I love how the draft turned out (and I've been really optimistic about this team through free agency and see the mass exodus as a good thing for a rebuild). This will sound blasphemous in certain parts of Reddit or Facebook but I kinda think the Brittney Sykes trade played an underrated role in this. Hear me out:
When the Storm made the Sykes/AC trade, the Storm were in kind of a free fall and AC wanted out. More than anything, though, the Storm needed to make the playoffs because it turned out it was zero-sum with LA. If the Storm made the playoffs, LA didn't and vice versa. With having LA's pick from the Kia Nurse trade, the lottery odds were much more in LA's favor because they weren't a playoff team in 2024. If the Sykes trade was a desperate move to try to make a playoff run and save Quinn's job (hahahahahaha), it would've been a mistake but it did stop the bleeding and the Storm squeaked into the playoffs and kept LA out.
With the Storm's lottery odds, it was never going to be picks 3, 9, and 14 without the trade because of the way the Storm's season was going and all of the losses to beatable teams. Plus, IIRC, LA had some momentum after beating the Storm at home in double OT. It probably would've been more like 5, 8 or 9, and 14 (from Vegas in the Jewell Loyd/Kelsey Plum trade). So with Fam's enormous ceiling, they got the player that was the consensus #1 until Dallas started signing a bunch of centers. It was probably a good idea to lose the 8th or 9th pick to pick at 3 instead of 5 because there's zero chance Fam would've still been available then. It was just a nice bonus that they were able to trade for the 8th pick for two second round picks, one in 2028.
Free agency was tough this year. With the coach’s firing and the optics of Social Media, I had concluded we were moving on from Sky & Nneka. I did not see us moving on from Gabby and truly envisioned her as part of our rebuild. I was pretty sore about it because every tiny bit of detail about Free Agency with the Storm was subtraction and no additions…and then the murmurings of Ezi wanting out/trade and I was downright in my feelings(oh the dramatics). Our signings comparatively were not splashy…and I thought “well, at least they’re two of the most fun vets”. Then I started seeing the details of the contracts as they came through via Spotrac & HerHoopsStats… two people I had hoped we’d target in FA- Gabby and Allana Miles are the two top paid players currently on contract—-and while I love both of their games—-that’s too high IMO for players not named Aja Wilson/Alyssa Thomas etc.
…I get it, go get your bag…but I understand not signing them as well.
And I believe you’ll see Stewart/Phee/Wilson whose contracts haven’t dropped yet sign team friendly deals to keep/get talent. Jackie/Chelsea/Jewell/KP already have.
All this to say, I was bummed Miles got picked (we are super thin at G), but happy about Fam…WAS snagged Cotie @ 12 and I was bummed again…a little head scratchy about Mair @ 14 but she is a solid PG so ok…then shocked when the trade came through. A steal. Flaujae for two seconds…nice work
I was heartbroken about Gabby. I thought that she would want to stay to continue mentoring her fellow countrywoman Dom and I definitely thought that she was part of our rebuild. Oh well.
But I am very excited about our Draft haul. I was hoping that we would be able to draft Olivia Miles but I also never expected that we'd have the opportunity to draft Awa Fam Thiam. She was most people's consensus #1 pick. We could have the best frontcourt in the league very soon. Awa is very exciting. She's quick with great footspeed and I was surprised that she can hit 3-pointers pretty consistently. And getting Flaújae for 2 second round picks is pretty crazy! Unbelievable! I was unfamiliar with Taina Mair but watching her highlights she looks like a really solid PG who could be a star in this league eventually. The Storm did not deserve a "D" for drafting her. Also did you mean Alana Smith rather than Alanna Miles?
I thought and hoped that we'd be bringing back Gabby and Erica Wheeler. They would have been a huge help in our rebuild. But I still think we're in really good shape.
I’m glad the Storm re-signed Ezi, but I also think this will be a “prove it” year for her. Partly because of her youth, and perhaps a larger part because of her personality, Ezi has been an inconsistent and often passive player for the Storm. She has a wonderful skill set, and it’s not inconceivable you could play Dom, Ezi and Awa all at the same time. It was inconceivable with Noelle Quinn as the coach, but that’s not the case anymore. Hopefully this new coaching staff will help Ezi Magbegor find a way to become more assertive on the court and at the same time reduce her propensity for needless fouls. And four years from now, I’ll bet people will think Taina Mair was the “steal” of the 2026 1st round.
I'm a big, big believer in Ezi Magbegor. Before the Storm traded Jewell to acquire the #2 overall pick of the 2025 draft which would turn into Dominique Malonga, I wrote that the Storm should consider building the team around Ezi.
I agree that Ezi needs to be more aggressive offensively. It felt like in the last two years, she had to defer for Nneka, Skylar, Jewell (2024), and even Gabby. And that the previous coaching staff wanted her to just be the defensive anchor for the most part. I will be interested if that stays the same, or if Ezi is asked and expected to take on a larger offensive role.
