So, today I’m going to be talking a little bit about the Dallas Wings and how I think they are very, very much heading for a bit of a disaster. I don’t think people understand that the Dallas Wings are not in a good spot right now for their team. And it’s purely because of the signings they made in the offseason and how they are not even win-now signings.
They are win-18-games-now signings.
I saw Candace Parker give them the best ranking for the offseason. They said they won the offseason, and I’m like, I don’t get it. I don’t get it. They don’t have any defense at all.
This is a team where I’m like, Paige is Paige. Paige Bueckers is Paige Bueckers. I’m not knocking Paige Bueckers. I think Paige is going to be unbelievable. But I was looking for the article, which is really annoying me that I haven’t been able to find because I had it earlier today. Curt Miller said their starting five is basically a super team and that they have no holes on defense.
Their starting five is 5’11 Paige Bueckers at the point, who is better off the point. But again, Paige is a good point guard. She’s a great wing. So let’s say that. We got a good point guard.
On the defensive end, where does Paige rank as far as starting point guards are concerned?
I’m going to say Paige Bueckers is equivalent, maybe depending on the day. Some days she’ll be better than Caitlin, some days she’ll be worse. She’s a better defender than Sabrina Ionescu.
Let’s look through all the teams.
Is she a better defender than Julie Allemand? Probably. Or if Sykes has the one, hell no.
Better defender than Karlie Loyd? Probably not.
Better defender than Courtney Williams? No.
Better defender than Jackie Young? No.
Better defender than Jordan Canada? No.
Better defender than Monique Billings? No.
Better defender than Sabrina Ionescu? Sure.
Better defender than Caitlin? Maybe.
Better defender than who’s starting for the Storm at the one? I have no idea. Hiedeman? Sure.
Better defender than Burton? Hell no.
Better defender than Kelsey Plum? Equivalent.
Better defender than Allisha Gray? Sure.
But Allisha Gray is a defender. Is Paige fast? Is she quick laterally? Not really. Is she big? Not really at 5’11. Is she going to have to guard small forwards? Sure. And she’s a small 5’11, by the way.
Arike Ogunbowale gets steals, but she’s not a great defender. So you got three poor defenders.
Jess Shepard’s not a defender. I don’t know where they got Jess Shepard being an elite defender from. Jess Shepard’s not really a defender if we’re being honest.
But Allisha Gray Smith is. I’ll give Allisha Gray Smith that. But Allisha Gray Smith is not this defensive anchor like Myisha Hines-Allen or A’ja Wilson. She can be a last line of defense on a great team. But she’s not at that level of defensive anchor. She can be the best defensive player on a great team, sure, which she’s shown she can be.
But this starting five doesn’t have size, isn’t particularly fast other than Arike, and doesn’t play fast. This is not a good transition team.
This is not a particularly great shooting team. I’m not saying it’s a bad shooting team. I’m saying Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers are shot creators. Allisha Gray is a spot-up shooter from three. Arike wants to shoot off the dribble.
If Paige Bueckers is the point guard and it’s her job to pass the ball to Allisha Gray and Arike, then you’re taking away Paige Bueckers’ best asset, which is her shot creation. Arike’s best asset is her shot creation, and Allisha Gray’s off-ball movement is probably going to get relegated in Dallas to standing in the corner.
If you want someone to stand in the corner, play defense, and hit 40% of threes, why use the number one overall pick and not just sign Karlie Samuelson to the minimum?
It’s one of those things where Paige and Arike — I don’t know if there’s a player you can put with Paige and Arike to make the three of them work. I actually don’t.
I think there is a possibility that Paige Bueckers and Arike comes off the bench. The problem is that the backup point guard now for the Dallas Wings is Marina Mabrey and Odyssey Sims.
If you look at Odyssey Sims’ stats no matter where she’s been, if she has started, she’s been good. If she has come off the bench, she has looked like the worst player in the WNBA.
When Odyssey Sims starts, she is a below-average but still competent starter. When she comes off the bench, she legitimately can’t play. So they brought in a player who cannot play off the bench to be the backup point guard.
Awak Kuier — I like Awak Kuier. Let’s not say anything negative about Awak.
Azura Stevens is mini Arike. She is just a shot creator.
And then you’ve got Li Yueru, where the idea of Li Yueru is better than the player of Li Yueru. We got to be honest here.
You see a lot of things with Li Yueru and you’re like, holy hell, Li Yueru could be something. But at the end of the day, she’s your only real backup big outside of Awak.
Then you’ve got Jess Shepard, who is a really good bench player. Don’t get it twisted. But she wasn’t even the best bench player on her team. You’re paying her a million dollars.
Now you’re looking at a situation where this team has Maddy Siegrist, who again doesn’t play defense. They’re a poor defensive team. They’re an iffy shooting team.
You’ve got a bunch of bucket getters.
The team has a bit of size but outside of Jess Shepard, no real size. They’ve got height, but they’re small as far as guards are concerned.
And not only that, they’re screwed contract-wise because they signed Shepard and Allisha Gray Smith to long-term deals.
Allisha Gray Smith’s on a three-year max. Jess Shepard signed for a million for multiple years.
You’re not going to be good enough. You’re going to be fighting for that last playoff spot in a year where it might actually have done you some good to be bad.
Dallas won 10 games last year. Be bad. Don’t make the playoffs. Win 14 games this year. Win four more than last year — 14 to 16 games — and you still have the second- or third-worst record over two years, which gives you a legitimate chance to get JuJu Watkins.
It gives you a great chance to get one of JuJu, Hidalgo, or Madison Booker, who could really help your team.
Why?
Because Madison Booker playing point guard at the WNBA level next to Paige and Allisha Gray on the wings gives you size and a player that can facilitate. You’ve got your double-headed monster in Paige and Madison Booker who can alternate at the one.
Not only that, you could maybe take Hidalgo and just have a dog out there on defense.
There are a lot of players that you could take.
But now you’re pushing yourself into the category of the Atlanta Hawks, the Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat — teams that might be okay, but if they scrape into eighth place in the playoffs instead of getting potentially a top-three pick in a very top-heavy draft, you’re probably falling to six, seven, eight, or nine because of how many teams don’t make the playoffs.
That’s the problem.
The Dallas Wings might be the most improved team in the WNBA year-on-year. But the problem with all of that is you’ve won at what cost?
The team doesn’t have much long-term flexibility.
Arike is on a three-year max.
They have overpaid certain contracts.
Paige is going to get her epic provision sooner than people think. Paige’s epic provision is going to kick in while Allisha Gray Smith and Arike are still making maxes.
Allisha Gray Smith is going to be fine. We all know Paige Bueckers is going to be a fine player. No one has ever questioned that.
But this is a team that’s not built to win now, doesn’t have cap flexibility, and isn’t going to be bad enough to get a high pick in the draft.
This is what we call mid-table mediocrity.
This is the Miami Heat. This is the Chicago Bulls. This is the yearly play-in Atlanta Hawks.
What they are right now is a team that is not going to compete anytime soon, that doesn’t have as bright a future as it should have because they’re going all in to be mediocre.
And they’re so focused on appeasing Paige Bueckers today that they’re not worried about actually appeasing Paige Bueckers when they need to — when team control goes away.
In four years, Paige can walk.
Until then, the Dallas Wings are in control of Paige Bueckers. They can do whatever they want.
They are so worried about appeasing Paige today that they are greatly increasing their chances of losing Paige Bueckers in four years by making short-term deals.
Anyway, yeah. That’s the video. I think they’re a disaster.
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