April 13, 2026 • 42 mins
USA Today women’s hoops reporter Meghan L. Hall joins Sarah to talk through a busy weekend of WNBA free agency signings. They make some very-early-sure-to-go-wrong predictions about which teams will thrive and which will flail this season and assess how the last 48 hours or so will impact tonight’s college draft. Plus, things are starting to click, the Garden is blooming, and competency porn is everyone’s kink.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're scouring
socials for sneak peaks at tonight's draft day.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Fits. Who will go Assassin chic A.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
La Anissa Moro, who will rock a glamorous gown? A
La Kiki Eriafen And will Russell Westbrook be suiting anyone up?
Ala George Amore can't wait to find out It's Monday,
April thirteenth, Happy WNBA Draft Day. On today's show, USA Today,
Women Soups reporter Megan L. Hall joins us to talk
through a busy weekend of WNBA free agency signings. We'll
(00:31):
make some very early, sure to go wrong predictions about
which teams will thrive and which will flail, and we'll
weigh in on how free agent signings might impact the
pics in tonight's draft. Plus, things are starting to click,
the garden is blooming, and competency porn is everyone's kink.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It's all coming up right after this. Welcome back, Slaceys.
Here's what you need to.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Know today, Starting with who hoops, forty five athletes will.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Hear their names called.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It the twenty twenty six WNBA Draft in New York
City tonight Fifteen of the top prospects have been invited
to attend in person, including five newly minted national champs
from UCLA, three of Don s Day's South Carolina Gamecocks,
and two Horned Frogs of TCU. Azy Fudd is the
lone Yukon Rep. Flaje Johnson will hold it down for LSU,
(01:23):
and Cody McMahon will be there from Ole Miss. There
will also be two athletes in attendance from outside the
NCAA system, Nell Angloma from France and Awa Fam from Spain.
It all starts tonight at seven pm Eastern. You can
watch it on ESPN. I'll be watching from the Iheartwomen's
Sports Draft party at a sports bar in Manhattan with
a plan to sneak out and record all of my
(01:45):
immediate reactions to share with y'all on tomorrow's show.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
More Hoops.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
WNBA signings came fast and furious over the weekend, with
a bunch of big names returning to their teams and
several superstars on the move as far as players staying put.
Among them, we saw the return of New York Liberties
Johnquell Jones, the Las Vegas Aces, Jewel Lloyd, and Chelsea Gray,
the La Sparks, Deerica Hamby and Kelsey Plum, Dallas Wings,
ari gay A Gunbawalle, Indiana Fevers, Kelsey Mitchell, Atlanta Dreams,
(02:13):
Ali Shagray and Ryan Howard, and the Phoenix Mercuries Alissa Thomas.
As for big names on the move, Skyler Diggins, Neca
Ougu Mackay and Gabby Williams all left Seattle, Diggins to
the Chicago Sky, Ogumakay to the Sparks, and Williams to
the Valkyries. Britney Griner left Atlanta for the Connecticut Son
Satu Sable left Phoenix for the New York Liberty, and
last year's co Defensive Player of the Year Atlanta Smith
(02:35):
left the Minnesota Links for the Dallas Wings. We also
saw the Chicago Sky La Sparks deal reported last week
come to fruition, with Ariel Atkins heading to La and
Rakia Jackson going to Chicago.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That was a straight up player swap.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
The Sky also welcomed back Azrey Stevens, who helped them
to a title in twenty twenty one and is coming
off a career year with the Sparks. And still I
stand firm in my stance of them not being able
to retain Angel Reess. But I do have to admit
the Sky is making some moves. If nothing else, they're
going to be a fun team to watch this year.
Speaking of fun to watch, we got to pour one
(03:09):
out for the studbuts Natisha Heideman is leaving the Minnesota
Links for the Seattle Storm. Meantime, her partner in crime,
Courtney Williams, has re signed with the Links on a
two year max deal.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
According to ESPN.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Williams responded to news of Heideman's departure with crying.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Emojis US two man US two.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Also, we've talked a lot about how the CBA is
fundamentally changing the lifestyles and opportunities for w players. Well,
wanted to give you a specific example based on this
Weekend signings. Kelsey Mitchell's career earnings through her first eight
seasons with the Indiana Fever were about one point one
two million dollars. Kelsey Mitchell's contract in year nine with
the Indiana Fever one point four million, just one year.
(03:52):
I have to say all Weekend as news broke, I
couldn't help but smile at how many times I read
million dollar deal.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Informational CBA.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Indeed, get that bag, ladies, it's long overdue.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I know that's far from all the signings this weekend
in the W, but we do got to keep this
train moving, and we will link to the transaction tracker
from across the timeline in the show notes so you
can keep up with all the latest. Plus we got
much more on all of this in just a minute
with meganel Hall.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
One more hoops note though. One of the TCU.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Players in attendance at the draft tonight hoping to hear
her name called, is Olivia Miles.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
But Miles isn't waiting for the W to sign deals.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
The star guard and potential number one draft pick signed
a multi year deal with Unrivaled on Sunday. Now, Miles
was already part of the future is Unrivaled class of
twenty twenty five. That's an nil sponsorship of fourteen of
the best players in college basketball. But now she'll play
for Unrivaled in twenty twenty seven. She's the first rookie
to sign a contract for next season. She's not yet
been assigned a club, but Ghost Gang is crossing our
(04:50):
fingers to soccer. The US women's national team took down
Japan two to one on Saturday, marking their tenth straight
win under head coach Emma Hayes. Sophia Wilson was back
in the start lineup for her first game with the
national team after giving birth to her daughter last August,
and Rose Level was in the starting eleven as well,
her one hundredth start with the national team, and it
took just nine minutes for her to open up the scoring.
(05:12):
Then in the forty eighth minute, Lavelle assisted on a
Lindsay Heap score to make it two nil. In a
postmatch press conference, coach Emahayes said what happened after that
is actually what impressed her most about the team's evolution.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Take a listen.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
I think, second off, we started so strongly and so
dominant and so on the front foot, score the second,
and then we concede against the runner play, and it
just shows you how quickly in a football match you
can be in complete control.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
It looks like we're.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Going to go and get the third, and all of
a sudden it's two to one and momentum shifts. But
I think twelve months ago we might have drawn this game.
I think the progress is in staying in the game
and not conceding a second goal.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Now, Saturday was just the first of three games between
the two sides. The US and Japan play again Tuesday
in Seattle at ten pm Eastern and Friday outside of
Denver at nine pm Eastern. You can watch on TNT
and True TV, or stream the games on HBO Max
to Hockey. Saturday was a triple game treat for the
PWHL and its fans.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
First up, defending.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
League champs, the Minnesota Frost blasted the New York Sirens
four to one. Friend of the Show Kelly Panic, scoring
her twenty ninth point of the season, tying Sarah Philia
and Hillary Knight for the PWHL record of most points
in a single season. Then, in a battle up north,
the Ottawa Charge shut out the Toronto Scepters to nothing.
And the game of the weekend, the top two teams
in the league, the Montreal Victoire and the Boston Fleet,
(06:36):
facing off in the league's TD Garden debut.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
A sold out crowd packed.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
The home of the NHL's Boston Bruins and mnba's Boston
Celtics seventeen thou eight hundred and fifty watching the Victoire
beat the Fleet one to nothing, and as friends of
the Show Tessa Bonham and Julia Toscherry put it when
they came on our show, the season of the Goalie continued.
Montreal's and Renee Debn turned away all twenty shots she
faced for her seventh shutout of the season, and Boston's
(07:02):
Aaron Frankel let just the one past, stopping eighteen. With
the win, Montreal became the first team in PWHL history
to win twenty games in a single season. Not a
bad spot to be in heading into the playoffs in
a couple of weeks. Slices, We've said many times how
quick this whole process is for college players declaring for
(07:23):
the draft. But it's literally campus Friday, whole New life
and city on Tuesday. So I want to quickly play
you a segment from Azy Fuds podcast fud Around and
find out which is part of the iHeart Women's Sports Network,
to just really drive that point home.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Take a listen.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
I leave Friday, all my sevenys be packed up. I
will be in New York for the weekend. Get dropped
in Monday. I think either Tuesday or Wednesday, I fly
to wherever I'm drafted, and then I have media I'm
sure like physicals, meetings, and then training camp starts in nineteenth.
It's an insane turn around. I've been lucky enough to
(08:01):
be in a program where I I've seen it for
the last four years. We've always had someone drafted going
through this, so I knew what to expect. But it
still doesn't even compare until you're really in the situation.
You're like, I only have like six days to pack
my whole life up, say bye to everything we've ever known,
my home, my people.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Man, do I feel that end of college sadness? Some tears,
for sure, But I'm also super excited for Azy and
for all the ladies who are going to get to
see their dreams realize tonight. I just hope they didn't
pack all their books in one box. Rookie moving mistake.
We're going to take a break when we come back.
Meganel Hall tells us which teams hit it big in
free agency and which teams have us saying.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
What y'all doing? Stick around joining us now.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
She's a journalist and staff writer for USA Today's For
the Win. She specializes in women's sports, particularly the WNBA
and College Troops, a graduate of the University of West Georgia.
She's also got an MBA from Mercer University. We both
rock with the same Mary and Williamson quote, and her
bio says she enjoys quote generally being a big deal
because she was not put on this earth to be
anything less.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
We love that for It's Megan L.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Hall.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I'm Megan Hi.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
So good to finally meet you.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Virtually, of course, I know, thanks for coming out.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
I have to start with the obvious because I've always
seen the Megan L.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Hall.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Is there another Megan Hall that stole your thunder forcing
you to use the L?
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Yeah, So when I got married, I was like, hey,
I'm going to change everything, right, It's going to be
Megan Hall. And then I started, like, you know, putting
my name and said Google just to kind of see,
and yeah, there were other Megan Halls that came up,
an actress, I think, another public figure, and so I
was like, let me just throw the L in there
in that it just kind of stuck.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Our producer Alex also found a woman who was accused
of various sordid crimes.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So well, we'll stick with the L.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
We'll stick with the l just in case you're talking
to us on a Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
With WNBA free agency signings.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Coming in all weekend, I'm sure they're going to keep coming.
So we're just going to talk about what we know
right now now, which is all we can do. And
there was a lot of talk about the shortened timeline
because of the CBA agreement taking so long, potentially causing
athletes to say, I'm gonna stay where I am, maybe
sign a one year deal, and then next off season
make the big moves, make the long term deals, use
that full off season to look around. But I've seen
(10:17):
more players choose new destinations than maybe I thought.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
How about you, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
I mean I actually kind of expected us to get
a lot of movement. Right you had over a hundred
free agents, so I fully expected that people would probably
at least at minimum, go see what's out there. I
think perhaps the most shocking has been, you know, perhaps
like Minnesota they lost quite a bit of their starting lineup.
