‘Exciting’ Shakira Austin Development Further Raises the Mystics’ Ceiling
Shakira Austin may not be an All-Star this season, but she’s playing like one of the best bigs in the WNBA. She averages 14 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game—career highs all across the board. Only six players average more rebounds than Austin, and she has been one of the most effective rim protectors in the W all season long.
After a few injury-plagued seasons, Austin finally looks every bit like the young star the Washington Mystics hoped to get when they drafted her third overall in 2022.
Austin may be one of the veterans on the Mystics’ young roster, but she’s still only 25, and this is just the beginning. Austin is still developing. This season, she has taken a massive step forward as a 3-point shooter, and the idea of 6’5” Austin with a reliable 3-point shot should scare the rest of the league.
Between Austin, Kiki Iriafen, Sonia Citron, and their mass of rookies, the Mystics have one of the best young cores in the WNBA. That core’s ceiling is even higher if Austin can be a two-way force in the paint AND space the floor. It will make the frontcourt fit with her, Iriafen, and Lauren Betts much simpler to navigate.
Austin is turning into a confident 3-point shooter
Austin was not a 3-point shooter when she came into the league. She took just one 3-pointer in her first two seasons. In 2024, she took four over 12 games and made one of them. Last season marked a step in a different direction. Austin attempted 15 3-pointers, showing a growing confidence compared to previous years. She only made two of them, however.
This season, she has been able to combine volume and accuracy. Austin shot 11-26 over the first 20 games, knocking down 42.3% of her shots from long range. Not even halfway through the season, she has already attempted and made more 3-pointers than in her first four WNBA seasons combined.
“If I get a consistent 3-ball, I think it’s going to be really exciting,” Austin said in the postgame media availability after an 84-79 win against the Seattle Storm, per a video by The Ballers Magazine. “Being able to space the floor out not only helps and elevates me and my reads but the team as well.”
Austin has made at least one 3-pointer in four of her last five games, including a 2-4 outing on her way to 27 points against the Storm. Seeing her take 3-pointers with confidence and sinking a good number of them is thrilling for the Mystics and terrifying for the rest of the league.
If they want to, the Mystics can be a playoff team this season with three star players under the age of 25 and still in the middle of their development. Austin’s growth as a 3-point shooter is just one reminder of how much more dangerous this team will be in just a few years.
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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.