I'm excited for Ezi to step into a leadership role with young bigs Dom and Awa, and at only 26! Her All-Star year in 2023 was just the beginning. Now that she can have a more primary offensive role to pair with her All-WNBA level defense...watch out.
Will be an interesting season to see Coach Raman's system and our young team. Even if we don't win many games the next two years...who cares since the 2028 draft is stock full of generational talent.
I'm really excited to watch these young players grow and develop. I am not expecting them to make the playoffs, but if everything clicks, I wouldn't rule it completely out either. If they miss the playoffs, and end up with another Top 5 pick, they're going to be able to build an excellent core through the draft. Just imagine adding JuJu Watkins, Madison Booker, or Hannah Hidalgo to this group.
The Las Vegas Aces will be a legitimate title contender until A'ja Wilson starts slowing down. But their run could end sooner if Chelsea Gray's production drops off significantly. The New York Liberty are going to be serious challengers for a long time with Sabrina and Stewie, but their time will come to an end too. Think of when the Storm beat the Phoenix Mercury in the 2018 Conference Finals (semi-finals). Seattle had to overcome the more veteran core of Dianna Taurasi, Brittney Griner, and DeWanna Bonner. In time, hopefully Seattle's young core will have that moment.
I think the Indiana Fever are best positioned to be the next legit title contender. The combination of Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston should lead them to at least one WNBA title. But I think Seattle is probably in a better position than say the Dallas Wings. Maybe this will look foolish in another year or two, but I don't think Dallas made the right decision with drafting Azzi Fudd. WNBA Championships are almost always won with a star post player. With respect to Alanna Smith, I don't think that's her.
I’m pretty hype on Mair actually, she’s a solid PG coached by Kara Lawson for 3 years at Duke. When Olivia Miles went second Mair was top of my list for PGs to try to get. + she can definitely knock down threes. We got a lot of flack for picking her at 14 in draft grades this morning, and maybe we’ll regret not drafting Kneepkens if our 3 point drought persists, but I’m good with the Mair pick. I can also see her being buds with Jordan Horsten, they have similar vibes.
The VanSlooten pick makes sense to me too bc I believe one of our new asst coaches, Achonwa, worked with her at University of Michigan. lol, jk Van Slooten went to Michigan State 🤦🏻 still I think she has a decent shot of being a developmental player. I’m excited for training camp.
obviously we made out like bandits with Awa and Flau’jae.
Jeff wondering if you have any speculation about who we might still sign in free agency or other players we might target for training camp? Some fans are clamoring for Natasha Cloud but I would be sort of surprised if she came out here.
While I think Natasha Cloud could still make sense, it's probably unlikely because she doesn't fit the new timeline. Plus, I think it's pretty evident that the Storm are focusing more on youth and development. Cloud (34) is only 1-2 years younger than Skylar and not quite as good of a player. Plus, I think Natisha Hiedeman (29) signed with the Storm because she felt she'd have a strong chance to win the starting point guard position, especially, if they didn't draft Olivia Miles at #3. Now that they drafted Taina Mair at #14, plus recently signed Jade Melbourne, who can play the PG spot, I think the Storm are set with those three at point guard.
I haven't read a lot of the draft grades yet today. The Mair pick was a surprise, but it also makes sense. Seattle needed a point guard. People should also look at the Storm's draft as Awa Fam, Flau'jae Johnson, and then Taina Mair. As opposed to Fam, Mair, then Flau'jae. I feel if you look at it like that, I don't know how you can be super critical of the Storm's draft. Even trying to remove any bias, I don't know how Seattle wouldn't get an "A" for this draft considering they landed Fam and Flau'jae without giving up a future first-round pick or a top player like Ezi.
With the 4 draft picks, Seattle is up to 14 players on their roster. I believe they will have around 17-18 players in training camp. And remember, they can now keep 14 players total (12 + 2 development spots). They will definitely bring in at least 3-4 more players. The question will be whether those are overseas players, undrafted rookies, or other WNBA veterans who haven't been signed yet.
I'm not sure the status of Aari McDonald because she got hurt at the end of the WNBA season and then injured again in Unrivaled. Is she going to be out for this entire WNBA season, or could she come back by late May or June? That's someone they could take a flyer on.
Let's take a quick look at a potential projected depth chart.
Depending on if Lexie Brown remains on the team and how Katie Lou Samuelson recovers from her injury, three-point shooting still seems like an area the team could improve upon. Seattle should look to add another three-point shooter, even if it's just a developmental piece. It feels like the team could still add a player at the 2/3 spot.
I'm not sure with how things ended last season and if that would change because of the coaching change, but Alysha Clark could be a player the team brings in less for her play and more for her mentorship for the younger players.
Overall draft grades for Seattle were positive, but multiple sites gave specifically the Mair pick a D which seems harsh, but hopefully she proves them wrong. I agree about the Natasha Cloud duplication - I hope she lands somewhere that values her, she may have waited to long to get a good deal.