That was a little surprising to me. And then some
of these kind of mid range deals that you know,
(10:43):
maybe they're not in the top fifty of stars, but
still they've moved on as well, and I think people
are wanting to go one where their money is and
too It's like, okay, great, if I get the chance
to decide where I want to go, Yeah, I'm going
to take that opportunity.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I mean, I'm not surprised because the entire league other
than Lexi Brown and Clonney Brown were free for all.
You know, who you can grab other than obviously people
still on rookie deals. I think it was just again
the condensed nature of it. I wasn't sure how much
colluding or chit chatting or conversating was happening before technically
(11:16):
players were allowed to and I have to assume some
based on the speed with which some of these deals
got made. Before we get to some of those deals,
I want to ask if you were surprised by any
of the stars that did return to their teams. Was
there anyone that you thought, man, I really thought that
person might be on the move, and here they are
back again.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
That's a good question, honestly, I'll give you one. I'll
give you Jordan Canada from The Atlanta Dream. I just
wasn't quite sure what the read was on Canada, and
I thought maybe perhaps she could look at going elsewhere,
and mainly because you know, Jordan has experienced some injuries
during her time in Atlanta, and while she's really really
good on the defensive end, I think her offensive output
had been up and down as well. So it was
(11:54):
probably less on Jordan's side, but more so on Atlanta's
side if they decided to kind of explore the market.
But I'm super we were super happy to see them
bring back their entire core. To me, that was one
of the most impressive of free agency. And obviously there's
still moves going on, but you bring back your starting
corps and your bench leader in nas Hillman like, yeah,
you got to give it. Atlanta their props for being
able to do that.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah. And then adding Angel Reese no big deal, No
big deal, of course.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
You know, there were two other players that I felt
the same way about. It wasn't necessarily that I thought
they wouldn't want to stay, but I wasn't sure if
the team would think that that was the best move.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
For them going forward.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
One was john Quell Jones, not because of her play,
but because and we'll get to this later, I don't
know how the hell New York is paying for.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Everybody like, we're going to get into it.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
The other one I had was Ari gay A Gunbiwale,
again a tremendous player, a huge piece for the Wings
for many years. But I'm very intrigued now about what
the draft looks like for a team that already has
some redundancies, both in the front court and for bigs.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
So Ari Gay especially had a long term deal.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
The way they did, they've really linked themselves to her
for you know, the rest of her career maybe, And
that was the only one that I was like, huh, okay.
I could have seen them potentially saying we want to
get younger and make more clear who's doing what in
our front court. But we'll get to all of that.
Which faces that did choose new places did surprise you
the most.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I'm going to go back to the Wings.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Alta Smith's and the Wings was one I was like, oh, okay,
all right. And I think mainly because I figured that,
you know, Minnesota would probably try to do everything in
its power to you know, keep it starting five. And
I'm not saying that they did it, but I thought
that Lawn moving on was a little bit of a
surprise to me. I thought she might want to stay
connected with you know, k Mack and Cordy Williams and Fee,
(13:32):
like I said, their entire starting lineup, and I think
her moving on says to me, it's a big deal
for Minnesota because she's there, one of their defensive anchors.
She won you know, CO Defensive Player of the Year
last year. Obviously a scoring option for them as well.
She helps the space and stretch the floor. So I
really was a little surprised by that, but hey, you
get to go be, you know, a part of a
really really, I would say, an intriguing lineup in Dallas.
(13:55):
You've got Paige and Rique, You've got Lawn, You've now
have Jessica Shephard, right, you've got Segers. I mean, Dallas
is cooking with quite a bit of pieces there, and
I'm very, very curious to see how all of that
works out.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, So Smith and Jessica Shepherd lead Minnesota to head
to Dallas. Natisha Heideman goes to Seattle. Bridget Carlton and
Maria Clandakova are lost to the expansion Draft, and Ifisa
Collier's not going to be back for a while. She
just had the second of back to back surgeries, are
we going to see a huge drop off for Minnesota
this season? Even though they do have the two pick
in the draft, Thank you Chicago Sky. It's looking a
(14:28):
lot more helpful for them now necessary for them to
have that number two. But it feels almost inevitable that
this team, I mean, at the very least, it's going
to look real different.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
Yeah, I would agree with that. I think that you'll
still see them make playoffs. Like this is a really
gritty team, and anytime a team is coached by Cheryl Reeve,
I have a hard time picking against them to not
make the playoffs. But I would be very surprised beyond
that it let's say, and a FISA Collier doesn't come
back until I don't know, after All Star Break or
anything else like that, that becomes a lot harder to
put that gel together and really get going ahead of
(14:59):
the playof So yeah, I would be very surprised if
they did a deep playoff run, especially missing so many
of those key pieces that actually helped them get to
the WNBA finals previously.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, And as of this recording, there's a couple names
that we're sort of assuming our sticking around because we
haven't heard otherwise. But no clarity yet. Let's talk about
the storm. They get Natisha Heideman, but they lost Necho Guo, Mackay,
Skyler Diggins, Erica Wheeler, Britney Sikes has gone in the
expansion draft. That's their top five scorers from last year.
And all of this just a couple of years after
(15:31):
losing Brianna Stewart to the Liberty. Is Seattle just no
longer a top destination? Maybe because of market Is the
team not looking to spend? Is it a bunch of
people who were frustrated by the firing of Neil Ivy
or maybe not enthusiastic about new coach Sonya Ramum?
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Like what is going on in Seattle.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
From the outside looking, And it's really it's hard to know,
But I would say from that angle, I would think
it's a couple things. So obviously there was a culture shift,
right You no longer have Noel Quinn at the head,
obviously bringing a new head coach, so that's a different vibe.
I also think that at this point you had a
CBA also that could have influenced where people were going
to go in because hey, I want to go get paid.
How was Seattle going to pay everyone? How are they
(16:10):
going to pay Skyler? How were they going to play Meca?
How were you gonna pay Britney Sykes. All of those
people were in line to, you know, essentially get big paydays,
and I think that makes it really hard. But I
also will say this, this Seattle team looks a lot
different than what they pitched to us probably two seasons ago.
Right when you've got the Skyler, when you've got the Neka,
you have Jewel Lloyd coming over that was supposed to
(16:30):
be their core. Well Jewe Lloyd only plays one season
and then it's like, okay, well we still got Skyler,
and we still got Neka, and we still have Edzie
mag mcgre You bring in Britney Sykes, and while she plays,
you know, Britney sex is a fantastic player. So I think,
you know, she did as well as she could, but
it was very clear to me that she didn't quite
find her footing there in Seattle. So I think it
was really hard to kind of say, okay, hey, we're
(16:51):
going to bring everyone back. So for Seattle, Yeah, it's
I think every now and then teams go through this
kind of not only a culture shift, but identity shift,
and so now Seattle has to ask me who they
want to be, and I think they also have to
be honest and say, hey, we're not that contending team
that we tried to put together, So now we've got
to start again, you know, over from the bottom and
see how quickly we can get back.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I mean, all of that is fair, but there are
plenty of teams that have found ways to keep a
lot of big money players and they kept none. They've
got Dominique Malonga, who I mean, based on the continued development,
is someone to build around that. It's surprising there aren't
more folks who want to show up and have this
player on a rookie scale, you know, who is going
to be making and little enough that you can put enough.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Talent around her.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I also wonder what kind of miscalculation there might have
been in terms of protection. We did not get to
see who protected players were. We could do some deducing
based on who ended up getting drafted in the expansion draft.
But if Seattle protected all those players and none of
them resigned, that's pretty wild too that they didn't seem
to have a beat on what some of their players
(17:55):
might do. Yeah, let's talk about the Valkyries. They get
a big one in Gabby Williams on am I favorite
players again, Sorry Seattle fans, but that's not the big splash.
I think many expected for this rare expansion team to
make a postseason run.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Gabby Walliams is amazing. But and who else? Right, are
you surprised.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
So far that you haven't seen more big name free
agents choose to go to the Bals Understanding you've got
Coach of the Year, you've got a surprise playoff run,
you've got an incredible atmosphere, amazing leadership and support. I
was expecting more shocking splashes for the Valks.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
Yeah, I would say I'm not surprised, and I think
only because Natalie Nicassei kind of hinted at it, you know,
right before they actually had their first season, and she's
essentially saying, hey, you know, it's going to take a
second for us to get to where we want to go.
Although we're going to press now, but it will take
a second.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
It makes it a.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Lot harder to attract talent, and I think for them,
you know, you also have to have this uncertainty, right
like with the Balks, there's a lot of good things happening.
You break, you know, the record for most wins for
an expansion team, right, coach of the Year, like this,
all fantastic things, but like, really you have to ask yourself, Okay,
how quickly could the Valks get there? And if I'm
a veteran player, I want to go like yesterday, right?
(19:04):
And so I think for for Gabby, you know, I
think it's a really good pick up for them. I
think obviously, you know, you got to go where money
is as well, so that could have been a factor.
But also perhaps she wants to be the anchor of
a team as well, and I think that could have
been a little hard to do.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
In Seattle.
Speaker 5 (19:18):
You had a lot of players there who, you know,
all kind of try to make it work with, you know, Skyler,
with Neka, with Ezzie, with Psychs and so now Gabby
kind of gets to be that focal piece and so
maybe that was a draw. But also, yeah, if Golden
State wins a playoff series this year, you might see
a few more people kind of oh, let me go
see where they're talking about in Golden State. But I
think until then it makes it a little tough.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I got it the first season.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I was still surprised the first season, because I think
there's something very special about being a part of the
very first iteration of a team. But this season, I
am truly surprised. For me, that would be a massive
destination based on how that team is run and the
fans and everything else, compared to where we've seen a
couple other superstars choose to get paid, and maybe the
Valks aren't throwing out money the same way. Maybe they're
trying to create more of a balance in their roster
(20:00):
in terms of paid We'll get to some of those
teams throwing around money in a minute, but let's talk
Phoenix Mercury. I think as of right now, the roster
is technically just Alyssa Thomas and Klannie Brown, Like, yeah,
do you think we're gonna see Kalia Copper stay, do
we think Dewanna Bonner? That seems like an obvious but
you just never know what those two like what's going
on with the Mercury.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
So that's a good question. I think the biggest one
that obviously you've got to talk about first is Satu
Sobbily leaving and going to New York. That is massive.
