Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're talking three hundred days of sunshine, two hundred parks, one hundred and fifty breweries, and a lot of ways to get high in those nearby mountains. Of course, we're already planning our trip to see the newest NWSL team in Denver.
It's Friday, January thirty first, and on today's show, we'll be talking with Christina Williams, women's basketball insider and host of In Case you missed It, With Christina Williams right here at Iheartwomen's Sports, we'll talk about the chaos that is WNBA free agency, get her takes on the biggest moves, and her prediction for the next big free agent to sign. Plus, the tempo is speeding up, the TEMVP is staying in Kansas, and my city gets a good one back. It's all
coming up right after this Happy Friday slices. Here's what you need to know today in WNBA news, Courtney Vat maybe headed back to the place her pro career started. Sources tell the Chicago Sun Times Danny Costable that the fourteen year vet is poised to rejoin the Chicago Sky after she helped the New York Liberty to the franchise's first WNBA championship last season. Now, no deal can officially be signed till tomorrow, but Vandersuit has already changed her
very brief Instagram bio to read Chicago Sky. The five time All Star was drafted third overall by Chicago in twenty eleven. She played her first twelve seasons here in My City and help lead the franchise to its first WNBA title in twenty twenty one, alongside Candice Parker and Kalia Copper. But you might know neither of those two gals are still in Chicago. The roster she's joining is entirely different from the one she last played with in
Chicago in twenty twenty two. There's a new GM, a new head coach, and some young, hungry post players like Angel Reese and Camila Cardoso who do stand to benefit from the play of a strong veteran point guard.
So this is a very intriguing move.
Plus who knows, maybe we'll have a sighting of Court's wifey and three point assassin Ali Quid. Feels like she straight up irish Goodbye.
The league, but you never know. More.
WNBA News the Toronto Tempo expansion team, set to begin play in twenty twenty six, has hired Monica Wright Rogers as its first ever general manager. Rogers has been the Phoenix Mercury's assistant GM since January of twenty twenty three, and prior to that, she held various coaching and staff roles at the women's college level as well as in the MNBA League office.
Rogers was also a two.
Time champ with the Minnesota Links during her playing career, playing seven seasons total, and most importantly, she's a legend out of Forest Park High School in Prince William County, Virginia, the very same county where meche Cross people up in high school ball. More WNBA news, a Nashville group is putting in a bid for a WNBA team with a
name that's tough to top. The chairman of the NHL's Nashville Predators and his wife have teamed up with a celeb filled investor group including Kandas Parker, Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill to pitch for a franchise that would start playing in twenty twenty eight and be named the Tennessee's Summit in honor of the late Pat Summit. Y'all, that's so good and I will take any excuse to get down to Nashville, So go ahead and put that one through. W We're
all in to softball and Athletes Unlimited where. The draft for the inaugural AU Softball League AKAAUSL took place on Wednesday night. The Bandits, Blaze, Talents, and Volts all filled their first twelve roster spots and in the next few months will round out their teams with one free agent signing and three picks from the AU College Draft in the spring. The first round of this draft was all pitchers.
The Bandits selected Lexi Kilfoil first overall, then the Blaze picked Carly Hoover, the Talents took Megan Ferremo, and the Volts completed the round with Rachel Garcia. We'll link to the full draft results in our show notes. And one of the folks drafted to play in the upcoming season is utility player Maya Brady.
Recognize that name.
The Talents took her nineteenth overall in the fifth round of the draft. Brady's a lefty hitter and a menace at bat coming in with both skill and star power
behind her name. The twenty three year olds a two time first team All American and PAC twelve Player of the Year and ranks second all time in home runs, runs betted, in total bases, and slugging percentage at UCLA, one of college softball's most consistently excellent programs, and she also happens to be the niece of NFL quarterback Tom Brady and former Major League Baseball All.
Star Kevin Euclis.
On to pro soccer, the NWSL has officially awarded Denver its sixteenth franchise. The club will begin play in twenty twenty six. This is big news for Denver women's sports fans, as the Colorado Explosion of the American Basketball Association, who played from ninety six to ninety eight, has been the only professional women's sports team to previously call Colorado home.
The league chose Denver as its next expansion side partially due to the grassroots movement for Denver FC, a community initiative that's been involved since the early stages of Denver's pursuit of a pro women's soccer team, and of course, the one hundred and ten million dollar expansion fee that Denver was willing to play probably helped too that for Denver FC group was instrumental in getting members of the ownership group involved, like Rob Cohen, the chairman and CEO
of IMA Financial Group. Cohen's also a founding member of the US Olympic and Paralympic Foundation and has been involved in.