I thought maybe AC resigned with Mystics, but I actually don’t see anything official to that end.
Would like to understand our cap space better and if we need to/should spend on another FA vet to mentor younger players, or have the 2/3 we add come from training camp another rookie or unsigned player.
https://herhoopstats.com/salary-cap-sheet/wnba/team/2026/seattle-storm-11eaecc7-3572-876c-b611-2362f5011b0b/ We have over a million dollars in room after filling to 12 with rookies/Training Camp contracts. So we can definitely afford a vet, or we can sit on salary cap space to use in the future (in the MNBA you can often make trades to extract value by helping teams get off bad contracts). (Or the owners can just pocket a million dollars as, unless the % changed in the new CBA, the floor only requires us to spend like $5.9 million)
I’m not usually charitable to the FO, but I gotta give them props for making sound decisions when they find themselves in fortunate circumstances. That’s an undervalued skill. Bravo.
I wanted Miles more than Fam, but getting Fam at 3 has massive upside potential so I'm glad they made the right pick there. And then trading for #8 was a a spectacular piece of business. If Flau'jae hadn't been available then Kiki Rice might have been, and even if they're both gone then Ijana Martin would have been there to have GS select for us.
My one question is why we signed both Ezi and Steph Dolson over the weekend. Going into the draft I thought we must know something about who Minnesota would take because our roster has an Olivia Miles shaped hole in it and the Big room was already full. If Awa Fam can play the 3 then everything is awesome, but I suspect our front office may have gotten blind-sided by Miles going at 2 after Minnesota lost 2 bigs in free agency. Given our rebuild (excuse me: "reset") I think we'd rather have Mack as the 4th big, showing us whether her awesome off-season in Australia can translate to the W or not, but instead we have Stephanie Dolson. I do think Dolson brings great vibes and seems like a good vet to have around this roster. If she can teach our big 3 bigs to screen like she does we'll reap those rewards for years. But it does make our roster look a little lopsided right now.
I look at things a bit differently. I was pretty disappointed that the Lynx drafted Olivia Miles #2. Especially, because I thought Minnesota had a massive need at PF/C and would likely draft Awa Fam or Lauren Betts. With Fudd and Miles gone, I would have been good with Kiki Rice or Awa Fam. As I had previously said, if they felt Fam as BPA was too good to pass up, I don't mind the selection even if a player like Rice would have been an easier fit with the team having Ezi and Dom already.
I highly doubt the team was blind-sided by Fudd and Miles going #1 and #2. That was always going to be at least a 50/50 chance to happen. Frankly, the fact that they were already working with Golden State to acquire the 8th overall pick, tells me they may have always been targeting Awa Fam and still hoping to land someone like Flau'jae, Kiki, or another guard/wing. The fact they ended up with Awa Fam and Flau'jae Johnson is honestly a borderline dream scenario for Seattle. Even though I would have been very happy with landing one of Azzi, Olivia, or Kiki, I don't think I can say any one of those would have been better than ending up with both Awa and Flau'jae.
Regarding Ezi and Stef Dolson. Dolson is a great veteran big to pair with Fam, Dom, and Ezi. I think her impact will be significantly higher in practice and the locker room than her stats on the court this season. I think she can play an important role. Think about what Cooper Kupp did for Jaxon Smith Njigba and the Seahawks.
I don't think the "logjam" in the front court with Ezi, Dom, and Awa will be an issue at all. If Coach Raman makes it work with all three, that is great. But there is no need to force that issue in 2026. There is nothing wrong with Ezi and Dom starting and bringing Awa Fam off the bench. Now if Fam never enters the starting lineup in her Storm career, then it could be looked at as a miss in the draft. However, they have the luxury of slowly developing her. She could be a bench player for her first two seasons even. If she is ready to take on a larger role, than trading Magbegor in 2027 or 2028 is always an option. But for now, there is no reason to rush that. Just develop all three of them for the next couple of years. Mack either ends up the 5th big or is on the development roster if Seattle goes with 8 guards/wings.
I was also disappointed we didn't get Miles. I have enjoyed watching her since her freshman year at Notre Dame. But once we miss out, I think Fam's ceiling is just so much higher than Kiki's that you go with Fam, ESPECIALLY if we have a chance to still maybe get Kiki at 8.
I do agree Dolson seems like a great vet to have in the locker room and at practice, and our cap situation is such that it's probably fine to just not give much playing time to our 2nd highest paid player.
I bet we wind up trading Ezi in a year. Having her this year is probably just good so we can bring Fam off the bench at first and let her get comfortable, but I am skeptical all 3 can play together so I bet we wind up trading Ezi. That said, signing Ezi now so that we can trade her in a year or two (or keep her if Fam doesn't work out) sounds like a really good strategy.
How are you putting Ezi and Dolson in the same sentence? This is arguably Ezi's team now, and Dolson at this point in her career is strictly bench depth.