The Mercury spent the better part of two seasons, kind
of pursuing Sawtu only to only have her for one
season after the trade last year, which, mind you, that
was the biggest trade in WNBA free agency last year.
It was a three team trade to pull this off.
(20:41):
So for Sawtu to walk after one season, that's that's gutting.
So if I'm in the Phoenix, you got to get
at back. Of course one and they have, but two,
you also have to bring Khalia Copper. You've got to
bring her back. There is not a world that should
exist without having kind of those staple pieces there because
I think what a lot of people rightfully talk about
what Alyssa Thomas does for the Mercury, And don't get
me wrong, she is the engine, as her nickname says, right,
(21:04):
But I think what most people don't realize is that
if you're not paying attention to what Khalia Copper does,
she moves a lot off the ball, creating for the Mercury,
opening up those lanes, spectacular defense, and you need that
to be able to lead a team and get that
out of your guard play. I'm gonna go out and
lim and say, hey, it would be nice if they
get Monica Coha Maccani back. That would be fantastic. You
get your starting guard from your championship aspiring team, right,
(21:27):
you got a couple of pieces there, and I think
from there you just got to build And for Phoenix, yeah, honestly,
it might be another situation where you have to ask yourself, Okay,
are we farther away than we actually thought that we
would be, Especially if the departure of Satu was unexpected,
then yeah, there's your course read just gone after one season.
So that's something that you got to think about now,
is how do we get ourselves back because making the
(21:50):
finals isn't easy And oh, by the way, not only
did you make the finals, but you got swept in
the finals. So now the questions are even louder without
Satu there.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah, what's wild to me is how much this craziness
of this offseason benefited teams that were out of it
last year and now of a chance to completely rebuild,
and maybe negatively affected teams that were close because of
the way things are getting blown up. The links the
Mercury like a finals team that's returning almost no one
(22:20):
and can't build on what they started instead have to
start over as kind of well, Look, you mentioned Satu Sabli,
The Liberty loss Niara Saboli to the expansion draft, and
then they just go out and get the other one.
They add her sister in free agency. The Unicorn gets
lured away from Mercury. We've now got a starting five
of probably Satu Sabli, John Quell Jones, Brianna Stewart, Sabrini
and Escu and Leoni Phoebish.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That frankly seems unfair.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
No one is surprised that the Liberty are stacked, but
we are trying to figure out how the hell they
can afford all of that talent. Do you think some
top names are taking pay cuts? Do you think maybe
the Liberty front office is coming up with some sneaky
creative deals that the League doesn't yet know that they
need to ban or protect against, Like what is going
on in New York?
Speaker 5 (23:01):
I mean that was my first question when I saw
that Sawtoo was going, I was like, how is this
gonna work? Because you've got to pay you know, Breonna Stewart,
You've got to pay John Kawell Jones, and you gotta
pay Sabrani and sq as well. That's some cap gymnastics
I think that's gonna have to happen. I would be
curious to see if any of those players get a
Super Max. I'd be hard pressed to say yes, just
(23:21):
simply because of the sheer number of players who are
probably going to be million dollar contracts. But I would
also say this, if you're heavy at the top, that
means you're gonna be really really light in the in
the back half of your roster, and so that's really
where you're gonna have to get creative and get some
of those bargain pieces. And not to mention, they also
lost Kennedy Burke to the Sun as well Asabelle Harrison
is gone as well, So yeah, they're they're gonna have
(23:42):
to get very very creative with fixing uh their their
death to get them back to the WNBA finals. And
I think, yeah, how the heck are you going to
pay all of them? Like I'm I'm I do not
envy Jonathan Colb's job at all trying to figure that out.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
On the one hand, I do because embarrassment of riches,
But to your point, it definitely gets a little sticky
trying to make sure you pay all of them, and
with injury if there is injury, the depth becomes a
part of it. All Right, let's talk about my Chicago Sky,
because last week I was dogging the Sky for losing
yet another big name in Angel Reese, to what at
least felt like a force trade.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I know they said it wasn't, but at the very.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Least irreconcilable differences that both sides knew that they needed
to move on. I stand by that take, and I
have proof of a very long line of great players
who have been lined it out of there before their
contracts were over, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Still frustrated by that.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
You can add talent to talent, you don't always have
to lose your big name in order to bring another
one in. But all that being said, still very pleasantly
surprised to see the Sky snag a bona fide star
in Skyler Diggins on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Also a couple other moves.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
But before we even get to that, are you surprised
to see Sky sign with the Sky?
Speaker 5 (24:50):
I was, Honestly, I was not that she left Seattle,
because I kind of suspected that she might at least,
you know, test the market. But signing with the Sky
to me, was a little bit of a eyeb But
you know, I guess it makes sense in the fact
that like, hey, she gets back to the Midwest, she
gets to control, you know, essentially that team. I think
if you get Courtney Slutes, you know, Vander Slutes buy
(25:10):
in as well. With Skyler in the mix, Yeah, that's
a really awesome one two veteran punch at point guard.
And if you add another Garden in the draft, like
now you're cooking, right. And I think from there, Skyler
also brings a certain amount of tenacity on both sides
of the ball that I think it's unmatched across the league.
So if you're Chicago, like, honestly, that's a home run
sort of signing just from the standpoint of there are
(25:33):
very few guards who play both ways on office and
defense the way that she does. And I think that
she really will dictate how Chicago moves on both ends
of the floor. And I think that's something that Chicago
probably hasn't seen in a while in terms of, hey,
we have someone who is a tone setter here that
we're also going to follow. It's kind of the way
that it was in Seattle, right, Like Seattle went kind
(25:53):
of as Skyler went, And I think the same thing
could happen in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
I mean it's hard to find a suit first star
in the WNBA, a name that will drive ticket sales
in that way, that is willing to come to a
place like Chicago that hasn't had the best track record
for things like you know, facilities and vibes and tendants
and all the other things be able to replace that
a little bit in what you're losing from Angel Race. Now,
Angel was beloved and something like thirteen thousand followers on
(26:21):
the Chicago Sky account dropped off the day that they
announced that she was traded.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Right, She's got.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Millions of supporters, and Skyler is one of the few
players who has more going on than just basketball to
bring to Chicago and then being a South Bend Indiana
gal coming home.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I think it was a great signing for them.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And I do think also to your point, she will
whip people into shape, right, whether that's the fellow players
on the court or the front office, right, she will
have demands. I think that the Sky will have to
step up and do. They also added Rakia Jackson for
Aera Atkins. That's a straight up trade. They swapped them.
Ariel Goes to the Sparks and Rikia to Chicago again
(26:57):
another player. I think with both Rakia and sk Tyler,
I was like, they want to be in Chicago. Chicago's
an amazing city, but the vibes on the team are
just not the same as some other places. Not that
I'm going to give too much credit to the sparksfront office,
at least historically. They're still trying to clean up for
their own history. But they also bring back Azrey Stevens,
adding some length. They send another first round draft pick
(27:19):
twenty twenty eight, which for the Sky hasn't always been great, right.
They always send those away thinking they'll be low first rounders,
and they keep being high first rounders by the time
they come around.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
But they send away that pick for J. C.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Sheldon, so adding a really great on ball defender, more
tenacity around the perimeter.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
What do you make of the Sky actually.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Competing as opposed to just being a respectable roster that
will be entertaining.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Honestly, I think you have to. You have to.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
You know, you spent the last two seasons essentially trying
to compete, and you were unable to. You know, you
don't get above fifteen wins in either of those seasons.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
You have to.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
This is a situation now in which I firmly believe
everyone is chasing the aces right like we all want
to be where they are. You want to do that,
You've got to be able to compete. Now, whether compete
means hey, we are going to make the playoffs and
we're going to win one round, or like, hey, we
don't make the playoffs, but we have a winning record
and we you know, we were competitive in every game.
Whatever that looks like. For Chicago, they have to. The
(28:14):
other thing is they have fans who are growing increasingly
frustrated by what's been happening. Chicago fans are super passionate,
and now you don't have your two essentially your your
two core pieces who you drafted to be the focal
points of your franchise. You've essentially been playing musical players
in your starting lineup and in your bench for a
couple of seasons. Now you need some stability. So for me,
(28:35):
I think for Chicago, having stability and having players that
want to come in play with an edge, you know,
I think that that is something they're going to need.
And also, you know, give Tyler Marsha a second season
to get himself also kind of more acclimated, more of
a roster that you know, he can mold and essentially,
you know, make into a competitor. I mean at this rate,
Like I know it's gonna sound like, you know, a
(28:56):
little stern here, but I think for any franchise, they
want to compete. And it's not just okay, hey, we
want to compete, we want to be competitive, no, no, no,
we want to make the playoffs. We want to continue
pushing for a title. And I think that's Chicago, Like
they're not that far removed from their twenty twenty one title,
and so I think that this is very much a
situation which, okay, if we get ourselves together, we could
continue to make another title push.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
A lot had to go right that year, and a
lot had to go wrong for some other teams. But correct,
we'll take it, we'll celebrate it, we'll enjoy it. Let's
talk about the sparks quick, because ARAA Atkins Head's there
and joins Kelsey Plum, Cameron brink Erica Wheeler, Sanaiah Fagan.
Like that roster is starting to come together as well,
especially with a healthy brink and Kelsey Plumb in a
second year in that place, Like, what do you see
(29:37):
out of.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
LA this year?
Speaker 5 (29:38):
I'm definitely putting LA on my early list of potential contenders,
just sheerly of off their starting five, at least any
starting lineup that it's got you know, Neka Goomackay in it,
it's got Deerka Hanby, it's got Kelsey Plum, like yes,
please please like start there. I think adding Ariel Atkins
certainly helps, you know, coming from Chicago. I think for
(30:02):
her it's obviously she's got to settle into a new
system now, But I definitely think I would like to
see what she looks like alongside Kelsey Plumb, which she
looks like, you know, alongside Deerka and Neka as well,
and also for Cam Breake, I'm very curious about what
her role will be like in that offense as well.
You know, Cam was a starter at one point obviously
coming back from the injury last season, and now she
may not be a starter this season, just depending on
(30:24):
how they you know, they they things shake out. But
I would be very curious to see what her contributions
look like. But overall, I mean this kind of matches
what the Spark said they wanted to do. They want
to compete now, they want championships. Going out and getting
Kelsey Plum last season said hey, we want to go now.