Denver sports for thirty years.
His Denver Sports Commission has helped bring events like the Women's Final Four, Men's hockey Frozen Four, and various pro All Star games to the Denver area.
But this will be his first time owning a team. He's got high hopes for the franchise.
In the league's release, he said, quote, we believe that bringing NWSL to Denver will be impactful and transformative. Our goal is to work closely with Denver's diverse communities to build a club that will operate with integrity and excellence from day one. We look forward to collaborating with our community to make Denver NWSL an inclusive and special club that all of Colorado.
Can rally behind. End quote.
The club plans to build a new stadium and training facility for the team. Also worth noting that in the press conference announcing the Denver expansion team, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman hinted that way more NWSL expansion could be on the way. Quote the men's leagues that are in and around thirty teams, we see no reason we can't be that size end quote, which you know, I have a couple questions about that, but we'll save them for another time.
More ONWSL twenty twenty four. NWSL MVP tem Wa Chiwenga agreed to a three year contract extension with the Kansas City Current this week. Stellar news for KC because Chiwenga lit up the league in her first NWSL season and scored twenty one goals, becoming the first player in league history to eclipse twenty in a season and winning her the Golden Boot. She also set a record streak of eight straight matches with a goal and put one in the back of the net against all thirteen NWSL teams
in the regular season. Per a team press release, Tweinga said, quote, this year, we hope to bring the trophy home for the fans for KC. My team has been good to me and they treated me well last season. My teammates are kind, my coach is amazing and my KC community has been incredible all the support.
It feels like home here.
That's why I decided to extend my contract with the KC current end quote. Even more ONWSL, sisters Alyssa and Giselle Thompson have both agreed to contract extensions with Angel City FC through twenty twenty. Forward Alyssa signed a three year extension, while defender Giselle agreed to a two year deal. Alyssa's are thirteen caps for the US women's national team and was recently called up to the January national team camp.
More soccer movement and signings. Per Tom Gary of The Guardian, Crystal Dunn is expected to have a physical with the French club Paris cen Jerman later this week. That news coming on the heels of the announcement that she's parting ways with Gotham. Also, Brazilian player Adriana is on the move after the Orlando Pride announced that it's transferred her to the Saudi Women's Premier League for a transfer feed that is among the top three in NWSL history.
Now I didn't know that Saudi.
Arabia had of women's Premier League, and now I have a few more questions that we'll also wait for another time to college Vibes, where it's the end of an era. On Wednesday, Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook announced he's retiring. During his twenty five seasons with the Cornhuskers, he led the team to four NCAA titles and a total of twelve Final Four appearances. Cook also helped Nebraska elevate the profile of women's volleyball. The team has sold out three
hundred and thirty seven consecutive regular season home matches. That's a streak dating back to two thousand and one. Last year, the team set the women's sports record for biggest confirmed attendance when ninety two thousand and three fans attended an outdoor match between Nebraska and Omaha. Former Nebraska player and assistant coach Danny bus Boom Kelly, who's been the head coach at Louisville for the last eight seasons, is set to take over the Nebraska program.
We got a lot of Caitlin Clark news this week.
First ahead of her jersey retirement ceremony this weekend at Iowa. Clark and her foundation are given twenty two thousand dollars a piece to four Iowa organizations, the University of Iowa Children's Hospital, Coralville Community Food Pantry, Boys and Girls Club of the Corridor, and the East Central Region of Special Olympics Iowa. In a statement about the donations, Clark said it's important for her to be connected with the Iowa community.
Quote one of my favorite things about Iowa City is the way the community is connected and how everyone supports
each other end quote. Look At ahead to next month, there was some speculation that Clark might participate in the three point contest at MNBA All Star, just like Sabrina and Escu did last year, competing against Steph Curry, but Clark's representatives put an end to those rumors this week, telling ESPN that Clark wants her first three point contest to come at the WNBA All Star Weekend in Indianapolis this summer.
While Clark is out, it is still possible that Yenescu will be in.
She told the Associated Press this month that she'll be at the MNBA All Star Weekend, but declined to say whether she'll be taking part in any of the activities now worth noting that Ynescu is one of the six players not competing in the Unrivaled one on one tournament, which is the same weekend as MNBA All Star. You figure she wouldn't want to miss it unless she had a good reason.