I don't think our goal is to win games next season, I think it is to develop talent to help us win a title 2+ years down the road. If Ezi is happy to hang around and be a part of that then I am delighted to have her, though it could turn out to be a somewhat awkward fit with Dom and Awa. TBD. If Ezi prefers to be elsewhere and/or if we don't think we can play all 3 of our bigs together then Ezi is probably the one you trade since the other two are so young and so cheap. The reason signing her over the weekend matters is that we signed her to a contract worth slightly more than the max, and I think that means we aren't allowed to trade her for at least a year (the full CBA does not exist yet but the agreed upon term sheet says you can't do a sign and trade for more than the regular max). Dolson is obviously nowhere close to the impact player Ezi is, but if we're keeping Ezi and drafting Awa then why do we need Dolson? I'd rather let Mack be the 4th big. (If we were trading Ezi then Dolson would make a lot more sense.)
Anyway, this is all just me saying I don't know why we signed both on the day before the draft. It seems to me we should wait and see if we wind up with Fam, and if so only sign one of them (preferably Ezi).
Like I said, Dolson is bench depth. Of course Ezi, Dom, and Fam are the main rotation. There's room on the roster and under the cap for both of them, so it's not either/or between her and Ezi. There's room for Mack too, and cap room for one more veteran if they want.
Sure, all true. My concern is more about playing time (aka chances to develop, accumulate experience, and grow chemistry). Cap-wise we're currently not even hitting the floor and could afford to splash for another million-dollar deal if we want to (but if we do then it better be a guard!).
I also wanted to keep Wheeler and was disappointed she left. Natasha Cloud is probably the best FA out there for us, but I'm not sure she would want to sign up for a rebuild scenario (plus she would mean more wins and less minutes for our young point guard prospects so that might not be in our best interests). It's a good question that I'm not sure the answer to. Might not be crazy just to hold on to cap room and be open to charging other teams to trade us their bad contracts down the road ...
I suspect this is true, this was part of a pre-agreed upon trade for something, guessing how quickly it happened after the storm pick. I wonder how Flau'jae feels about all this, must be weird to think you are on a a team and they get switched the same night to the other side of the country.
I hope she can learn to love it even if it's not the bright lights of LA, New York, Chicago, or Atlanta. From an on-court perspective, Flau'jae has landed in a spot where the team needs her offensive skillset at the guard position. I think there is a high chance she is a starter in Year 1.
Yes, it’s been publicized that it was agreed upon before the draft. Also San Francisco is not across the country from Seattle. The above comment confirms my suspicion that a lot of people have no clue where Seattle is! 😂😂
Great article. I’m so excited for the Storm’s new direction. Love what the front office has done. They cleaned house, got rid of all the toxic bs and are rebuilding with incredible draft picks. I also love the pick up of heideman as PG. I’m so looking forward to watching the new coach and the development and growth of the young core. I’m proud that the Storm chose to be patient and build the team through the draft instead of chasing old veterans. It’s a whole new chapter for the Storm and I could be more excited!
Love the Flau’Jae trade, athletic wing that can get downhill and plays on both ends. Interested to see how Fam develops alongside Dom and if that means the Storm may look to move Ezi eventually. I do wonder where the offensive production will come from for this Storm squad after losing their top 5 scorers from last season
I don't know why some people are so eager to get rid of Ezi. She's entering her prime years, let's have her do it here. She'll show us the whole reason the team drafted her in the first place.
If the Storm end up missing the playoffs and have another lottery pick, there are going to be some good players to choose from. In general, I always recommend going BPA (Best Player Available). If they were to get the #1 pick, it's JuJu Watkins unless she decides to stay an additional year of college. She technically can get a medical exemption because she missed all of this year after tearing her ACL deep in the NCAA tournament in 2025.
Madison Booker would most likely be my next choice. She's a very talented SF out of Texas. If the Storm end up picking somewhere in the 3-5 range, I'm sure Hannah Hidalgo will be in the discussion. I have some reservations about her because of her smaller size, and I don't think she's the most efficient player, but she certainly is scrappy.
Other options are going to include the two guards from LSU, Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley.
A lot of it will also come down to how all these rookies and younger players perform this season.
I love how the draft turned out (and I've been really optimistic about this team through free agency and see the mass exodus as a good thing for a rebuild). This will sound blasphemous in certain parts of Reddit or Facebook but I kinda think the Brittney Sykes trade played an underrated role in this. Hear me out:
When the Storm made the Sykes/AC trade, the Storm were in kind of a free fall and AC wanted out. More than anything, though, the Storm needed to make the playoffs because it turned out it was zero-sum with LA. If the Storm made the playoffs, LA didn't and vice versa. With having LA's pick from the Kia Nurse trade, the lottery odds were much more in LA's favor because they weren't a playoff team in 2024. If the Sykes trade was a desperate move to try to make a playoff run and save Quinn's job (hahahahahaha), it would've been a mistake but it did stop the bleeding and the Storm squeaked into the playoffs and kept LA out.