And I think for Neka Goolake to come back says
to me that she believes in them as well, Like
she basically left, you know, and went to Seattle because
(30:46):
she was still wanting to pursue a championship, still wanting
to compete at a high level. And so for her
to return says obviously, yes, hey, welcome back. This is
something I'm familiar, but it says, yeah, I believe in
what's being built here too since the last time that
I was here.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Well, and it's a great solution nechA for a number
of reasons. One first of all, she is not coming
back just to be a figurehead, intellectual player, leader of
young people, helping the transition into the next era. She
was putting up numbers still last year, so she will
be big on the court, but also going home to
la and having the opportunity to start to build on
what will be next for her in the later years
(31:19):
of her career is really smart as well. I'm very
interested to see how all those pieces will fit together.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
So much talent.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
It's just how do you decide how you're going to
use all those players on the court and get the
best out of all of them. Sparks are gonna be fun,
sparked me, really fun. Okay, let's get to how all
of this is impacting how you're watching the draft. Have
any of these free agency moves fundamentally changed your opinion
on who a team might select?
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (31:45):
Yes, So for anybody who isn't aware, I think I've
done four mock drafts now, and not that they were
based on vibe, but they were pretty much very educated guesses.
I don't have any clue or insight into free agency yet.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
I mean every single mock draft was like, well, based
on their website, they have a player, so who would
they want to add a bunch of them?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
They have a lot of holes. Yea, So now we're
starting to get a better picture.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
I mean, it was tough. It was really tough trying
to you know, kind of gauge. But I would say
now that free agency is here, I think, yes, you're
going to see a little bit of movement there. I
have one more mock draft that will come out the
morning of the draft, and that should be more closely
aligned with based on the free agency moves that we've seen. However,
I will say this, I think by now teams kind
of know who they're going to take. I don't expect
there to be you know, really big shift unless someone
(32:31):
unexpectedly falls down the draft board. There have been situations
like that before where we think a player is going
to go in the first round and we don't see
them until second round, or someone trades up, you know,
something like that. I mean, the mystics are someone to
keep an eye on. They have multiple first round picks, like, yeah,
we could see some things get really interesting. But I
will say this to anybody out there making mock drafts.
(32:51):
We are stressed trying to get this all right, trying
to make sure that okay, yes, this makes sense and
account for all the things that teams are potentially looking at.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
I mean, I don't think anyone's going to hold it
against mock draft makers if they don't nail it this year,
seeing as there are still endless amounts of players that
we do not yet know if they've put pen to
paper to re sign or to go somewhere new. I
think the one that I've most tried to figure out
and have moved on is Dallas because at one point
I thought, Okay, if they decide not to keep Arika
(33:21):
long term, you can add an Olivia Miles or an
easy fud and you can figure out.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
How that works.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
But right now I'm thinking crazy crowded front court. If
you try to add one of those players with Page
and Arika, like it could be amazing, it also could
be real difficult. And then I'm looking at the bigs
and I'm thinking, okay, of course, well then you're going
to take an Awa Fam or a Lauren Bett's And
I'm like, wait, You've got Lee j Arue, you added
Jessica Shepherd, You've got Alana Smith, not a big, big
but in that space you are going to be crowded
(33:48):
already with a lot of talent, so maybe you don't
need that. So I've circled around it, around it, and
I'm back to it being Ahwa Fam still because she's
a nineteen year old, slightly more flexible in terms of position,
and you can count on having time for her to
build into a pro game in a way that maybe
you wouldn't feel as much with a twenty four year
old coming out of college or I don't know's that's
(34:10):
where I've landed because I'm like Dallas, I don't know
what y'all need.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
You're grabbing people and fill in spots.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Yeah, it's tough. Honestly, I've gone all over the board,
I think in terms of trying to figure out what
might work there. I did have Ahwa there for a
little bit. I had Asy there for a while. I
had Lauren Betts as well right after the tournament. Yeah,
it's hard because, yes, wherever they pick, there's going to
be some crowding. But I would say this, I think
that the teams that compete, the teams that win, they
(34:37):
go get depth, they go get the extra and so
I think anyone who is picking in that top five, yes,
you want someone who could potentially start now, but like,
if you're cool with having death, by all means, please
go get your depth because that is right. That is
what matters when it comes down to it and you're
trying to win championships. That is essentially who's going to
(34:57):
be the depth off the bench that is going to
help who's going to help your starters? That is where
I look And so you know, we even talked to
the Atlanta Dream today they did, you know, some pressers
just kind of talking on their free agency moves and
and what they're looking for to the draft, and they're
at thirteen and they said to the media, Hey, we're
going to potentially look at taking best player available instead
(35:18):
of best you know, best fit.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
And I think that makes sense, right, that makes sense
with their situation.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
That's the other thing is like you have teams like
that or even like Washington at four. Washington is built
to succeed in a couple of years. Yes, they could
be a good team, but like they have so much
youth that they're trying to put together that they add
another young player and they can all grow together. Whereas
you have a team like say Minnesota that wants to
take advantage of however many years left of the couple
(35:43):
that's that they're keeping. Minnesota is also an interesting one
because coming into the draft, I was like, I can't
believe the Sky ended up giving Minnesota number two. And
now I'm like, thank god for Minnesota. They've got that pick,
Seattle getting that pick from la Thank God for Seattle.
They're going to be able to use the draft to
try to add a dynamic player because they.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Need them at this point.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Those two teams have been ravished by this free agency
period so far.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I'm fired up for this draft.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
I have no freaking clue what's going to happen. Like
if anyone says they do, they're lying. In my opinion,
I just don't know how anyone can have a real
beat on this after all of the movement we saw
and still to come. But we do feel like we
know a bit more about what's going on in the
league thanks to you being here.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
So Meggan, thanks for the time.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
Yes, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
Thanks again to Megan for taking the time, and don't
forget you can now watch full length good game interviews
on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel, so be sure you
go and subscribe.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
We got to take another break. When we return, call
me maybe welcome back slices.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good game play of the day. Rosters are still getting
fleshed out, but after the weekends free agency signings and
tonight's WNBA Draft, we're gonna have a much better idea
of what WNBA teams are going to look like this season,
So we want to hear your reactions. Which teams are
championship bound, which teams might come up short, and if
(37:09):
you got a squad you root for, are you happy
or sad about how things are looking A month out
from season tip off. We already heard from Seattle Storm
fan James el who said, quote, this feels like an
epic implosion as I watch all the other teams in
the league seem to somehow position themselves better than before. Well,
this team seems to just be blowing in the breeze
end quote. James wants to know what's going on with Seattle,
(37:31):
and as you can tell from me and Megan, we're
not entirely sure yet. Anyway, shoot us a message or
even better of voicemail and tell us your thoughts on
what your team is doing and how all the teams
across the league are looking. We also want to say
thanks to Jazz for sending us her thoughts on the
PWHL takeover to her game in Calgary. She said in
part quote, I genuinely had such a great time and
(37:51):
this city is so ready for the return of the
Calgary Inferno, a team from the now defunct Canadian Women's
Hockey League, especially since they are the only Calgary team
that's won something in the twenty first century. It was
such a welcoming time for queer folks as well, which
is real nice, especially since our provincial government is insistent
on attacking us.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Thanks for writing in Jazz. Can't underestimate how important women's
sporting events are right now as inclusive gathering places, So
shout out to the PWHL for that.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
We always love to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Hit us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot
com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two
two o four fifty seventy. We really want to hear
all your voices. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
It's easy watch seeing something go right. Rating six hundred
and ninety five thousand miles worth of awe review. I
(38:44):
can't imagine I was alone and feeling a lot of
emotions watching the dispatches from the Artemis two and all
the relief and joy of watching them re enter and
land safely in the ocean on Friday. It was the
pictures of Earth and the moon. It was the pride
in seeing Christina Cook become the first woman journey around
the Moon, and seeing Victor Glover become the first black
man in history to travel beyond low Earth orbit, and
(39:06):
seeing Americans work with a Canadian not threaten his nation's sovereignty.
It was in the moment that they all embraced Commander
Reid Wiseman after naming a crater in the Moon after
his wife, a nick U nurse, who died of cancer
in twenty twenty. It was the beautiful words written about
the mission, like the uncredited post I saw going around
the Internet that read, so, you're telling me that the
(39:28):
Moon's many craters are from billions of years protecting Earth
by pulling space rocks into her orbit. The Moon, who
has depicted as a woman in countless cultures and timelines,
you're saying her craters and stretch marks are evidence of care.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Has someone informed the poets about this? I just love that.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
It was also in the feeling, which is so rare
these days, of watching smart people accomplish something seemingly impossible
via science and intelligence and teamwork and planning and execution.
Competency porn. They call it the thrill and comfort of
watching people be good at something.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
Author Liz Plank wrote about.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
It perfectly for her substack Airplane Mode. A few of
her thoughts quote, did you feel it too? That specific
relief that's hard to name? I found myself trying to
understand it. The closest I can get is this the
feeling of watching something go right and realizing, somewhere deep
in your body that you had forgotten things could go right.
We have gotten so used to watching the people who
(40:27):
are supposed to be in charge fail, loudly, fail, publicly,
fail in ways that feel designed to make us feel
small and powerless that watching four people simply be extraordinary
at an extraordinarily hard thing produced in many of us
something close to shock. Nobody told me that watching competent
people do a hard thing correctly would be the most
therapeutic experience of my adult life. As I thought about
(40:50):
the miracle that we even exist, that we made it
this far, that we really are on a floating rock
in the universe, the President started to feel like a
small blip in our humanity, a glitch, rather than an
insurmountable tragedy. He didn't feel so big anymore when I
imagine him against the vastness of the universe and the
long story of our species. So go outside tonight and
(41:12):
look at the moon. There is a crater on it,
named after a woman who spent her life saving premature
babies and told her husband to follow his dream even
as she was dying. You cannot see it from here,
but it is there, a bright spot, and the people
who named it came back to tell us that we
are the ones worth marveling at, all of us together
on this impossible little planet.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
End quote. We'll link to the substack.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
It's worth reading it in full, and it's worth trying
to hold on to this little feeling for as long
as we can. Now it's your turn, rate and review.
Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good game, Megan, Good Game.
Chicago Skuy, who we're seeing right now as we end
the show, have also signed DJDA carring did. We literally
can't keep up few our confusion after seeing a women's
(42:00):
elite Rugby social post apologizing for jerseys we never even saw,
with comments under it complaining about a trans band.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
We never even heard about.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Pretty sure, it's our job to know this stuff, but
we can't find shit about it anywhere. Someone, anyone, give
us the TEA Good Game with Sarah Spain is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
(42:30):
Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier.