Keep you updated on that.
Finally, one last piece of Caitlin Clark news. The Fever announced that they'll play a pre season exhibition game against the Brazilian national team at iowa's Carver Hawkeye Arena on May fourth, So Clark will be back playing in the arena that saw so many of her magical college moments. Very cool to unrivaled basketball. We've got action tonight at seven to fifteen pm Eastern Meish's ROSEBC takes on My Phantom BC, with both squads looking for win number two
of the season. Then it's the battle of the unbeatens Lunar owls BC and Lace's BC playing at a fifteen Eastern or whenever the first game ends. You can catch both those games on TNT. Finally, Hockey News. The top fifteen college hockey teams in the country all hit the ice tonight, headlined by number one Wisconsin facing number six Minnesota Duluth and number two Ohio State playing number three Minnesota.
Both of those get started at seven pm Eastern, and we'll link to tonight's full schedule of games in our show notes.
Also shout out to the.
Sixth rank Cornell squad, who just claimed its seventeenth Ivy League title LGR Plenty of p WHL action this weekend, including the league best Montreal Victoire visiting the New York Sirens on Sunday. Victoire Superstarbarrifeleet Poulan just netted a hat trick against Ottawa on Wednesday. She's the first p WHL player in history to score two hat tricks. We'll put the PWHL schedule in our show notes. We got to
take a quick break when we come back. We caught up with Christina Williams yesterday to help us make of a wild WNBA free agency window, joining us now the host of in Case you missed it right here on Iheartwomen's Sports Network, a WNBA Insider, Women's hoops newsbreaker and take Maker, and twenty twenty one Forbes thirty Under thirty Sports honoree. She's done work for athletes unlimited, sn y MSG Networks and founded had launched Girls Talk Sports TV.
She loves a thigh high boot and a big furry jacket. It's Christina Williams. What's up, Christina.
Hey, Sarah's good to be back and I love that. I do love a good furco in THI So, I mean.
That's clear from your insta.
So much to talk about as this wild WNBA free agency stretch rolls on, I want to start by getting your reaction to the moves that have already been made before we look at how they might affect some of the big names that are still out there.
So, Britney Griner to the Atlanta Dream eleven years her whole career in Phoenix, why do you think now was the time that she wanted to test free agency?
I think that this move definitely maybe signals whether or not Diana Tarazzi plans on retiring after twenty plus seasons with the Phoenix Mercury. I think that it could be an end of an era for the Phoenix Mercury. So I think that now is the perfect time for a player like Britney Brinder to go out and explore something different.
Heard I at least have heard that she wanted out of Phoenix back in twenty twenty one, prior to being detained in Russia, that she wanted to go play with Asian Wilson with the Las Vegas Aces, and that was one of the teams that she spoke to during this free agency period before ultimately landing with the Atlanta Dream. And so I think that is a good thing for
the Atlanta Dream as well. They just fired to be sure, right in the off season they had a fifteen to twenty five record, And so I think that this is great for the end of the Dream to get a defensive anchor in Brittany Briner, who is thirty four years old but still has a lot left to give to the game. And so I think that this is a good fit for the Atlanta Dream to add an edition of Britney Brinder.
Yeah, she's a ten time All Star, two time champ, eight time blocks later, and last year she still had really good stats. She was putting up numbers. But I'm curious about the fit in terms of style, slower paced from Grinder. She really relies on post ups. Do you think that's a fit with how the rest of this Atlanta team thrives.
I mean, Carl, the coach who's newly highed, really said that he was looking for the outside game, the shooting but I think that she adds that defensive anchor when we talk about defending the paint. And obviously Brittany Grind is Britney Grind and she's gonna get a bucket word no matter where she is. But then she's surrounded by guards like Jordan Canada, Alisha Gray, and so I think that this is the perfect merits in terms of having
versatility on the team and we talk about winning. She comes in with championship experience, She's won gold medals, she knows what it takes to win. So I think that having that veteran presence is much needed. I know last season, the Dream had Tina Charles on the team, and Tina Charles did a great job with helping them get to the playoffs. But I think that you want to get
that extra push. I think that Brittany Grinder is the player that you bring in with those guards and Ryan Howard, she's next up in atl And so right now several of those players are in unrivaled in Miami, and so you know they're talking to each other, getting to know one another, and I think that it would be a great.
