Dallas Wings Leave Minnesota Lynx With Only One Viable Draft Choice
It’s been a brutal offseason for the Minnesota Lynx. They lost Bridget Carleton to the Portland Fire and Maria Kliundikova to the Toronto Tempo in the expansion draft. Then, Natisha Hiedeman signed with the Seattle Storm, and the Dallas Wings lured away the rest of the frontcourt outside of Napheesa Collier, signing Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard to long-term deals.
Those departures combined with Collier’s injury, leave the Lynx with almost no depth in the frontcourt. Dorka Juhasz and Anastasiia Kosu are under contract with the team, but Juhasz sat out last season, and Kosu barely played as a rookie. Neither is a replacement for Smith, who was a defensive anchor for a team that looked ready to win a championship two years in a row.
Luckily, the Lynx have the number-two pick in the draft on Monday and a chance to add a new defensive standout to the roster. Since the Wings re-signed Li Yueru and brought Smith and Shepard on board, Lauren Betts should still be available when the Lynx get to make their pick.
Lauren Betts could be a great fit in Minnesota
Betts is fresh off a national championship run that saw her named NCAA Tournament MOP. She recorded 14 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks in the national championship game against South Carolina, making 6’6” Madina Okot look almost small.
Betts has been a very efficient inside scorer and an outstanding defender over her college career. That and her size make her a very intriguing WNBA prospect. But she has some offensive limitations that could become a problem at the next level if she doesn’t expand her range. So, Betts needs to be paired with a versatile forward who can give her the space to get to work in the paint and adjust to the physicality in her rookie season. Who fits that description better than Napheesa Collier?
The real temptation for the Lynx should be Betts’s defense, though. Cheryl Reeve builds winning teams around great defenses and strong rim protectors and has coached the Defensive Player of the Year for two years in a row now. Sylvia Fowles also won two DPOY awards while playing for Reeve.
Betts’s floor is an All-Defensive Team player with a limited offensive skill set. If she proves that she can score with the best bigs in the W, who knows what her ceiling is?
More free agency departures could complicate the Lynx’s draft situation
Free agency isn’t over yet, and the Lynx still have some free agents who have been suspiciously quiet. There has been no reporting about Courtney Williams, Kayla McBride, or DiJonai Carrington taking meetings with other teams or looking to leave Minnesota. So, they could all be back and allow the Lynx to retain at least some of their identity on both ends of the floor.
If one or two of them leave, however, it could make the Lynx’s draft decision more difficult. Olivia Miles would be a great replacement for Williams, and Azzi Fudd could easily fill a McBride-like role in Reeve’s system—although it seems pretty likely that the Wings will pick Fudd now that they took care of their frontcourt needs in free agency. The Lynx could also give up on competing for a title and pick Awa Fam with her tremendous upside in that situation.
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.