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder, Lucy Jones,
Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery Loftus
and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're scouring
socials for sneak peaks at tonight's draft day.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Fits. Who will go Assassin chic A.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
La Anissa Moro, who will rock a glamorous gown? A
La Kiki Eriafen And will Russell Westbrook be suiting anyone up?
Ala George Amore can't wait to find out It's Monday,
April thirteenth, Happy WNBA Draft Day. On today's show, USA Today,
Women Soups reporter Megan L. Hall joins us to talk
through a busy weekend of WNBA free agency signings. We'll
(00:31):
make some very early, sure to go wrong predictions about
which teams will thrive and which will flail, and we'll
weigh in on how free agent signings might impact the
pics in tonight's draft. Plus, things are starting to click,
the garden is blooming, and competency porn is everyone's kink.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It's all coming up right after this. Welcome back, Slaceys.
Here's what you need to.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Know today, Starting with who hoops, forty five athletes will.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Hear their names called.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It the twenty twenty six WNBA Draft in New York
City tonight Fifteen of the top prospects have been invited
to attend in person, including five newly minted national champs
from UCLA, three of Don s Day's South Carolina Gamecocks,
and two Horned Frogs of TCU. Azy Fudd is the
lone Yukon Rep. Flaje Johnson will hold it down for LSU,
(01:23):
and Cody McMahon will be there from Ole Miss. There
will also be two athletes in attendance from outside the
NCAA system, Nell Angloma from France and Awa Fam from Spain.
It all starts tonight at seven pm Eastern. You can
watch it on ESPN. I'll be watching from the Iheartwomen's
Sports Draft party at a sports bar in Manhattan with
a plan to sneak out and record all of my
(01:45):
immediate reactions to share with y'all on tomorrow's show.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
More Hoops.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
WNBA signings came fast and furious over the weekend, with
a bunch of big names returning to their teams and
several superstars on the move as far as players staying put.
Among them, we saw the return of New York Liberties
Johnquell Jones, the Las Vegas Aces, Jewel Lloyd, and Chelsea Gray,
the La Sparks, Deerica Hamby and Kelsey Plum, Dallas Wings,
ari gay A Gunbawalle, Indiana Fevers, Kelsey Mitchell, Atlanta Dreams,
(02:13):
Ali Shagray and Ryan Howard, and the Phoenix Mercuries Alissa Thomas.
As for big names on the move, Skyler Diggins, Neca
Ougu Mackay and Gabby Williams all left Seattle, Diggins to
the Chicago Sky, Ogumakay to the Sparks, and Williams to
the Valkyries. Britney Griner left Atlanta for the Connecticut Son
Satu Sable left Phoenix for the New York Liberty, and
last year's co Defensive Player of the Year Atlanta Smith
(02:35):
left the Minnesota Links for the Dallas Wings. We also
saw the Chicago Sky La Sparks deal reported last week
come to fruition, with Ariel Atkins heading to La and
Rakia Jackson going to Chicago.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That was a straight up player swap.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
The Sky also welcomed back Azrey Stevens, who helped them
to a title in twenty twenty one and is coming
off a career year with the Sparks. And still I
stand firm in my stance of them not being able
to retain Angel Reess. But I do have to admit
the Sky is making some moves. If nothing else, they're
going to be a fun team to watch this year.
Speaking of fun to watch, we got to pour one
(03:09):
out for the studbuts Natisha Heideman is leaving the Minnesota
Links for the Seattle Storm. Meantime, her partner in crime,
Courtney Williams, has re signed with the Links on a
two year max deal.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
According to ESPN.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Williams responded to news of Heideman's departure with crying.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Emojis US two man US two.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Also, we've talked a lot about how the CBA is
fundamentally changing the lifestyles and opportunities for w players. Well,
wanted to give you a specific example based on this
Weekend signings. Kelsey Mitchell's career earnings through her first eight
seasons with the Indiana Fever were about one point one
two million dollars. Kelsey Mitchell's contract in year nine with
the Indiana Fever one point four million, just one year.
(03:52):
I have to say all Weekend as news broke, I
couldn't help but smile at how many times I read
million dollar deal.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Informational CBA.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Indeed, get that bag, ladies, it's long overdue.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I know that's far from all the signings this weekend
in the W, but we do got to keep this
train moving, and we will link to the transaction tracker
from across the timeline in the show notes so you
can keep up with all the latest. Plus we got
much more on all of this in just a minute
with meganel Hall.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
One more hoops note though. One of the TCU.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Players in attendance at the draft tonight hoping to hear
her name called, is Olivia Miles.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
But Miles isn't waiting for the W to sign deals.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
The star guard and potential number one draft pick signed
a multi year deal with Unrivaled on Sunday. Now, Miles
was already part of the future is Unrivaled class of
twenty twenty five. That's an nil sponsorship of fourteen of
the best players in college basketball. But now she'll play
for Unrivaled in twenty twenty seven. She's the first rookie
to sign a contract for next season. She's not yet
been assigned a club, but Ghost Gang is crossing our
(04:50):
fingers to soccer. The US women's national team took down
Japan two to one on Saturday, marking their tenth straight
win under head coach Emma Hayes. Sophia Wilson was back
in the start lineup for her first game with the
national team after giving birth to her daughter last August,
and Rose Level was in the starting eleven as well,
her one hundredth start with the national team, and it
took just nine minutes for her to open up the scoring.
(05:12):
Then in the forty eighth minute, Lavelle assisted on a
Lindsay Heap score to make it two nil. In a
postmatch press conference, coach Emahayes said what happened after that
is actually what impressed her most about the team's evolution.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Take a listen.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
I think, second off, we started so strongly and so
dominant and so on the front foot, score the second,
and then we concede against the runner play, and it
just shows you how quickly in a football match you
can be in complete control.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
It looks like we're.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Going to go and get the third, and all of
a sudden it's two to one and momentum shifts. But
I think twelve months ago we might have drawn this game.
I think the progress is in staying in the game
and not conceding a second goal.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Now, Saturday was just the first of three games between
the two sides. The US and Japan play again Tuesday
in Seattle at ten pm Eastern and Friday outside of
Denver at nine pm Eastern. You can watch on TNT
and True TV, or stream the games on HBO Max
to Hockey. Saturday was a triple game treat for the
PWHL and its fans.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
First up, defending.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
League champs, the Minnesota Frost blasted the New York Sirens
four to one. Friend of the Show Kelly Panic, scoring
her twenty ninth point of the season, tying Sarah Philia
and Hillary Knight for the PWHL record of most points
in a single season. Then, in a battle up north,
the Ottawa Charge shut out the Toronto Scepters to nothing.
And the game of the weekend, the top two teams
in the league, the Montreal Victoire and the Boston Fleet,
(06:36):
facing off in the league's TD Garden debut.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
A sold out crowd packed.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
The home of the NHL's Boston Bruins and mnba's Boston
Celtics seventeen thou eight hundred and fifty watching the Victoire
beat the Fleet one to nothing, and as friends of
the Show Tessa Bonham and Julia Toscherry put it when
they came on our show, the season of the Goalie continued.
Montreal's and Renee Debn turned away all twenty shots she
faced for her seventh shutout of the season, and Boston's
(07:02):
Aaron Frankel let just the one past, stopping eighteen. With
the win, Montreal became the first team in PWHL history
to win twenty games in a single season. Not a
bad spot to be in heading into the playoffs in
a couple of weeks. Slices, We've said many times how
quick this whole process is for college players declaring for
(07:23):
the draft. But it's literally campus Friday, whole New life
and city on Tuesday. So I want to quickly play
you a segment from Azy Fuds podcast fud Around and
find out which is part of the iHeart Women's Sports Network,
to just really drive that point home.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Take a listen.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
I leave Friday, all my sevenys be packed up. I
will be in New York for the weekend. Get dropped
in Monday. I think either Tuesday or Wednesday, I fly
to wherever I'm drafted, and then I have media I'm
sure like physicals, meetings, and then training camp starts in nineteenth.
It's an insane turn around. I've been lucky enough to
(08:01):
be in a program where I I've seen it for
the last four years. We've always had someone drafted going
through this, so I knew what to expect. But it
still doesn't even compare until you're really in the situation.
You're like, I only have like six days to pack
my whole life up, say bye to everything we've ever known,
my home, my people.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Man, do I feel that end of college sadness? Some tears,
for sure, But I'm also super excited for Azy and
for all the ladies who are going to get to
see their dreams realize tonight. I just hope they didn't
pack all their books in one box. Rookie moving mistake.
We're going to take a break when we come back.
Meganel Hall tells us which teams hit it big in
free agency and which teams have us saying.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
What y'all doing? Stick around joining us now.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
She's a journalist and staff writer for USA Today's For
the Win. She specializes in women's sports, particularly the WNBA
and College Troops, a graduate of the University of West Georgia.
She's also got an MBA from Mercer University. We both
rock with the same Mary and Williamson quote, and her
bio says she enjoys quote generally being a big deal
because she was not put on this earth to be
anything less.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
We love that for It's Megan L.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Hall.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I'm Megan Hi.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
So good to finally meet you.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Virtually, of course, I know, thanks for coming out.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
I have to start with the obvious because I've always
seen the Megan L.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Hall.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Is there another Megan Hall that stole your thunder forcing
you to use the L?
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Yeah, So when I got married, I was like, hey,
I'm going to change everything, right, It's going to be
Megan Hall. And then I started, like, you know, putting
my name and said Google just to kind of see,
and yeah, there were other Megan Halls that came up,
an actress, I think, another public figure, and so I
was like, let me just throw the L in there
in that it just kind of stuck.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Our producer Alex also found a woman who was accused
of various sordid crimes.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So well, we'll stick with the L.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
We'll stick with the l just in case you're talking
to us on a Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
With WNBA free agency signings.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Coming in all weekend, I'm sure they're going to keep coming.
So we're just going to talk about what we know
right now now, which is all we can do. And
there was a lot of talk about the shortened timeline
because of the CBA agreement taking so long, potentially causing
athletes to say, I'm gonna stay where I am, maybe
sign a one year deal, and then next off season
make the big moves, make the long term deals, use
that full off season to look around. But I've seen
(10:17):
more players choose new destinations than maybe I thought.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
How about you, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
I mean I actually kind of expected us to get
a lot of movement. Right you had over a hundred
free agents, so I fully expected that people would probably
at least at minimum, go see what's out there. I
think perhaps the most shocking has been, you know, perhaps
like Minnesota they lost quite a bit of their starting lineup.