Bit fishing together. As we saw in the video where Britney announced where she was headed. Okay Grinder out Alyssa Thomas in Thomas another superstar who spent her whole career in one place. She was drafted by New York but traded the same day to Connecticut. So she's been with the Sun since day one. Why the move for at?
I think that when we talk about the Connecticut Sun and what the team has looked like this past six years for the Sun, I think that their window to winning a championship closed, and I think that that first Domino started with John Paul Jones going to the New York Liberty when she was a free agent. And you know, if you're to wanna bonn her, Alyssa Thomas, even Brianna Jones, you're looking at that like man, she left somewhere else
and won. And so I think that because that window to winning a championship closed, Stephanie White is now coaching with the Indiana Fever. I think it's time to break up the court and see what they can do and how they can contribute on other teams. I think that one thing is important to note that as of today, there's no official trade that has been made that can't happen until Saturday on February one, And so once that trade is completed, Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen and that number
twelve pick is expected to be going to Connecticut. And then Ty Harris is also included in that Elisa Thomas trade. So if that trade were to be completed, I think that it makes Connecticut better. They get a championship point guarded, Natasha Cloud, a three and D shooter, and Rebecca Allen and the number twelve foot pick if they're looking to rebuild. But then you look at the you look at the Phoenix Mercury. Zawana Bonner is also a free agent tea
made a Melissa Thomas her fiance. She's played with the Mercury in twenty fourteen, won a championship with that team, and this past season, if you all were paying attention, Phoenix Mercury honored that twenty fourteen championship team and Juana Barner was present for that and she talked about what it was like playing with Diana Torossi. So whether Diana's Rossie looks to close the chapter, she comes back another season and want to play with Dowana Bonner and try
to make another run for it. I think it'll be interesting to pay attention to. But I think that this trait is good for a Listen. We saw how vocal she was in the off season about wanting a play for an organization that invest in their athletes. We see what Phoenix has done with their facilities that has been a big talking point for free agents in this offseason.
Go into teams where they invest in their athletes. So I think that she'll be happy to be with Khalia Copper, who was also down unrivaled as well and pitching you know why why players should come to Phoenix, And I think that'll be a good next chapter for Alyssa.
Yeah, we kind of joke about it, but that whole playing in a rec center and practicing next to kids, you know, birthday parties might be something that Connecticut needs to look into as these players get spoiled and unrivaled and see what's going on in these places that have the newer facilities.
You know, it's interesting.
I've seen a lot of people grade Connectic get high on this trade and it feels like you're losing Alyssa Thomas and probably Dewanna Bonner as well. Like, is that just more of a grading on a curve of like, if you're going to lose those people, at least do you get this talent and an opportunity to build, Because to me, it feels like that's a loss. That's a loss, like you're losing to one, probably two of these greats.
Yeah, I mean Alyssa Thomas has been an MVP type candidate player for the last few seasons of her career in Connecticut. This is someone who has helped lead Connecticut to the semifinals multiple times, two finals. They have two trips to the finals her tenure with the Connecticut son And so I think that, yes, it's a huge loss. She's one of the star players of that franchise. Fans loved Alyssa Thomas and what she was able to bring to the franchise these several seasons. So I think that
it is a huge loss. But then you gained so much in having Natasha Cloud. She won a championship in twenty nineteen. Rebecca Allen is a hooper, like very good asset when you talk about getting a player who likes to shoot threes and play deep, and it's good on both sides of the ball. So I think that Connecticut if they are rebuilding. I mean, they get two good cornerstone players with experience with better experience, but I think
it is a huge loss for the Connecticut side. I do also want to note that some of the things that I've been hearing regarding the Natasha Cloud situation, I spoke to multiple people in around the league that said that it could be possible that maybe it's not done yet and there's a possibility that maybe she could be traded to another team once this is complete. And I'm told that, you know, there isn't a grace period for
when players are traded from another team. They can be traded again immediately, they just can't be traded back to the team that they came from.
That's interesting.
We felt for Tosh because she posted that video like hyping up the facilities, saying she'd never want to leave, and as of now, the story is that she's headed to Knedicut. But that's interesting that there might be another move still yet to come. If this trade goes through as is, the Mercury will have just five players under common track. They'll have to rely on free agency and look around to get some people to come for those
final six roster spots. It's a great get to get Alissa and sounds like maybe Duana's part of the deal. But that's a lot of leaving that depth of the roster open for them.