With the Storm's lottery odds, it was never going to be picks 3, 9, and 14 without the trade because of the way the Storm's season was going and all of the losses to beatable teams. Plus, IIRC, LA had some momentum after beating the Storm at home in double OT. It probably would've been more like 5, 8 or 9, and 14 (from Vegas in the Jewell Loyd/Kelsey Plum trade). So with Fam's enormous ceiling, they got the player that was the consensus #1 until Dallas started signing a bunch of centers. It was probably a good idea to lose the 8th or 9th pick to pick at 3 instead of 5 because there's zero chance Fam would've still been available then. It was just a nice bonus that they were able to trade for the 8th pick for two second round picks, one in 2028.
Free agency was tough this year. With the coach’s firing and the optics of Social Media, I had concluded we were moving on from Sky & Nneka. I did not see us moving on from Gabby and truly envisioned her as part of our rebuild. I was pretty sore about it because every tiny bit of detail about Free Agency with the Storm was subtraction and no additions…and then the murmurings of Ezi wanting out/trade and I was downright in my feelings(oh the dramatics). Our signings comparatively were not splashy…and I thought “well, at least they’re two of the most fun vets”. Then I started seeing the details of the contracts as they came through via Spotrac & HerHoopsStats… two people I had hoped we’d target in FA- Gabby and Allana Miles are the two top paid players currently on contract—-and while I love both of their games—-that’s too high IMO for players not named Aja Wilson/Alyssa Thomas etc.
…I get it, go get your bag…but I understand not signing them as well.
And I believe you’ll see Stewart/Phee/Wilson whose contracts haven’t dropped yet sign team friendly deals to keep/get talent. Jackie/Chelsea/Jewell/KP already have.
All this to say, I was bummed Miles got picked (we are super thin at G), but happy about Fam…WAS snagged Cotie @ 12 and I was bummed again…a little head scratchy about Mair @ 14 but she is a solid PG so ok…then shocked when the trade came through. A steal. Flaujae for two seconds…nice work
I was heartbroken about Gabby. I thought that she would want to stay to continue mentoring her fellow countrywoman Dom and I definitely thought that she was part of our rebuild. Oh well.
But I am very excited about our Draft haul. I was hoping that we would be able to draft Olivia Miles but I also never expected that we'd have the opportunity to draft Awa Fam Thiam. She was most people's consensus #1 pick. We could have the best frontcourt in the league very soon. Awa is very exciting. She's quick with great footspeed and I was surprised that she can hit 3-pointers pretty consistently. And getting Flaújae for 2 second round picks is pretty crazy! Unbelievable! I was unfamiliar with Taina Mair but watching her highlights she looks like a really solid PG who could be a star in this league eventually. The Storm did not deserve a "D" for drafting her. Also did you mean Alana Smith rather than Alanna Miles?
I thought and hoped that we'd be bringing back Gabby and Erica Wheeler. They would have been a huge help in our rebuild. But I still think we're in really good shape.
I’m glad the Storm re-signed Ezi, but I also think this will be a “prove it” year for her. Partly because of her youth, and perhaps a larger part because of her personality, Ezi has been an inconsistent and often passive player for the Storm. She has a wonderful skill set, and it’s not inconceivable you could play Dom, Ezi and Awa all at the same time. It was inconceivable with Noelle Quinn as the coach, but that’s not the case anymore. Hopefully this new coaching staff will help Ezi Magbegor find a way to become more assertive on the court and at the same time reduce her propensity for needless fouls. And four years from now, I’ll bet people will think Taina Mair was the “steal” of the 2026 1st round.
I'm a big, big believer in Ezi Magbegor. Before the Storm traded Jewell to acquire the #2 overall pick of the 2025 draft which would turn into Dominique Malonga, I wrote that the Storm should consider building the team around Ezi.
I agree that Ezi needs to be more aggressive offensively. It felt like in the last two years, she had to defer for Nneka, Skylar, Jewell (2024), and even Gabby. And that the previous coaching staff wanted her to just be the defensive anchor for the most part. I will be interested if that stays the same, or if Ezi is asked and expected to take on a larger offensive role.
I'm excited for Ezi to step into a leadership role with young bigs Dom and Awa, and at only 26! Her All-Star year in 2023 was just the beginning. Now that she can have a more primary offensive role to pair with her All-WNBA level defense...watch out.
Will be an interesting season to see Coach Raman's system and our young team. Even if we don't win many games the next two years...who cares since the 2028 draft is stock full of generational talent.
I'm really excited to watch these young players grow and develop. I am not expecting them to make the playoffs, but if everything clicks, I wouldn't rule it completely out either. If they miss the playoffs, and end up with another Top 5 pick, they're going to be able to build an excellent core through the draft. Just imagine adding JuJu Watkins, Madison Booker, or Hannah Hidalgo to this group.