That was a little surprising to me. And then some
of these kind of mid range deals that you know,
(10:43):
maybe they're not in the top fifty of stars, but
still they've moved on as well, and I think people
are wanting to go one where their money is and
too It's like, okay, great, if I get the chance
to decide where I want to go, Yeah, I'm going
to take that opportunity.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I mean, I'm not surprised because the entire league other
than Lexi Brown and Clonney Brown were free for all.
You know, who you can grab other than obviously people
still on rookie deals. I think it was just again
the condensed nature of it. I wasn't sure how much
colluding or chit chatting or conversating was happening before technically
(11:16):
players were allowed to and I have to assume some
based on the speed with which some of these deals
got made. Before we get to some of those deals,
I want to ask if you were surprised by any
of the stars that did return to their teams. Was
there anyone that you thought, man, I really thought that
person might be on the move, and here they are
back again.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
That's a good question, honestly, I'll give you one. I'll
give you Jordan Canada from The Atlanta Dream. I just
wasn't quite sure what the read was on Canada, and
I thought maybe perhaps she could look at going elsewhere,
and mainly because you know, Jordan has experienced some injuries
during her time in Atlanta, and while she's really really
good on the defensive end, I think her offensive output
had been up and down as well. So it was
(11:54):
probably less on Jordan's side, but more so on Atlanta's
side if they decided to kind of explore the market.
But I'm super we were super happy to see them
bring back their entire core. To me, that was one
of the most impressive of free agency. And obviously there's
still moves going on, but you bring back your starting
corps and your bench leader in nas Hillman like, yeah,
you got to give it. Atlanta their props for being
able to do that.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah. And then adding Angel Reese no big deal, No
big deal, of course.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
You know, there were two other players that I felt
the same way about. It wasn't necessarily that I thought
they wouldn't want to stay, but I wasn't sure if
the team would think that that was the best move.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
For them going forward.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
One was john Quell Jones, not because of her play,
but because and we'll get to this later, I don't
know how the hell New York is paying for.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Everybody like, we're going to get into it.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
The other one I had was Ari gay A Gunbiwale,
again a tremendous player, a huge piece for the Wings
for many years. But I'm very intrigued now about what
the draft looks like for a team that already has
some redundancies, both in the front court and for bigs.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
So Ari Gay especially had a long term deal.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
The way they did, they've really linked themselves to her
for you know, the rest of her career maybe, And
that was the only one that I was like, huh, okay.
I could have seen them potentially saying we want to
get younger and make more clear who's doing what in
our front court. But we'll get to all of that.
Which faces that did choose new places did surprise you
the most.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I'm going to go back to the Wings.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Alta Smith's and the Wings was one I was like, oh, okay,
all right. And I think mainly because I figured that,
you know, Minnesota would probably try to do everything in
its power to you know, keep it starting five. And
I'm not saying that they did it, but I thought
that Lawn moving on was a little bit of a
surprise to me. I thought she might want to stay
connected with you know, k Mack and Cordy Williams and Fee,
(13:32):
like I said, their entire starting lineup, and I think
her moving on says to me, it's a big deal
for Minnesota because she's there, one of their defensive anchors.
She won you know, CO Defensive Player of the Year
last year. Obviously a scoring option for them as well.
She helps the space and stretch the floor. So I
really was a little surprised by that, but hey, you
get to go be, you know, a part of a
really really, I would say, an intriguing lineup in Dallas.
(13:55):
You've got Paige and Rique, You've got Lawn, You've now
have Jessica Shephard, right, you've got Segers. I mean, Dallas
is cooking with quite a bit of pieces there, and
I'm very, very curious to see how all of that
works out.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, So Smith and Jessica Shepherd lead Minnesota to head
to Dallas. Natisha Heideman goes to Seattle. Bridget Carlton and
Maria Clandakova are lost to the expansion Draft, and Ifisa
Collier's not going to be back for a while. She
just had the second of back to back surgeries, are
we going to see a huge drop off for Minnesota
this season? Even though they do have the two pick
in the draft, Thank you Chicago Sky. It's looking a
(14:28):
lot more helpful for them now necessary for them to
have that number two. But it feels almost inevitable that
this team, I mean, at the very least, it's going
to look real different.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
Yeah, I would agree with that. I think that you'll
still see them make playoffs. Like this is a really
gritty team, and anytime a team is coached by Cheryl Reeve,
I have a hard time picking against them to not
make the playoffs. But I would be very surprised beyond
that it let's say, and a FISA Collier doesn't come
back until I don't know, after All Star Break or
anything else like that, that becomes a lot harder to
put that gel together and really get going ahead of
(14:59):
the playof So yeah, I would be very surprised if
they did a deep playoff run, especially missing so many
of those key pieces that actually helped them get to
the WNBA finals previously.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, And as of this recording, there's a couple names
that we're sort of assuming our sticking around because we
haven't heard otherwise. But no clarity yet. Let's talk about
the storm. They get Natisha Heideman, but they lost Necho Guo, Mackay,
Skyler Diggins, Erica Wheeler, Britney Sikes has gone in the
expansion draft. That's their top five scorers from last year.
And all of this just a couple of years after
(15:31):
losing Brianna Stewart to the Liberty. Is Seattle just no
longer a top destination? Maybe because of market Is the
team not looking to spend? Is it a bunch of
people who were frustrated by the firing of Neil Ivy
or maybe not enthusiastic about new coach Sonya Ramum?
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Like what is going on in Seattle.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
From the outside looking, And it's really it's hard to know,
But I would say from that angle, I would think
it's a couple things. So obviously there was a culture shift,
right You no longer have Noel Quinn at the head,
obviously bringing a new head coach, so that's a different vibe.
I also think that at this point you had a
CBA also that could have influenced where people were going
to go in because hey, I want to go get paid.
How was Seattle going to pay everyone? How are they
(16:10):
going to pay Skyler? How were they going to play Meca?
How were you gonna pay Britney Sykes. All of those
people were in line to, you know, essentially get big paydays,
and I think that makes it really hard. But I
also will say this, this Seattle team looks a lot
different than what they pitched to us probably two seasons ago.
Right when you've got the Skyler, when you've got the Neka,
you have Jewel Lloyd coming over that was supposed to
(16:30):
be their core. Well Jewe Lloyd only plays one season
and then it's like, okay, well we still got Skyler,
and we still got Neka, and we still have Edzie
mag mcgre You bring in Britney Sykes, and while she plays,
you know, Britney sex is a fantastic player. So I think,
you know, she did as well as she could, but
it was very clear to me that she didn't quite
find her footing there in Seattle. So I think it
was really hard to kind of say, okay, hey, we're
(16:51):
going to bring everyone back. So for Seattle, Yeah, it's
I think every now and then teams go through this
kind of not only a culture shift, but identity shift,
and so now Seattle has to ask me who they
want to be, and I think they also have to
be honest and say, hey, we're not that contending team
that we tried to put together, So now we've got
to start again, you know, over from the bottom and
see how quickly we can get back.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I mean, all of that is fair, but there are
plenty of teams that have found ways to keep a
lot of big money players and they kept none. They've
got Dominique Malonga, who I mean, based on the continued development,
is someone to build around that. It's surprising there aren't
more folks who want to show up and have this
player on a rookie scale, you know, who is going
to be making and little enough that you can put enough.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Talent around her.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I also wonder what kind of miscalculation there might have
been in terms of protection. We did not get to
see who protected players were. We could do some deducing
based on who ended up getting drafted in the expansion draft.
But if Seattle protected all those players and none of
them resigned, that's pretty wild too that they didn't seem
to have a beat on what some of their players
(17:55):
might do. Yeah, let's talk about the Valkyries. They get
a big one in Gabby Williams on am I favorite
players again, Sorry Seattle fans, but that's not the big splash.
I think many expected for this rare expansion team to
make a postseason run.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Gabby Walliams is amazing. But and who else? Right, are
you surprised.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
So far that you haven't seen more big name free
agents choose to go to the Bals Understanding you've got
Coach of the Year, you've got a surprise playoff run,
you've got an incredible atmosphere, amazing leadership and support. I
was expecting more shocking splashes for the Valks.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
Yeah, I would say I'm not surprised, and I think
only because Natalie Nicassei kind of hinted at it, you know,
right before they actually had their first season, and she's
essentially saying, hey, you know, it's going to take a
second for us to get to where we want to go.
Although we're going to press now, but it will take
a second.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
It makes it a.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Lot harder to attract talent, and I think for them,
you know, you also have to have this uncertainty, right
like with the Balks, there's a lot of good things happening.
You break, you know, the record for most wins for
an expansion team, right, coach of the Year, like this,
all fantastic things, but like, really you have to ask yourself, Okay,
how quickly could the Valks get there? And if I'm
a veteran player, I want to go like yesterday, right?
(19:04):
And so I think for for Gabby, you know, I
think it's a really good pick up for them. I
think obviously, you know, you got to go where money
is as well, so that could have been a factor.
But also perhaps she wants to be the anchor of
a team as well, and I think that could have
been a little hard to do.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
In Seattle.
Speaker 5 (19:18):
You had a lot of players there who, you know,
all kind of try to make it work with, you know, Skyler,
with Neka, with Ezzie, with Psychs and so now Gabby
kind of gets to be that focal piece and so
maybe that was a draw. But also, yeah, if Golden
State wins a playoff series this year, you might see
a few more people kind of oh, let me go
see where they're talking about in Golden State. But I
think until then it makes it a little tough.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I got it the first season.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I was still surprised the first season, because I think
there's something very special about being a part of the
very first iteration of a team. But this season, I
am truly surprised. For me, that would be a massive
destination based on how that team is run and the
fans and everything else, compared to where we've seen a
couple other superstars choose to get paid, and maybe the
Valks aren't throwing out money the same way. Maybe they're
trying to create more of a balance in their roster
(20:00):
in terms of paid We'll get to some of those
teams throwing around money in a minute, but let's talk
Phoenix Mercury. I think as of right now, the roster
is technically just Alyssa Thomas and Klannie Brown, Like, yeah,
do you think we're gonna see Kalia Copper stay, do
we think Dewanna Bonner? That seems like an obvious but
you just never know what those two like what's going
on with the Mercury.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
So that's a good question. I think the biggest one
that obviously you've got to talk about first is Satu
Sobbily leaving and going to New York. That is massive.