I mean, there's still a lot of big names on the free agency market. There are rumors that Sasu Sabili has made Phoenix one of her top two choices, and I know as of today there are a lot of teams waiting to see where she will go for determining what moves they will make. And so it was reported that Satsu Soabile has listed Phoenix and New York is her top two choices, and so I think that teams kind of are like holding out to see where she
goes before other moves are made. And then also we were hearing that Maisha heinz Allen, who helped the Minnesota Links when she was traded in the second half of last season get to the finals, that she's also interested in Phoenix and Christy Tolliver is an assistant coach and that team she's played with mayshis so that kind of makes sense that she would be interested in going there. But it's a huge attraction free agents, right because they
have the facilities and resources. They have stars like Kullia Copper already signed, with rumors of Elisa Thomas being traded to the Phoenix Mercury, so they're definitely looking to rebuild. But they're adding a lot of veteran players who have experienced and who can help a team win now. So I think that that's what's attracting free agents to Phoenix.
We're all loving seeing the photoshop pop back up of Dowanna and Alyssa with dj A Carrington as their little baby swaddled in a blanket. Djna is a free agent, brie Jones is a free agent. Is there any chance there on the move and they won't actually be part of this Sun build?
Well, the difference between contracts. Brianna Jones is actually an understricted free agent, so she's allowed to talk to any team that she wants during this period. Djna is a reserved free agent, so you know, if she decides to talk to other teams or if she's interested in signing
to one of those teams. Obviously, Connecticut has the first rights and they can make match any offer, and from what I know, has met with the Chicago's guy as one of the potential teams that is interested in talking to her, and she's definitely made her case throughout the last season for attracting many different teams. And so I mean, we'll see what happens and keep our eyes close to what happens with djmkre.
S breaking up a happy family. Let's talk Kelsey Plumb in LA.
She is obviously a great get, but this speeds up their rebuild instead of looking to the future. If they had kept that number two draft pick and gotten someone like Olivia Miles from Notre Dame joining their young talent in Cameron Brink and Rakia Jackson, that's a totally different outlook for the next couple of years than getting someone like Kelsey who's still probably peak or about to be a little bit out of peak.
Do you like this movie?
Would you prefer that they would have stuck with a slower built.
I absolutely like this move for the Los Angeles Sparks. And so when we think about them giving up the number two pick, when I think about the lottery in twenty twenty six, it's based off a two year record losing records. So the Sparks had, I mean last season they had they finished eight and thirty two, not saying that they will have a losing record this upcoming season, but they'll most likely still be in the lottery, I
think in twenty twenty six. But I think that she adds that veteran presence at the guard position that's needed. You have Cameron Brink who will be coming back off of an injury, for Kia Jackson, who definitely plays so well in her rookie season, into Yerka Handy. This is a very solid starting lineup I think for the Los Angeles Sparks. It was rumored that Kelsey Plumb actually wanted to go to the Sparks. That was her first choice
in terms of teams she wanted to play for. She wasn't pushed out by the Las Vegas Aces, just wanted a fresh start, And to my understanding, I've heard from multiple people that she's planning to stay there beyond twenty twenty five, so we.
Know that just a one year deal, So that'd be good for them if she plans to stay and be a part of it. As they and honestly, they've been losing a lot, you almost can't blame them for wanting to go and get a big name player that's going to help them win some games now, instead of continuing to be on this slower path towards using their young stars and getting better.
Same deal sent Jewel Lloyd to Vegas.
I've been finding it fascinating watching a bunch of analysts seem to be torn on whether Lloyd is an upgrade, a downgrade, or a sort of apples to Apple's replacement for Plumb when it comes to talent, Where do you fall in that argument?
Oh, that's a good question, Sarah. You put me on the spot. I mean, Jewel Lloyd is ju Loyd. She's won multiple championships with the Seattle Storm. She held a scoring record in twenty twenty three. I think that we can't judge her based off her twenty twenty four season, but I do think that the writing was on the wall in terms of her tenure with Seattle after the reports of alleging the harassment and bullying from the coaching staff.
I think that once that happened, it was clear that she did not want to stay there and wanted to start fresh. And I had heard that Jewel Lloyd wanted to play with the Aces as early as twenty twenty one. I remember a free agency hearing that, and so it's good to see her team up again with her Team USA teammates and Asia Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray. Again, a lot of these teams and free agents are looking at veteran players. We see that pattern happening throughout all
of these signings and trades. The teams want to get players with experience, and so I think that if you add a player like Juloyd to the two time champions in the Las Vegas Aces, it makes them stronger. I think I think that is definitely an upgrade for sure. Yeah.
