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No. 1: Dallas Wings
No. 2: Los Angeles Sparks
No. 3: Chicago Sky
No. 4 Washington Mystics

Hmm. Not sure how Paige fits with Dallas. I prefer she go to LA.

Congrats Wings fans!

do we like the paige, arike backcourt? good fit?

Paige fits anywhere. That's her appeal.

Feel like Flaujae should come out with this top 3.

So likely these kinda shenanigans are back.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/dfBjnSpA9ZY

Can Hamby or Kiki play the 3?

This result possibly puts a dent in my Satou to Indy ideas. Sticking around for warmer weather, the place you already know, and Bueckers incoming.

Ghetto Gospel wrote:do we like the paige, arike backcourt? good fit?

Paige can fit on any team right now, but having a scoring machine in Arike in her backcourt is a plus. Excited for the Wings especially with Paige, Arike, & Jacy as the guards.

Kiki seems very overrated to me.

Flaujae is the second best American talent who is draft eligible.

The Euro's also might be top 5 worthy (Malonga and Sivka).

Was intrigued by the possibility of Olivia Miles on the Sky, that could be in jeopardy now

This definitely doesn't make the Wings less weird. Weirdest roster in the W.
A ridiculous amount of perimeter fire power, giants in the middle, and nothing else. Paige is like an efficient version of Arike.

You still grab Paige obviously, and try to re-orient the roster around her if she delivers on the hype.

TheSuzerain wrote:Kiki seems very overrated to me.

Flaujae is the second best American talent who is draft eligible.

The Euro's also might be top 5 worthy (Malonga and Sivka).

Do we think Flau'jae is going to declare for the draft?

I think she'd be in consideration in the top 3 for sure. I'm not sure her drives will translate, but her mix of off-ball shooting and motor would fit in anywhere.

I think the assumtion is she's in the 2026 draft. She's eligible, like you say, so it could happen.

TheSuzerain wrote:Kiki seems very overrated to me.

Disagree on Kiki though. What don't you like?

That strength and explosiveness is going to translate. Huge wingspan. Comparing her to last year's top PF prospects (Angel and Aaliyah), you can see how much easier her paint scoring comes. Get where she wants whenever she wants. On defense, I really like her feet and feel she's going to be very switchable. Alana Smith defensive potential.

I don't love her backline defense, so I'm hoping she's playing with a center in the W. Even there though, she gives me poor man's A'ja vibes sometimes.

cupcakesnake wrote:

TheSuzerain wrote:Kiki seems very overrated to me.

Flaujae is the second best American talent who is draft eligible.

The Euro's also might be top 5 worthy (Malonga and Sivka).

Do we think Flau'jae is going to declare for the draft?

I think she'd be in consideration in the top 3 for sure. I'm not sure her drives will translate, but her mix of off-ball shooting and motor would fit in anywhere.

I think the assumtion is she's in the 2026 draft. She's eligible, like you say, so it could happen.

With the changing economics in the WNBA, I could see early declarations become a thing.

Coupling that with her two likely landing spots as LA (it's LA and she's into music) or Chicago (with Reese = marketing $$$), and I think she'll have good reason to declare.

cupcakesnake wrote:

TheSuzerain wrote:Kiki seems very overrated to me.

Disagree on Kiki though. What don't you like?

That strength and explosiveness is going to translate. Huge wingspan. Comparing her to last year's top PF prospects (Angel and Aaliyah), you can see how much easier her paint scoring comes. Get where she wants whenever she wants. On defense, I really like her feet and feel she's going to be very switchable. Alana Smith defensive potential.

I don't love her backline defense, so I'm hoping she's playing with a center in the W. Even there though, she gives me poor man's A'ja vibes sometimes.

No rim protection and no outside shot.

She's going to have to win in the paint and with mid-range jump shots. Hard to win with mid-range in any league, and the paint in the WNBA (at present) is usually clogged and very physical.

Don't see what her edge is going to be in the WNBA (other than being a plus rebounder).

I assume we'll see the rest of the coaching chips now start to fall into place between now and the expansion draft.

I'd think Sides is the best available candidate. I'd think she would have some interest in Dallas now. What a wild couple of back to back seasons that would be for her.

TheSuzerain wrote:

cupcakesnake wrote:

TheSuzerain wrote:Kiki seems very overrated to me.

Disagree on Kiki though. What don't you like?

That strength and explosiveness is going to translate. Huge wingspan. Comparing her to last year's top PF prospects (Angel and Aaliyah), you can see how much easier her paint scoring comes. Get where she wants whenever she wants. On defense, I really like her feet and feel she's going to be very switchable. Alana Smith defensive potential.

I don't love her backline defense, so I'm hoping she's playing with a center in the W. Even there though, she gives me poor man's A'ja vibes sometimes.

No rim protection and no outside shot.

She's going to have to win in the paint and with mid-range jump shots. Hard to win with mid-range in any league, and the paint in the WNBA (at present) is usually clogged and very physical.

Don't see what her edge is going to be in the WNBA (other than being a plus rebounder).

Right but that clogged paint does put a premium on players who can actually score in there. A'ja Wilson, Nneka, and Phee are the best scorers in the league primarily because of their ability to get paint points. I'm not saying Kiki is going to amount to something like that, but WNBA teams are going to continue to chase elite interior scorers that have a chance of that translating. Perimeter scorers tend to have a reallllllly hard time shooting even 40% in the playoffs. Teams are looking for the "tip of the spear" of their offense. Shooting is a crazy important skill, but if you can score inside and play with other shooters, you can still be very valuable.

Her edge is that she's a 6'3" really explosive athlete with a very strong base. She's scoring very easily at the basket in college. She's too fast for slower bigs, and too big for smaller defenders. I think that will translate.

I don't have big defensive concerns about overall. She's not a shot blocker but she's very hard to score on. She's swallows up most people who attack her. She'd be super effective in a defensive scheme like Minnesota's, which I think will only become more popular after their success and slower drop bigs looking useless last year.

I’m gonna very curious if Arike can change her game and stop being such a ball hog. Already a storyline im seeing on social media.

dockingsched wrote:I’m gonna very curious if Arike can change her game and stop being such a ball hog. Already a storyline im seeing on social media.

I think it will work great. I love Odyssey Sims, and Crystal Dangerfield is nice, but those are the best guards she's played with over the last couple of years (including making it to the WNBA Semi's). Jacy came on towards the end of the year, but she was a defensive oriented rookie.

Her and Paige together should lead to a lot more open shots.

The last time she played with another great guard, she won a national title.

damn, wanted to see Paige in LA as well.

dang, Aces got no pick this year.

will be fun to drive to Dallas to see Paige vs CC. the league is in good hands