The Mercury spent the better part of two seasons, kind
of pursuing Sawtu only to only have her for one
season after the trade last year, which, mind you, that
was the biggest trade in WNBA free agency last year.
It was a three team trade to pull this off.
(20:41):
So for Sawtu to walk after one season, that's that's gutting.
So if I'm in the Phoenix, you got to get
at back. Of course one and they have, but two,
you also have to bring Khalia Copper. You've got to
bring her back. There is not a world that should
exist without having kind of those staple pieces there because
I think what a lot of people rightfully talk about
what Alyssa Thomas does for the Mercury, And don't get
me wrong, she is the engine, as her nickname says, right,
(21:04):
But I think what most people don't realize is that
if you're not paying attention to what Khalia Copper does,
she moves a lot off the ball, creating for the Mercury,
opening up those lanes, spectacular defense, and you need that
to be able to lead a team and get that
out of your guard play. I'm gonna go out and
lim and say, hey, it would be nice if they
get Monica Coha Maccani back. That would be fantastic. You
get your starting guard from your championship aspiring team, right,
(21:27):
you got a couple of pieces there, and I think
from there you just got to build And for Phoenix, yeah, honestly,
it might be another situation where you have to ask yourself, Okay,
are we farther away than we actually thought that we
would be, Especially if the departure of Satu was unexpected,
then yeah, there's your course read just gone after one season.
So that's something that you got to think about now,
is how do we get ourselves back because making the
(21:50):
finals isn't easy And oh, by the way, not only
did you make the finals, but you got swept in
the finals. So now the questions are even louder without
Satu there.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah, what's wild to me is how much this craziness
of this offseason benefited teams that were out of it
last year and now of a chance to completely rebuild,
and maybe negatively affected teams that were close because of
the way things are getting blown up. The links the
Mercury like a finals team that's returning almost no one
(22:20):
and can't build on what they started instead have to
start over as kind of well, Look, you mentioned Satu Sabli,
The Liberty loss Niara Saboli to the expansion draft, and
then they just go out and get the other one.
They add her sister in free agency. The Unicorn gets
lured away from Mercury. We've now got a starting five
of probably Satu Sabli, John Quell Jones, Brianna Stewart, Sabrini
and Escu and Leoni Phoebish.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That frankly seems unfair.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
No one is surprised that the Liberty are stacked, but
we are trying to figure out how the hell they
can afford all of that talent. Do you think some
top names are taking pay cuts? Do you think maybe
the Liberty front office is coming up with some sneaky
creative deals that the League doesn't yet know that they
need to ban or protect against, Like what is going
on in New York?
Speaker 5 (23:01):
I mean that was my first question when I saw
that Sawtoo was going, I was like, how is this
gonna work? Because you've got to pay you know, Breonna Stewart,
You've got to pay John Kawell Jones, and you gotta
pay Sabrani and sq as well. That's some cap gymnastics
I think that's gonna have to happen. I would be
curious to see if any of those players get a
Super Max. I'd be hard pressed to say yes, just
(23:21):
simply because of the sheer number of players who are
probably going to be million dollar contracts. But I would
also say this, if you're heavy at the top, that
means you're gonna be really really light in the in
the back half of your roster, and so that's really
where you're gonna have to get creative and get some
of those bargain pieces. And not to mention, they also
lost Kennedy Burke to the Sun as well Asabelle Harrison
is gone as well, So yeah, they're they're gonna have
(23:42):
to get very very creative with fixing uh their their
death to get them back to the WNBA finals. And
I think, yeah, how the heck are you going to
pay all of them? Like I'm I'm I do not
envy Jonathan Colb's job at all trying to figure that out.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
On the one hand, I do because embarrassment of riches,
But to your point, it definitely gets a little sticky
trying to make sure you pay all of them, and
with injury if there is injury, the depth becomes a
part of it. All Right, let's talk about my Chicago Sky,
because last week I was dogging the Sky for losing
yet another big name in Angel Reese, to what at
least felt like a force trade.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I know they said it wasn't, but at the very.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Least irreconcilable differences that both sides knew that they needed
to move on. I stand by that take, and I
have proof of a very long line of great players
who have been lined it out of there before their
contracts were over, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Still frustrated by that.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
You can add talent to talent, you don't always have
to lose your big name in order to bring another
one in. But all that being said, still very pleasantly
surprised to see the Sky snag a bona fide star
in Skyler Diggins on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Also a couple other moves.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
But before we even get to that, are you surprised
to see Sky sign with the Sky?
Speaker 5 (24:50):
I was, Honestly, I was not that she left Seattle,
because I kind of suspected that she might at least,
you know, test the market. But signing with the Sky
to me, was a little bit of a eyeb But
you know, I guess it makes sense in the fact
that like, hey, she gets back to the Midwest, she
gets to control, you know, essentially that team. I think
if you get Courtney Slutes, you know, Vander Slutes buy
(25:10):
in as well. With Skyler in the mix, Yeah, that's
a really awesome one two veteran punch at point guard.
And if you add another Garden in the draft, like
now you're cooking, right. And I think from there, Skyler
also brings a certain amount of tenacity on both sides
of the ball that I think it's unmatched across the league.
So if you're Chicago, like, honestly, that's a home run
sort of signing just from the standpoint of there are
(25:33):
very few guards who play both ways on office and
defense the way that she does. And I think that
she really will dictate how Chicago moves on both ends
of the floor. And I think that's something that Chicago
probably hasn't seen in a while in terms of, hey,
we have someone who is a tone setter here that
we're also going to follow. It's kind of the way
that it was in Seattle, right, Like Seattle went kind
(25:53):
of as Skyler went, And I think the same thing
could happen in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
I mean it's hard to find a suit first star
in the WNBA, a name that will drive ticket sales
in that way, that is willing to come to a
place like Chicago that hasn't had the best track record
for things like you know, facilities and vibes and tendants
and all the other things be able to replace that
a little bit in what you're losing from Angel Race. Now,
Angel was beloved and something like thirteen thousand followers on
(26:21):
the Chicago Sky account dropped off the day that they
announced that she was traded.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Right, She's got.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Millions of supporters, and Skyler is one of the few
players who has more going on than just basketball to
bring to Chicago and then being a South Bend Indiana
gal coming home.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I think it was a great signing for them.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And I do think also to your point, she will
whip people into shape, right, whether that's the fellow players
on the court or the front office, right, she will
have demands. I think that the Sky will have to
step up and do. They also added Rakia Jackson for
Aera Atkins. That's a straight up trade. They swapped them.
Ariel Goes to the Sparks and Rikia to Chicago again
(26:57):
another player. I think with both Rakia and sk Tyler,
I was like, they want to be in Chicago. Chicago's
an amazing city, but the vibes on the team are
just not the same as some other places. Not that
I'm going to give too much credit to the sparksfront office,
at least historically. They're still trying to clean up for
their own history. But they also bring back Azrey Stevens,
adding some length. They send another first round draft pick
(27:19):
twenty twenty eight, which for the Sky hasn't always been great, right.
They always send those away thinking they'll be low first rounders,
and they keep being high first rounders by the time
they come around.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
But they send away that pick for J. C.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Sheldon, so adding a really great on ball defender, more
tenacity around the perimeter.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
What do you make of the Sky actually.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Competing as opposed to just being a respectable roster that
will be entertaining.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Honestly, I think you have to. You have to.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
You know, you spent the last two seasons essentially trying
to compete, and you were unable to. You know, you
don't get above fifteen wins in either of those seasons.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
You have to.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
This is a situation now in which I firmly believe
everyone is chasing the aces right like we all want
to be where they are. You want to do that,
You've got to be able to compete. Now, whether compete
means hey, we are going to make the playoffs and
we're going to win one round, or like, hey, we
don't make the playoffs, but we have a winning record
and we you know, we were competitive in every game.
Whatever that looks like. For Chicago, they have to. The
(28:14):
other thing is they have fans who are growing increasingly
frustrated by what's been happening. Chicago fans are super passionate,
and now you don't have your two essentially your your
two core pieces who you drafted to be the focal
points of your franchise. You've essentially been playing musical players
in your starting lineup and in your bench for a
couple of seasons. Now you need some stability. So for me,
(28:35):
I think for Chicago, having stability and having players that
want to come in play with an edge, you know,
I think that that is something they're going to need.
And also, you know, give Tyler Marsha a second season
to get himself also kind of more acclimated, more of
a roster that you know, he can mold and essentially,
you know, make into a competitor. I mean at this rate,
Like I know it's gonna sound like, you know, a
(28:56):
little stern here, but I think for any franchise, they
want to compete. And it's not just okay, hey, we
want to compete, we want to be competitive, no, no, no,
we want to make the playoffs. We want to continue
pushing for a title. And I think that's Chicago, Like
they're not that far removed from their twenty twenty one title,
and so I think that this is very much a
situation which, okay, if we get ourselves together, we could
continue to make another title push.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
A lot had to go right that year, and a
lot had to go wrong for some other teams. But correct,
we'll take it, we'll celebrate it, we'll enjoy it. Let's
talk about the sparks quick, because ARAA Atkins Head's there
and joins Kelsey Plum, Cameron brink Erica Wheeler, Sanaiah Fagan.
Like that roster is starting to come together as well,
especially with a healthy brink and Kelsey Plumb in a
second year in that place, Like, what do you see
(29:37):
out of.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
LA this year?
Speaker 5 (29:38):
I'm definitely putting LA on my early list of potential contenders,
just sheerly of off their starting five, at least any
starting lineup that it's got you know, Neka Goomackay in it,
it's got Deerka Hanby, it's got Kelsey Plum, like yes,
please please like start there. I think adding Ariel Atkins
certainly helps, you know, coming from Chicago. I think for
(30:02):
her it's obviously she's got to settle into a new
system now, But I definitely think I would like to
see what she looks like alongside Kelsey Plumb, which she
looks like, you know, alongside Deerka and Neka as well,
and also for Cam Breake, I'm very curious about what
her role will be like in that offense as well.
You know, Cam was a starter at one point obviously
coming back from the injury last season, and now she
may not be a starter this season, just depending on
(30:24):
how they you know, they they things shake out. But
I would be very curious to see what her contributions
look like. But overall, I mean this kind of matches
what the Spark said they wanted to do. They want
to compete now, they want championships. Going out and getting
Kelsey Plum last season said hey, we want to go now.