The Las Vegas Aces will be a legitimate title contender until A'ja Wilson starts slowing down. But their run could end sooner if Chelsea Gray's production drops off significantly. The New York Liberty are going to be serious challengers for a long time with Sabrina and Stewie, but their time will come to an end too. Think of when the Storm beat the Phoenix Mercury in the 2018 Conference Finals (semi-finals). Seattle had to overcome the more veteran core of Dianna Taurasi, Brittney Griner, and DeWanna Bonner. In time, hopefully Seattle's young core will have that moment.
I think the Indiana Fever are best positioned to be the next legit title contender. The combination of Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston should lead them to at least one WNBA title. But I think Seattle is probably in a better position than say the Dallas Wings. Maybe this will look foolish in another year or two, but I don't think Dallas made the right decision with drafting Azzi Fudd. WNBA Championships are almost always won with a star post player. With respect to Alanna Smith, I don't think that's her.
I’m pretty hype on Mair actually, she’s a solid PG coached by Kara Lawson for 3 years at Duke. When Olivia Miles went second Mair was top of my list for PGs to try to get. + she can definitely knock down threes. We got a lot of flack for picking her at 14 in draft grades this morning, and maybe we’ll regret not drafting Kneepkens if our 3 point drought persists, but I’m good with the Mair pick. I can also see her being buds with Jordan Horsten, they have similar vibes.
The VanSlooten pick makes sense to me too bc I believe one of our new asst coaches, Achonwa, worked with her at University of Michigan. lol, jk Van Slooten went to Michigan State 🤦🏻 still I think she has a decent shot of being a developmental player. I’m excited for training camp.
obviously we made out like bandits with Awa and Flau’jae.
Jeff wondering if you have any speculation about who we might still sign in free agency or other players we might target for training camp? Some fans are clamoring for Natasha Cloud but I would be sort of surprised if she came out here.
While I think Natasha Cloud could still make sense, it's probably unlikely because she doesn't fit the new timeline. Plus, I think it's pretty evident that the Storm are focusing more on youth and development. Cloud (34) is only 1-2 years younger than Skylar and not quite as good of a player. Plus, I think Natisha Hiedeman (29) signed with the Storm because she felt she'd have a strong chance to win the starting point guard position, especially, if they didn't draft Olivia Miles at #3. Now that they drafted Taina Mair at #14, plus recently signed Jade Melbourne, who can play the PG spot, I think the Storm are set with those three at point guard.
I haven't read a lot of the draft grades yet today. The Mair pick was a surprise, but it also makes sense. Seattle needed a point guard. People should also look at the Storm's draft as Awa Fam, Flau'jae Johnson, and then Taina Mair. As opposed to Fam, Mair, then Flau'jae. I feel if you look at it like that, I don't know how you can be super critical of the Storm's draft. Even trying to remove any bias, I don't know how Seattle wouldn't get an "A" for this draft considering they landed Fam and Flau'jae without giving up a future first-round pick or a top player like Ezi.
With the 4 draft picks, Seattle is up to 14 players on their roster. I believe they will have around 17-18 players in training camp. And remember, they can now keep 14 players total (12 + 2 development spots). They will definitely bring in at least 3-4 more players. The question will be whether those are overseas players, undrafted rookies, or other WNBA veterans who haven't been signed yet.
I'm not sure the status of Aari McDonald because she got hurt at the end of the WNBA season and then injured again in Unrivaled. Is she going to be out for this entire WNBA season, or could she come back by late May or June? That's someone they could take a flyer on.
Let's take a quick look at a potential projected depth chart.
PG: Natisha Hiedeman, Jade Melbourne, Taina Mair
SG: Flau'jae Johnson, Zia Cooke, Lexie Brown
SF: Jordan Horston, Katie Lou Samuelson
PF: Ezi Magbegor, Awa Fam, Mackenzie Holmes, Grace VanSlooten
C: Dominique Malonga, Stefanie Dolson
Depending on if Lexie Brown remains on the team and how Katie Lou Samuelson recovers from her injury, three-point shooting still seems like an area the team could improve upon. Seattle should look to add another three-point shooter, even if it's just a developmental piece. It feels like the team could still add a player at the 2/3 spot.
I'm not sure with how things ended last season and if that would change because of the coaching change, but Alysha Clark could be a player the team brings in less for her play and more for her mentorship for the younger players.
Overall draft grades for Seattle were positive, but multiple sites gave specifically the Mair pick a D which seems harsh, but hopefully she proves them wrong. I agree about the Natasha Cloud duplication - I hope she lands somewhere that values her, she may have waited to long to get a good deal.
I thought maybe AC resigned with Mystics, but I actually don’t see anything official to that end.
Would like to understand our cap space better and if we need to/should spend on another FA vet to mentor younger players, or have the 2/3 we add come from training camp another rookie or unsigned player.
https://herhoopstats.com/salary-cap-sheet/wnba/team/2026/seattle-storm-11eaecc7-3572-876c-b611-2362f5011b0b/ We have over a million dollars in room after filling to 12 with rookies/Training Camp contracts. So we can definitely afford a vet, or we can sit on salary cap space to use in the future (in the MNBA you can often make trades to extract value by helping teams get off bad contracts). (Or the owners can just pocket a million dollars as, unless the % changed in the new CBA, the floor only requires us to spend like $5.9 million)
I think Mair is a GREAT pick. Storm did their research.
