5 Decisions WNBA Teams Still Regret Two Weeks Into the Season
When WNBA teams make big decisions—whether they are about roster construction, asset management, or coaching hires—there’s always a risk that they will backfire and turn into long-lasting regrets. Sometimes, these decisions are unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hurt.
Just over two weeks into the WNBA’s 30th season, several teams should still feel some regrets over decisions they made—or didn’t make—in the past.
The Golden State Valkyries should regret letting go of Carla Leite
With Veronica Burton firmly established as the Valkyries’ starting point guard, Carla Leite never would have had the same opportunities she now has with the Portland Fire if she had stayed in the Bay Area. Moreover, the Valkyries simply had too many contributors to protect in the expansion draft. Protecting her just would’ve led to the same outcome with another player. Still, knowing that you let go of a player with her talent and potential has to cause some regrets.
The Storm used their second first-round pick on a player who overperformed in the NCAA Tournament
The Storm had two first-round picks this year. They selected Awa Fam—a natural choice when she was still available to go third overall—and Taina Mair. The latter pick was perhaps the biggest surprise of the draft after the Valkyries’ decision to trade Flau’jae Johnson to the Storm.
Mair was a solid player at Duke, but she wasn’t projected to be a first-round pick. She had two great performances in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight that seemingly prompted the Storm to take a swing. They ended up waiving Mair and signing her to a development contract. She has only played three regular-season minutes so far.
Other teams should be worried about the fact that they let the Las Vegas Aces sign Chennedy Carter
The Aces may have just lost a close game to the Los Angeles Sparks, but they are still one of the most experienced and deepest teams in the WNBA and one of the favorites to win yet another title. Chennedy Carter is a big reason for that. She gives Becky Hammon another basically unstoppable scorer and disruptive defender to bring off the bench. If the Aces repeat, we will look back and wonder how in the world they were able to add Carter to their 2025 championship core.
The Chicago Sky should have abandoned the two-big experiment earlier
Losing Rickea Jackson to a torn ACL could seriously stall the Sky’s improvement, especially with other key players still sidelined as well. Nevertheless, it’s obvious that Chicago is better off just having one of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. It was a flawed pairing right from the start. The Sky’s newfound success makes one wonder. Should they have drafted differently in 2024? How far ahead could they be if they had traded Reese earlier?
Giving up a chance to get Bridget Carleton still hurts the Toronto Tempo
There was no doubt that Bridget Carleton would be selected early on if the Minnesota Lynx left her unprotected in the expansion draft. The Canadian native was an obvious target for Toronto, but the Tempo chose to get the higher pick in the college draft instead of picking first in the expansion draft. That choice allowed the Portland Fire to steal Carleton with the first pick. Carleton is thriving in a bigger role. It’s a missed opportunity not to have a local talent play her best season yet for the first Canadian WNBA team.
However, it’s difficult to consider this choice a mistake per se. After all, choosing the sixth overall pick in the college draft allowed the Tempo to draft Kiki Rice, who is off to a great start and has more long-term potential than Carleton.
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Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.