Hi, Richard. I know that you have written about this over on Rebkell, but could the fact that the Lynx signed Mitchell at what clearly was not a position of need, while not pursuing Moriah Jefferson (who signed for roughly the same amount as Mitchell with Phoenix), be a sign that they intend to draft Haley Jones? Jones is not a point guard, but she can operate as a point forward, rotating up from the baseline to direct the offense. If you planned to have Jones defend the 3, but run the offense on the opposite end of the court, then couldn’t you get away with having two shooting guards in the backcourt, Mitchell and McBride and perhaps sometimes even Powers?
I know that the scuttlebutt is that the Lynx intend to draft Diamond Miller, but I have wondered if maybe that isn’t a smokescreen to entice Dallas to trade up to the 2. Dallas supposedly has no interest in Jones, but would be very interested in Diamond Miller. While I doubt that the Lynx could get the 3 and 5 picks for 2, maybe they could get them for the 2 and the 12 picks. Anyway, I find it a little mystifying that the Lynx would oversign at the wing, while deciding to turn the offense over to Banham and Lindsay Allen. I am not really sure who is the starter and who is the backup with the Banham/Allen duo, but it doesn’t inspire great confidence.
Richard, excellent analysis as always. Thanks for the link to your explanation of the prioritization rule, which I had missed when you first posted it. I’ve been baffled by the rule since I first read about it for the very reason that you gave: even with the increases, WNBA salaries are not competitive with many of the international leagues, meaning that many players would be compelled for financial reasons to forego the W. Most WNBA owners, and certainly Cathy Englebert, are not stupid. Shouldn’t that have been obvious to them?
Hi, Richard. I know that you have written about this over on Rebkell, but could the fact that the Lynx signed Mitchell at what clearly was not a position of need, while not pursuing Moriah Jefferson (who signed for roughly the same amount as Mitchell with Phoenix), be a sign that they intend to draft Haley Jones? Jones is not a point guard, but she can operate as a point forward, rotating up from the baseline to direct the offense. If you planned to have Jones defend the 3, but run the offense on the opposite end of the court, then couldn’t you get away with having two shooting guards in the backcourt, Mitchell and McBride and perhaps sometimes even Powers?
I know that the scuttlebutt is that the Lynx intend to draft Diamond Miller, but I have wondered if maybe that isn’t a smokescreen to entice Dallas to trade up to the 2. Dallas supposedly has no interest in Jones, but would be very interested in Diamond Miller. While I doubt that the Lynx could get the 3 and 5 picks for 2, maybe they could get them for the 2 and the 12 picks. Anyway, I find it a little mystifying that the Lynx would oversign at the wing, while deciding to turn the offense over to Banham and Lindsay Allen. I am not really sure who is the starter and who is the backup with the Banham/Allen duo, but it doesn’t inspire great confidence.
Richard, excellent analysis as always. Thanks for the link to your explanation of the prioritization rule, which I had missed when you first posted it. I’ve been baffled by the rule since I first read about it for the very reason that you gave: even with the increases, WNBA salaries are not competitive with many of the international leagues, meaning that many players would be compelled for financial reasons to forego the W. Most WNBA owners, and certainly Cathy Englebert, are not stupid. Shouldn’t that have been obvious to them?