I mean, it is so hard to judge a player solely about the situation that they're in her numbers last year trying to fit in with neck Ogoo, McKay and Skyler, Digg and Smith.
We're kind of misleading to me.
She was also unhappy, So I'm not looking at last year and saying that's who Jewel Lloyd is. I'm a big Jewellloyd fan. I think she's a super talented player. So I was surprised by those who thought it was a big downgrade from Kelsey. There are differences, for sure, but I think you could argue sometimes that Jewel is a better player and brings more to the table, so it'll be interesting to see how they both operate in their new teams. What are the Seattle Storms chances to
get pagebackers. We know that they got the number two pick in the deal. Dallas Wings have the number one pick that everyone presumes we'll go to pay.
But there's this scenario out there.
Where people see Page threatening to go back for an eleventieth year of college instead of having to go to Dallas, and if Dallas knows that they might lose her if they believe that bluff, which would feel like a bluff at this point, no one really thinks Page wants to go back again. But if they believe that bluff, they could get the Storm's number two pick and some assets from them to get the second best player, probably Olivia Miles as opposed to losing out. What are the real
chances of that happening? Because it feels like the Storm would be a good landing place for Page with the new facilities, with the ties to super Bird with teammate Nika Mule.
So that's a very interesting question, and I just want to know where that room was starting a Page not wanting to go to Dallas, had.
I think we all just decided it for her.
Literally, I think like the world was like, ah, we would rather that she went to the Spark, So we're sad about this.
Oh the Storm, that's better, let's go there, right.
So it's very interesting because I don't see any scenarios where the Dallas Wings would want to give up the number one pick, right. And I think that when it comes to the w NBA Draft and you look at the salary for the rookie scale contracts, it's very different from the NBA in a sense of there's not a real incentive for going one, two, three, or four in terms of the difference of money that you will make.
And so I think that teams. I had Chris Coklanis on my show recently and he talked about drafting the best available player versus, you know, just maybe a top player that people think should go number one. So I think that teams will do what's best for them when it comes to this year's draft, And so maybe Dallas won't even choose her number one and she'll still be available at two.
That would be wild. It would by the way.
Chris crow klan as the head coach of the Dallas Wings just named this offseason for those who don't remember.
It would be But I think that, you know, like I said, there isn't a real incentive of whether you're one, two, three, or four in the WNBA draft as of now until maybe the new CPA comes.
Right, But it still feels like, I don't know, for a franchise as great as Olivia Miles is, and maybe they see a higher upside to her or someone else, but the amount of eyeballs, attention, merch tickets like Page
brings with her. I just went to see Page against Apaul here in Chicago this week, and we're nowhere near Connecticut, and the number of Jerseys shirts, flags, posters, an entire section of people waiting after the game just to get to talk to Paige like that kind of impact is hard to turn away from.
Absolutely, Paige is no doubt going to be a generational player in the WNBA. And I'm not saying that the Dallas Wings well draft her. They're not interested in drafting her. I'm just trying to figure out where the rooms started that she did not want to play for Dallas. We haven't heard that come out of her mouth, at least not yet. I haven't heard it come from any of her camps or reps, because she doesn't want to play
for Dallas. But I think it makes the most sense when we think about the fandomber around the WNBA and the story of her possibly going to Seattle and playing now. I think that Kurt Miller, who is currently the general manager of the Dallas Wings, he's going to do what's best for the franchise. And if they lose that too Sobbly, obviously, that's going to take a huge blok for them in free agency. And I just think about what they want
to do in terms of the strategy Iriqab. She's gonna need someone to play alongside her, and I think that a star like Page Beckers would be a good fit. But I think fans are locked in wanting to hear her play on a West coast. I get it, I get it.
Yeah, all right.
Courtney vander Slute not finalized yet, but according to her Instagram bio and rumors of the trade are rumors of a decision to be back in Chicago. She averaged six point four points four point eight assists per game last year. She had a reduced role for the Liberty That was in part due to personnel and also due to unfortunately the death of her mom, but help their championship run coming off the bench. I love to have her back. I love Slute, but this is about the contract for me.
Are they paying her for now as opposed to paying her for the years she spent with the team at her prime. What do you make of this and how much of whether this is a good deal or not to you is based on what kind of money they're giving.