And I think for Neka Goolake to come back says
to me that she believes in them as well, Like
she basically left, you know, and went to Seattle because
(30:46):
she was still wanting to pursue a championship, still wanting
to compete at a high level. And so for her
to return says obviously, yes, hey, welcome back. This is
something I'm familiar, but it says, yeah, I believe in
what's being built here too since the last time that
I was here.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Well, and it's a great solution nechA for a number
of reasons. One first of all, she is not coming
back just to be a figurehead, intellectual player, leader of
young people, helping the transition into the next era. She
was putting up numbers still last year, so she will
be big on the court, but also going home to
la and having the opportunity to start to build on
what will be next for her in the later years
(31:19):
of her career is really smart as well. I'm very
interested to see how all those pieces will fit together.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
So much talent.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
It's just how do you decide how you're going to
use all those players on the court and get the
best out of all of them. Sparks are gonna be fun,
sparked me, really fun. Okay, let's get to how all
of this is impacting how you're watching the draft. Have
any of these free agency moves fundamentally changed your opinion
on who a team might select?
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (31:45):
Yes, So for anybody who isn't aware, I think I've
done four mock drafts now, and not that they were
based on vibe, but they were pretty much very educated guesses.
I don't have any clue or insight into free agency yet.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
I mean every single mock draft was like, well, based
on their website, they have a player, so who would
they want to add a bunch of them?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
They have a lot of holes. Yea, So now we're
starting to get a better picture.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
I mean, it was tough. It was really tough trying
to you know, kind of gauge. But I would say
now that free agency is here, I think, yes, you're
going to see a little bit of movement there. I
have one more mock draft that will come out the
morning of the draft, and that should be more closely
aligned with based on the free agency moves that we've seen. However,
I will say this, I think by now teams kind
of know who they're going to take. I don't expect
there to be you know, really big shift unless someone
(32:31):
unexpectedly falls down the draft board. There have been situations
like that before where we think a player is going
to go in the first round and we don't see
them until second round, or someone trades up, you know,
something like that. I mean, the mystics are someone to
keep an eye on. They have multiple first round picks, like, yeah,
we could see some things get really interesting. But I
will say this to anybody out there making mock drafts.
(32:51):
We are stressed trying to get this all right, trying
to make sure that okay, yes, this makes sense and
account for all the things that teams are potentially looking at.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
I mean, I don't think anyone's going to hold it
against mock draft makers if they don't nail it this year,
seeing as there are still endless amounts of players that
we do not yet know if they've put pen to
paper to re sign or to go somewhere new. I
think the one that I've most tried to figure out
and have moved on is Dallas because at one point
I thought, Okay, if they decide not to keep Arika
(33:21):
long term, you can add an Olivia Miles or an
easy fud and you can figure out.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
How that works.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
But right now I'm thinking crazy crowded front court. If
you try to add one of those players with Page
and Arika, like it could be amazing, it also could
be real difficult. And then I'm looking at the bigs
and I'm thinking, okay, of course, well then you're going
to take an Awa Fam or a Lauren Bett's And
I'm like, wait, You've got Lee j Arue, you added
Jessica Shepherd, You've got Alana Smith, not a big, big
but in that space you are going to be crowded
(33:48):
already with a lot of talent, so maybe you don't
need that. So I've circled around it, around it, and
I'm back to it being Ahwa Fam still because she's
a nineteen year old, slightly more flexible in terms of position,
and you can count on having time for her to
build into a pro game in a way that maybe
you wouldn't feel as much with a twenty four year
old coming out of college or I don't know's that's
(34:10):
where I've landed because I'm like Dallas, I don't know
what y'all need.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
You're grabbing people and fill in spots.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Yeah, it's tough. Honestly, I've gone all over the board,
I think in terms of trying to figure out what
might work there. I did have Ahwa there for a
little bit. I had Asy there for a while. I
had Lauren Betts as well right after the tournament. Yeah,
it's hard because, yes, wherever they pick, there's going to
be some crowding. But I would say this, I think
that the teams that compete, the teams that win, they
(34:37):
go get depth, they go get the extra and so
I think anyone who is picking in that top five, yes,
you want someone who could potentially start now, but like,
if you're cool with having death, by all means, please
go get your depth because that is right. That is
what matters when it comes down to it and you're
trying to win championships. That is essentially who's going to
(34:57):
be the depth off the bench that is going to
help who's going to help your starters? That is where
I look And so you know, we even talked to
the Atlanta Dream today they did, you know, some pressers
just kind of talking on their free agency moves and
and what they're looking for to the draft, and they're
at thirteen and they said to the media, Hey, we're
going to potentially look at taking best player available instead
(35:18):
of best you know, best fit.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
And I think that makes sense, right, that makes sense
with their situation.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
That's the other thing is like you have teams like
that or even like Washington at four. Washington is built
to succeed in a couple of years. Yes, they could
be a good team, but like they have so much
youth that they're trying to put together that they add
another young player and they can all grow together. Whereas
you have a team like say Minnesota that wants to
take advantage of however many years left of the couple
(35:43):
that's that they're keeping. Minnesota is also an interesting one
because coming into the draft, I was like, I can't
believe the Sky ended up giving Minnesota number two. And
now I'm like, thank god for Minnesota. They've got that pick,
Seattle getting that pick from la Thank God for Seattle.
They're going to be able to use the draft to
try to add a dynamic player because they.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Need them at this point.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Those two teams have been ravished by this free agency
period so far.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I'm fired up for this draft.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
I have no freaking clue what's going to happen. Like
if anyone says they do, they're lying. In my opinion,
I just don't know how anyone can have a real
beat on this after all of the movement we saw
and still to come. But we do feel like we
know a bit more about what's going on in the
league thanks to you being here.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
So Meggan, thanks for the time.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
Yes, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
Thanks again to Megan for taking the time, and don't
forget you can now watch full length good game interviews
on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel, so be sure you
go and subscribe.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
We got to take another break. When we return, call
me maybe welcome back slices.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good game play of the day. Rosters are still getting
fleshed out, but after the weekends free agency signings and
tonight's WNBA Draft, we're gonna have a much better idea
of what WNBA teams are going to look like this season,
So we want to hear your reactions. Which teams are
championship bound, which teams might come up short, and if
(37:09):
you got a squad you root for, are you happy
or sad about how things are looking A month out
from season tip off. We already heard from Seattle Storm
fan James el who said, quote, this feels like an
epic implosion as I watch all the other teams in
the league seem to somehow position themselves better than before. Well,
this team seems to just be blowing in the breeze
end quote. James wants to know what's going on with Seattle,
(37:31):
and as you can tell from me and Megan, we're
not entirely sure yet. Anyway, shoot us a message or
even better of voicemail and tell us your thoughts on
what your team is doing and how all the teams
across the league are looking. We also want to say
thanks to Jazz for sending us her thoughts on the
PWHL takeover to her game in Calgary. She said in
part quote, I genuinely had such a great time and
(37:51):
this city is so ready for the return of the
Calgary Inferno, a team from the now defunct Canadian Women's
Hockey League, especially since they are the only Calgary team
that's won something in the twenty first century. It was
such a welcoming time for queer folks as well, which
is real nice, especially since our provincial government is insistent
on attacking us.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Thanks for writing in Jazz. Can't underestimate how important women's
sporting events are right now as inclusive gathering places, So
shout out to the PWHL for that.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
We always love to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Hit us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot
com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two
two o four fifty seventy. We really want to hear
all your voices. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
It's easy watch seeing something go right. Rating six hundred
and ninety five thousand miles worth of awe review. I
(38:44):
can't imagine I was alone and feeling a lot of
emotions watching the dispatches from the Artemis two and all
the relief and joy of watching them re enter and
land safely in the ocean on Friday. It was the
pictures of Earth and the moon. It was the pride
in seeing Christina Cook become the first woman journey around
the Moon, and seeing Victor Glover become the first black
man in history to travel beyond low Earth orbit, and
(39:06):
seeing Americans work with a Canadian not threaten his nation's sovereignty.
It was in the moment that they all embraced Commander
Reid Wiseman after naming a crater in the Moon after
his wife, a nick U nurse, who died of cancer
in twenty twenty. It was the beautiful words written about
the mission, like the uncredited post I saw going around
the Internet that read, so, you're telling me that the
(39:28):
Moon's many craters are from billions of years protecting Earth
by pulling space rocks into her orbit. The Moon, who
has depicted as a woman in countless cultures and timelines,
you're saying her craters and stretch marks are evidence of care.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Has someone informed the poets about this? I just love that.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
It was also in the feeling, which is so rare
these days, of watching smart people accomplish something seemingly impossible
via science and intelligence and teamwork and planning and execution.
Competency porn. They call it the thrill and comfort of
watching people be good at something.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
Author Liz Plank wrote about.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
It perfectly for her substack Airplane Mode. A few of
her thoughts quote, did you feel it too? That specific
relief that's hard to name? I found myself trying to
understand it. The closest I can get is this the
feeling of watching something go right and realizing, somewhere deep
in your body that you had forgotten things could go right.
We have gotten so used to watching the people who
(40:27):
are supposed to be in charge fail, loudly, fail, publicly,
fail in ways that feel designed to make us feel
small and powerless that watching four people simply be extraordinary
at an extraordinarily hard thing produced in many of us
something close to shock. Nobody told me that watching competent
people do a hard thing correctly would be the most
therapeutic experience of my adult life. As I thought about
(40:50):
the miracle that we even exist, that we made it
this far, that we really are on a floating rock
in the universe, the President started to feel like a
small blip in our humanity, a glitch, rather than an
insurmountable tragedy. He didn't feel so big anymore when I
imagine him against the vastness of the universe and the
long story of our species. So go outside tonight and
(41:12):
look at the moon. There is a crater on it,
named after a woman who spent her life saving premature
babies and told her husband to follow his dream even
as she was dying. You cannot see it from here,
but it is there, a bright spot, and the people
who named it came back to tell us that we
are the ones worth marveling at, all of us together
on this impossible little planet.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
End quote. We'll link to the substack.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
It's worth reading it in full, and it's worth trying
to hold on to this little feeling for as long
as we can. Now it's your turn, rate and review.
Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good game, Megan, Good Game.
Chicago Skuy, who we're seeing right now as we end
the show, have also signed DJDA carring did. We literally
can't keep up few our confusion after seeing a women's
(42:00):
elite Rugby social post apologizing for jerseys we never even saw,
with comments under it complaining about a trans band.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
We never even heard about.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Pretty sure, it's our job to know this stuff, but
we can't find shit about it anywhere. Someone, anyone, give
us the TEA Good Game with Sarah Spain is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
(42:30):
Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier.
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder, Lucy Jones,
Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery Loftus
and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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