It's an interesting "What If?" scenario for 2024 with a lot of follow-on effects-
Keep the pick and draft Rickea Jackson;
You're stuck with Kia Nurse;
You don't have enough cap space for both Sky and Nneka, and they want to be together so you probably get neither;
Which means Jewell Loyd plays another season of inefficient Mamba-ball and maybe doesn't get disgruntled and ask for a trade, stays and continues to decline in 2025;
So no 3-way trade for LA's 2025 #2 pick which turned into Dom Malonga;
But the 2024 Storm probably miss the playoffs and get a lottery pick anyway;
All of which puts the Storm as a low-to-middle tier young rebuilding team instead of the 2nd-tier semi-contender we have now.
Yeah, a massive butterfly effect type of situation. If the Storm miss the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, then there is a chance they land #1 overall and get Paige Bueckers. Then you'd have Ezi Magbegor, Jordan Horston, Rickea Jackson, and Paige Bueckers. Still not a bad group to build around. But they'd probably be closer to the 7th-9th seed instead of the 4th-6th seed that they currently are. In that scenario, do they lose Jewell just in Free Agency or trade her away still for a draft pick? It's all a bunch of hypotheticals, but it's fun to think about. I'm pretty certain I've written and made that argument before in the past on whether the Storm should have just gone into a full rebuild or not. It's difficult to fault them for attracting two All-Star talents after losing Stewie and Sue to retirement. The 2023 season was not fun for fans, and it was bad for my business.
That ball was definitely off Plums hip.and changed the outcome of the game for sure. Still though there was one possession LA got 3 offensive rebounds. That also cost them the game. Or constantly leaving Stevens open to drain 3's certainly cost them the game. NOT making freethrows cost them the game.
If they get stomped in the playoffs I would think Quinn is done.
I could see very clearly that the ball was off Plum's hip. How is it that 3 Refs couldn't see that? Does this get reported to the league and will anything be done about the 3 Refs who also let Dom and Sky get hammered several times without calling fouls on LA?
Teams can send film into the league, but it generally isn't going to do much. Referees are human and will make mistakes. Calls are missed every single game. However, if it's like the NFL, refs are graded and the best refs get the biggest games and the playoff games. And the refs that made more mistakes aren't rewarded.
It's an interesting "What If?" scenario for 2024 with a lot of follow-on effects-
Keep the pick and draft Rickea Jackson;
You're stuck with Kia Nurse;
You don't have enough cap space for both Sky and Nneka, and they want to be together so you probably get neither;
Which means Jewell Loyd plays another season of inefficient Mamba-ball and maybe doesn't get disgruntled and ask for a trade, stays and continues to decline in 2025;
So no 3-way trade for LA's 2025 #2 pick which turned into Dom Malonga;
But the 2024 Storm probably miss the playoffs and get a lottery pick anyway;
All of which puts the Storm as a low-to-middle tier young rebuilding team instead of the 2nd-tier semi-contender we have now.
Yeah, a massive butterfly effect type of situation. If the Storm miss the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, then there is a chance they land #1 overall and get Paige Bueckers. Then you'd have Ezi Magbegor, Jordan Horston, Rickea Jackson, and Paige Bueckers. Still not a bad group to build around. But they'd probably be closer to the 7th-9th seed instead of the 4th-6th seed that they currently are. In that scenario, do they lose Jewell just in Free Agency or trade her away still for a draft pick? It's all a bunch of hypotheticals, but it's fun to think about. I'm pretty certain I've written and made that argument before in the past on whether the Storm should have just gone into a full rebuild or not. It's difficult to fault them for attracting two All-Star talents after losing Stewie and Sue to retirement. The 2023 season was not fun for fans, and it was bad for my business.
I’m gonna keep saying it, think Dallas fans miss Trammell?
That ball was definitely off Plums hip.and changed the outcome of the game for sure. Still though there was one possession LA got 3 offensive rebounds. That also cost them the game. Or constantly leaving Stevens open to drain 3's certainly cost them the game. NOT making freethrows cost them the game.
If they get stomped in the playoffs I would think Quinn is done.
I could see very clearly that the ball was off Plum's hip. How is it that 3 Refs couldn't see that? Does this get reported to the league and will anything be done about the 3 Refs who also let Dom and Sky get hammered several times without calling fouls on LA?
Teams can send film into the league, but it generally isn't going to do much. Referees are human and will make mistakes. Calls are missed every single game. However, if it's like the NFL, refs are graded and the best refs get the biggest games and the playoff games. And the refs that made more mistakes aren't rewarded.