Winter Thoughts On The Upcoming 2009 WNBA Season

It’s been an interesting off-season in the WNBA. The league and teams have already sprung some things that will make 2009 different than 2008.

The first big news was the folding of the Houston Comets. While not shocking news, it was a little surprising. With the change of ownership the previous year to a buyer that was clearly not desperately desirous of a WNBA team, the writing was on the wall that the Comet’s days were numbered. Changing their arena certainly didn’t help. It fractured the fan base somewhat.

A lot of the more recent buzz has swirled around Candace Parker’s pregnancy. Honestly, I don’t think anyone saw this coming. Maybe a few years down the road, but not immediately after her rookie season. Since she should be having the baby prior to the season starting (good timing, that), there is a chance that she could return to the Sparks by mid-season.

However, it needs to be noted that pregnancy in general, and birthing in particular, has some peculiar effects on ligaments (and thus, on joints). Given Candace’s history with knee and shoulder injuries, my hope for her sake is that she doesn’t rush a come-back until her body realigns and strengthens itself properly. Better to miss her for a season than to mourn the career that was cut short because she rushed back.

Minnesota has pulled a series of trades that I think could be called worthy of the types of trades made by Detroit’s Bill Laimbeer. They traded Lindsey Harding to Washington for draft picks. I think this a good because Harding has been gimpy for two seasons now. While it’s possible that she could made a good recovery and actually last out a season, I think the Lynx would rather go with someone a little less likely to be sitting on the bench.

There was a straight-up trade with L.A.: Vanessa Hayden for Christi Thomas. Since I think Minnesota wants to speed up their transition and offense, this is a great trade for them. While Hayden is a solid post, she doesn’t fit that style like Thomas does. Thomas, meanwhile, becomes the third wheel after Leslie and Parker in the lanky post position. Hayden gives the Sparks the option to present a different look. Sometimes you just need a bigger body.

Then there was the trade with Phoenix: Nicole Olde for Kelly Miller and LaToya Pringle. Honestly, I’m still scratching my head with this one. Phoenix drafts their fits-like-a-glove point guard and a promising young post who was starting to figure out the system for a veteran who, at best, is really just an average player. The Lynx got a steal.

What also made the Mercury deal confusing was the fact that they’d just acquired Alison Bales from Atlanta for a second-round pick. This made more sense. For a non-lanky 6’7″ (2,01m) shooting post, Ali can run for a fair amount of time — which she had to prove during her time at Duke. She’s a good shooter and a dangerous shot-blocker. With a team needing a post presence like Phoenix, Ali was a good pick-up.

Of course now Phoenix has lost its PG and has traded down for a forward. All I can think is that they are planning to pick up either Renee Montgomery or Kristi Toliver in the draft with their 5th pick.

I can’t help but wonder what the Mercury are going to look like this season. Penny Taylor is planning on ankle reconstruction before the start of the season, which means that she’s lost for at least half the season, and I think probably the whole season as she’ll probably elect to take even more time off. It might just be time for Phoenix to stop signing international players who are unwilling to make a commitment.

The most recent transaction has been with Seattle waiving Sheryl Swoopes. I don’t think anyone is surprised. She has been limping through the last few years, when she’s been able to play at all. I think her career is done.

An interesting, and possibly troubling, development has arisen with the league as it reduces the number of players a team can carry from 13 to 11. What this tells me is that with the economy as it is, this is a pre-emptive change targeted at those teams who might otherwise have a problem hitting their budgets. The league doesn’t want any more teams folding.

To me, that’s the only thing that makes sense. There have been times when teams have suited up only the mandatory league minimum because of injuries and illness. What are practices going to be like when you have two injured players? Play 4-on-5? This also hurts teams that want to build via youth. You can then fully stock 13 spots with some room left under the salary cap, while teams with veteran stars suit up only 10 or 11 because of salary limits.

So, what to do with that $70,000-ish that isn’t going to those two roster spots? Well, it certainly isn’t going to go to reward star players because the breakdowns on that are in the Player Agreement. No, that money is going toward team operations so that they can either make budget or stem losses.

Even more troubling is that this, combined with the Houston fold, means that there are 39 fewer roster spots in the league than the year before. And this at a time when fans are begging for expansion so that so many good players aren’t left behind because of the dearth of positions in the league. We keep talking about how the talent pool gets deeper and deeper every year. Where are they going to play? Apparently Russia, and Turkey, and Spain, and Israel, and the Czech Republic, and…well, not in the WNBA.

There has been a lot of debate on where Lauren Jackson is going to hang her free-agent hat. Personally, I think the only two teams really in the running are Seattle and Phoenix… mostly because her mates are there. Based on past statements about her love of the Emerald City, I’d say the odds are about 85-15 that she’ll choose to stay with the Storm. Given the bigs that Phoenix has signed, I think that they are thinking the same thing. Maybe Taurasi will talk Lauren into coming to the land of the sun, but I doubt it. I just can’t see Lauren playing with anyone other than Sue.

Still, it promises to be an interesting season. I don’t think the deal making is done by any means. Laimbeer hasn’t embarrassed the league yet by convincing other teams that making Detroit stronger is in their best interest (how does he keep doing that?).

I think the WNBA will do OK during these tough times. It’s still the best sports entertainment value out there…second-place isn’t even close. Without an Olympic games or a World Championship to syphon off players, this could be one heck of a season. Keep your eye on Fowles. Seriously.