I think that when you have a player like Ordey van Deslout, who's a proven winner, one of the top in WNBA history in terms of her league assistant, what she contributes to the game, and what she'll bring to that young core in the Chicago scot you pay her what she's worth. I think that she will make an immediate impact on this team. Firstly because the art of post entry passing from point guards is absolutely lost and she's one. She's one of the last of a dying
three you had. We talked about how you know Courtney ands to like top the top when it came to that, and I think that when it comes to just the offense that Tyler Masch wants to run, you want to play her like Cordy Vandersloot, and you want to pay her what she's worth. She was part of that championship team that brought the first championship and franchise history to the Sky, and so I think that at this point in her career she deserves it. Obviously, I'm gonna miscover
in her in New York City. You know, her agent confirmed with me that she in fact is expected to sign on Saturday to the Chicago Scotts. So it's pretty much going to happen. It's sad to see her leave New York, but you know, I love this year going back home.
Ali Quigley kind of irish, goodbye the whole WNBA. She was just back at speaking of DePaul. She was just there getting honored there. So she does exist. She is still around, but she never really said like, hey, I'm out of here. She just took a break and the break continues. Do we have any word on whether we might get wifies reunited and we get vander Quiggs and I can start wearing that shirt again that's hiding in my closet.
From what I know, the Chicago's guy's definitely looking for a veteran shooting guard and so if I'm jeff in Ty, I'm like, listen, what will it take to get Alli back in a uniform? I did see Alliet unwible that she looks happy and relaxed. So I don't know, damn we want to come back there. But I mean, Chicago is looking to feel the roster with a veteran shooting guard, and I do know that they will make that number three pick available if the right player were to come along,
And so I think that we just stay tuned. I don't know we will come back, but I do think that there's a lot of other guards on the market that we can assess and that will make an impact on the Chicago Sky roster.
Let's talk about the rest of the market. Satu nek Oguma, Kay, Kennedy, Carter. There's some interesting names out there that we don't know yet exactly where they're headed or if they're sticking.
Where they are. What do you got? What are your predictions for some landing spots.
A lot of these decisions are being held up based off where Satu Sabili will land, and then teams will start to fill their roster with role players. I am hearing a lot of positive things about Kennedy Carter that multiple teams are interested in signing her. But again, a lot of these things are potentent on where Satu Sabili will land and how that will change the landscape of different teams, and so I think that we just stay tuned. Tiffany Mitchell is the player that I'm also looking at.
She contributed for Connecticut last season and then she had a little bit of health issues, but she's someone who can still contribute I think the indianaf who will still make new moves as well. Natasha Howard is a player that no one is talking about. She's won three championships. She can contribute as a big on any team and immediately make them contend for a championship. We are hearing obviously.
Chyenne Parker's higas has talked to the Las Vegas Aces, and I think that she will fit well into that system if they want to run moving forward. I think that because Brittany Grinder signed to the Atlanta Dream is kind of hinting that maybe they don't have the cap space to keep an all star player like Chyenne, so maybe she signs to Vegas. So yeah, we'll just keep our eyes on it. But A lot of this depends on where how to Sabily goes.
I haven't heard anything about nechA wanting to leave right as it sort of assumed that she'll stay in Seattle, the same way Briannatt Stewart has not officially signed because she can't yet, but says she'll come back to the Liberty.
I expect Necao McKay at least to still be a member of the Seattle Storm. I had on my show last November, and she talked about really just being happy in Seattle and just the positive them having the resources and facilities. I know that she attended unrivaled and kind of stare in the audience with some of the Seattle personnel and supporting scholar. You're digging Smith and so I think that she's comfortable in Seattle, and I could see her potentially going back to Seattle in twenty twenty five.
How is the renegotiating of the CBA going to affect all these deals, because there are a lot of players that might want to re enter the free agency market next season with more money to be duled out. More than sixty players who ended the twenty twenty four season on a roster expected to be free agents next year. Are we going to have an even wilder WNBA free
agency next season? And do you expect some of these deals we're seeing now to end up being short so that they can get right back out on the market.
I mean, as of right now, a lot of players have not signed beyond twenty twenty five because of the new CBA and just anticipating one. Maybe the players can negotiate the salary cap to be removed, a hard salary cap, so that mid tier players can get more money, rookies can get more money, and the supermask can be increased. I think that from this last CBA we've seen how
it impacted the mid tier players the most. How players like obviously Sims didn't have a real deal, players that can make immedia impact role players were impacted by the last CBA where teams were not just able to sign them because they simply could not because of the hardt salary cap and just all of the restrictions. And so if it's lifted, I expect players to yea opt out of their contracts and hit the free agency market again in twenty twenty six. There's also going to be a
fourteenth team added to the WIMPs of that. It's going to be super interesting. But when I look at twenty twenty six is definitely going to be insane. How many free agents are on the market.