I’m not usually charitable to the FO, but I gotta give them props for making sound decisions when they find themselves in fortunate circumstances. That’s an undervalued skill. Bravo.
I wanted Miles more than Fam, but getting Fam at 3 has massive upside potential so I'm glad they made the right pick there. And then trading for #8 was a a spectacular piece of business. If Flau'jae hadn't been available then Kiki Rice might have been, and even if they're both gone then Ijana Martin would have been there to have GS select for us.
My one question is why we signed both Ezi and Steph Dolson over the weekend. Going into the draft I thought we must know something about who Minnesota would take because our roster has an Olivia Miles shaped hole in it and the Big room was already full. If Awa Fam can play the 3 then everything is awesome, but I suspect our front office may have gotten blind-sided by Miles going at 2 after Minnesota lost 2 bigs in free agency. Given our rebuild (excuse me: "reset") I think we'd rather have Mack as the 4th big, showing us whether her awesome off-season in Australia can translate to the W or not, but instead we have Stephanie Dolson. I do think Dolson brings great vibes and seems like a good vet to have around this roster. If she can teach our big 3 bigs to screen like she does we'll reap those rewards for years. But it does make our roster look a little lopsided right now.
I look at things a bit differently. I was pretty disappointed that the Lynx drafted Olivia Miles #2. Especially, because I thought Minnesota had a massive need at PF/C and would likely draft Awa Fam or Lauren Betts. With Fudd and Miles gone, I would have been good with Kiki Rice or Awa Fam. As I had previously said, if they felt Fam as BPA was too good to pass up, I don't mind the selection even if a player like Rice would have been an easier fit with the team having Ezi and Dom already.
I highly doubt the team was blind-sided by Fudd and Miles going #1 and #2. That was always going to be at least a 50/50 chance to happen. Frankly, the fact that they were already working with Golden State to acquire the 8th overall pick, tells me they may have always been targeting Awa Fam and still hoping to land someone like Flau'jae, Kiki, or another guard/wing. The fact they ended up with Awa Fam and Flau'jae Johnson is honestly a borderline dream scenario for Seattle. Even though I would have been very happy with landing one of Azzi, Olivia, or Kiki, I don't think I can say any one of those would have been better than ending up with both Awa and Flau'jae.
Regarding Ezi and Stef Dolson. Dolson is a great veteran big to pair with Fam, Dom, and Ezi. I think her impact will be significantly higher in practice and the locker room than her stats on the court this season. I think she can play an important role. Think about what Cooper Kupp did for Jaxon Smith Njigba and the Seahawks.
I don't think the "logjam" in the front court with Ezi, Dom, and Awa will be an issue at all. If Coach Raman makes it work with all three, that is great. But there is no need to force that issue in 2026. There is nothing wrong with Ezi and Dom starting and bringing Awa Fam off the bench. Now if Fam never enters the starting lineup in her Storm career, then it could be looked at as a miss in the draft. However, they have the luxury of slowly developing her. She could be a bench player for her first two seasons even. If she is ready to take on a larger role, than trading Magbegor in 2027 or 2028 is always an option. But for now, there is no reason to rush that. Just develop all three of them for the next couple of years. Mack either ends up the 5th big or is on the development roster if Seattle goes with 8 guards/wings.
I was also disappointed we didn't get Miles. I have enjoyed watching her since her freshman year at Notre Dame. But once we miss out, I think Fam's ceiling is just so much higher than Kiki's that you go with Fam, ESPECIALLY if we have a chance to still maybe get Kiki at 8.
I do agree Dolson seems like a great vet to have in the locker room and at practice, and our cap situation is such that it's probably fine to just not give much playing time to our 2nd highest paid player.
I bet we wind up trading Ezi in a year. Having her this year is probably just good so we can bring Fam off the bench at first and let her get comfortable, but I am skeptical all 3 can play together so I bet we wind up trading Ezi. That said, signing Ezi now so that we can trade her in a year or two (or keep her if Fam doesn't work out) sounds like a really good strategy.
How are you putting Ezi and Dolson in the same sentence? This is arguably Ezi's team now, and Dolson at this point in her career is strictly bench depth.
I don't think our goal is to win games next season, I think it is to develop talent to help us win a title 2+ years down the road. If Ezi is happy to hang around and be a part of that then I am delighted to have her, though it could turn out to be a somewhat awkward fit with Dom and Awa. TBD. If Ezi prefers to be elsewhere and/or if we don't think we can play all 3 of our bigs together then Ezi is probably the one you trade since the other two are so young and so cheap. The reason signing her over the weekend matters is that we signed her to a contract worth slightly more than the max, and I think that means we aren't allowed to trade her for at least a year (the full CBA does not exist yet but the agreed upon term sheet says you can't do a sign and trade for more than the regular max). Dolson is obviously nowhere close to the impact player Ezi is, but if we're keeping Ezi and drafting Awa then why do we need Dolson? I'd rather let Mack be the 4th big. (If we were trading Ezi then Dolson would make a lot more sense.)
