely because I currently have Zia as the backup shooting guard behind Flau’jae Johnson on my projected depth chart.

Lastly, what if it’s Jordan Horston? I fully expect Jordan to be a starter for the Storm. She’ll likely be the starting small forward unless the team goes extra big and starts Awa Fam at the three spot (SF). Then I could see Horston being the starting shooting guard instead. However, I wonder if they might treat Horston similarly to Gabby Williams in previous seasons, where Gabby was the starting small forward, but due to her versatility, they had her run the point at times, especially when Skylar was on the bench.

Even though Coach Quinn had Jordan playing power forward for a portion of her rookie season, it’s important to remember that Horston was a point guard throughout high school and a playmaker at the University of Tennessee. Horston definitely has the potential to still be a primary ball handler, especially if she can limit her turnovers.

We have no idea what awaits this 2026 Seattle Storm team. But if the Storm were fortunate enough to land the #1 or #2 pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft, they might end up with JuJu Watkins or Madison Booker. Maybe over a longer term, Horston moves to the point guard role. If there was ever a year to experiment and try different things (like Jordan at the PG), this would be the year to do it.

Notes:
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