Ooh, you got me?
Okay, that was me my last question, but you just made me remember the frickin' Valkyries. Is my pipe dream of Elena Deldon being in Valkyries Lilac totally not happening.
I have nothing on a deledon. I'm gonna be honest. We know that she was core by the Mystics last seas in and decided to sit out, but I haven't heard any reports in terms of her wanting to play for the Golden State Valkyries. I haven't even heard anything as of late of her returning to the WNBA, But
we'll see. We'll keep our eyes on her. Obviously, she had some health issues in the season prior to last season, and that was one of the reasons we heard that the Las Vegas ass did not sign her free agency, and so we'll just see how much he's progressed and if she wants to even play and return to the WNBA.
What about Satu or someone to the Valkyries. They've got the most capraman in the league. They've only technically got three players under contract after that draft, Like, it doesn't seem possible that they're sticking with just who they've got right now from the expansion Draft and trying to roll that out and compete.
I listen, I agree with you, Sarah. I feel like this is a team with a lot of assets. We talk about the players that they've signed, with the experience that they have. They definitely are going to look into the agency and then assess the trade market. We talk about what's left over. A lot of teams that I've talked to, at least in the last week, are talking about assessing the trade market. So beyond February one, there will be moves made. Like it's not the end all
be all in terms of free agency. On February one, I think that you know, the bigger names will see you know, most likely signed your contracts. But then teams will also be making moves up until March so and then and then also using their draft picks as well as assets. So I think that will continue to see moves. I think that a lot of people are not talking about m Mesman, and that was one of the things
I also wanted to bring up with Connecticut. There were rumors that she was to play after the Olympics last year, and now her Belgium head coach, Rashid Mesim, he's coaching in Connecticut. Can he convince her to come back stateside in twenty twenty five to play for the Sun I think that that. I mean, that's some of the things
I'm thinking about reporting it or anything. But I'm just thinking about could I'm Lisa men come back and play for her Belgium head coach in the WNBA, especially with the new changes in the CPA and all the projections for next next year as well. So those are the things that I'm going to be thinking about. And then obviously the New York Liberty the defending champions, so it's
gonna be interesting to see what moves they made. Many van der Slut who you know, she took him a juice role, but you know she helped them win a championship at the end of the day, and how do you feel that void? I can see the New York Liberty wanting to continue to develop players like Leoni Biebach, maybe bring back Kennedy Burke, and then working with what they have in the core five, said Brinny Andescu, Finazie Lany Hamilton, Leoni Pievich, Branda Stewart, John Paul Jones, who
was obviously the finals MVP for that championship run. So I think that the Liberty will get better. For Becca Gardner's especially is expected to come back. She was gone for a whole year with an injury. Marine Johannes, We'll be back as well. So they definitely have I think in terms of continuity the most solid team in the league, and teams are trying to figure out ways to beat the New York Liberty at this point.
Well, we're sure having fun watching them figure that out and making these moves, and we're looking forward to when they'll be official. But like you said, movement can still happen after that, lots of trades and these things still yet to come. Thanks so much for helping us sort all this out.
We really appreciate it, Christina.
Thank you. Sarah always want to be here with you.
Thanks again to Christina for joining us. And wow, I can't believe that giant move that just happened after the interview that we'll talk about on Monday. Yeah, we got to take another break when we come back. Times running out better get in well the getting's good.
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Watch the Fever celebrating Kelsey Mitchell's new deal, rating five out of five.
Aws and cute review.
Upon returning to Indy to resign with the Fever, Mitchell was greeted by what looked to be about fifty pacers Sports and Entertainment staff, Fever coaches, and teammate Caitlin Clark, waving thundersticks, cheering and welcoming her back. Clark joke that she planned the whole This was real cute, y'all. I recommend watching the video. We'll throw the link in the show notes. It kind of reminds me of that Jennifer
Hudson's Spirit Tunnel we talked about. If these copycats keep popping up, I'm gonna have to demand one for my next birthday party. Now it's your turn, Rate and Review. Thanks for listening, See you next week. Good game, Christina, Good Game, Chicago Sky and Courtney van der slout you not.
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