Anyway, this is all just me saying I don't know why we signed both on the day before the draft. It seems to me we should wait and see if we wind up with Fam, and if so only sign one of them (preferably Ezi).
Like I said, Dolson is bench depth. Of course Ezi, Dom, and Fam are the main rotation. There's room on the roster and under the cap for both of them, so it's not either/or between her and Ezi. There's room for Mack too, and cap room for one more veteran if they want.
Sure, all true. My concern is more about playing time (aka chances to develop, accumulate experience, and grow chemistry). Cap-wise we're currently not even hitting the floor and could afford to splash for another million-dollar deal if we want to (but if we do then it better be a guard!).
I was just typing about that! We have cap room for another vet, who do you think we should pursue?
I would have liked keeping Wheeler around.
I also wanted to keep Wheeler and was disappointed she left. Natasha Cloud is probably the best FA out there for us, but I'm not sure she would want to sign up for a rebuild scenario (plus she would mean more wins and less minutes for our young point guard prospects so that might not be in our best interests). It's a good question that I'm not sure the answer to. Might not be crazy just to hold on to cap room and be open to charging other teams to trade us their bad contracts down the road ...
“Unfortunately, I had tickets to the Kraken game at the same time…” 🤣 Poor Jeff…
I mean, they did lose.
From the Valkeries perspective I wonder why they made the trade. Was it to avoid paying a 1st round salary?
The most dynamic moment of the night was that unexpected trade for FJ. Wild to think that trade was agreed-upon before Johnson was even picked!
I suspect this is true, this was part of a pre-agreed upon trade for something, guessing how quickly it happened after the storm pick. I wonder how Flau'jae feels about all this, must be weird to think you are on a a team and they get switched the same night to the other side of the country.
Seattle might be kind of a culture shock for Ms. Flau’Jae…
I hope she can learn to love it even if it's not the bright lights of LA, New York, Chicago, or Atlanta. From an on-court perspective, Flau'jae has landed in a spot where the team needs her offensive skillset at the guard position. I think there is a high chance she is a starter in Year 1.
I’m not her biggest fan, but no question for me she’s a Day 1 starter. I’ll be really curious as to how she and Horston play off each other.
That looks to have been the case (though she only moved a few hundred miles north). https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/48481654/valkyries-gm-agreed-storm-trade-flaujae-johnson-selection
Yes, it’s been publicized that it was agreed upon before the draft. Also San Francisco is not across the country from Seattle. The above comment confirms my suspicion that a lot of people have no clue where Seattle is! 😂😂
Seattle and San Francisco are both on the West Coast - NOT the "other side of the country"!!
Great article. I’m so excited for the Storm’s new direction. Love what the front office has done. They cleaned house, got rid of all the toxic bs and are rebuilding with incredible draft picks. I also love the pick up of heideman as PG. I’m so looking forward to watching the new coach and the development and growth of the young core. I’m proud that the Storm chose to be patient and build the team through the draft instead of chasing old veterans. It’s a whole new chapter for the Storm and I could be more excited!
Love the Flau’Jae trade, athletic wing that can get downhill and plays on both ends. Interested to see how Fam develops alongside Dom and if that means the Storm may look to move Ezi eventually. I do wonder where the offensive production will come from for this Storm squad after losing their top 5 scorers from last season
Ezi signed a 3-year deal.
I don't know why some people are so eager to get rid of Ezi. She's entering her prime years, let's have her do it here. She'll show us the whole reason the team drafted her in the first place.
Yes! Ezi should be retained!
Looking forward to training camp updates!
Yes! And I’d be REALLY interested in reports about the coaching staff. I’d love to hear about their philosophy and coaching/teaching skills.
Jeff, I know that it's extremely early but are there any prospects in the 2027 draft that you are looking at to help complete this core?
If the Storm end up missing the playoffs and have another lottery pick, there are going to be some good players to choose from. In general, I always recommend going BPA (Best Player Available). If they were to get the #1 pick, it's JuJu Watkins unless she decides to stay an additional year of college. She technically can get a medical exemption because she missed all of this year after tearing her ACL deep in the NCAA tournament in 2025.
Madison Booker would most likely be my next choice. She's a very talented SF out of Texas. If the Storm end up picking somewhere in the 3-5 range, I'm sure Hannah Hidalgo will be in the discussion. I have some reservations about her because of her smaller size, and I don't think she's the most efficient player, but she certainly is scrappy.
Other options are going to include the two guards from LSU, Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley.
A lot of it will also come down to how all these rookies and younger players perform this season.