As much as the WNBA fandom wants to publish their retrospective analysis of draft picks as soon as each rookie plays one minute on the court, rookie impact is often a slow burn.
For Awa Fam, the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft by the Seattle Storm, the burn has been even slower.
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Fam didn’t join the Storm for their first six games while she honored her contract with Valencia in the Spanish Liga Femenina. Valencia finished out their season with a championship last Sunday, starting a quick turnaround for the 19-year old forward to get acclimated to a new team in a whole new country and league.
While we still shouldn’t make any claims about who should have been drafted where, Fam certainly reminded us why she was thought of so highly.
How Awa made an instant impact for the Storm
Fam is supposed to be in the early stages of establishing a role in Seattle’s system, especially considering that this is head coach Sonia Raman’s first year in her new position, too.
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On Sunday, she looked all but uncomfortable. She was by no means a star, but her performance was more akin to a veteran bench contributor rather than a 19-year old rookie in her first ever game.
One of Fam’s biggest attractions, especially in comparison to other bigs in the draft, was her spacial range.
She’s able to operate from every spot on the floor, despite being a shaky perimeter shooter. She showed off her understanding of how to move through space instantly: she had two beautiful baseline cuts for baskets, and had a good showing as a pick-and-roll partner for Seattle’s guards. She understood when to roll hard vs. short roll, and made the shots that she will be expected to make as someone who isn’t yet asked to create her own offense.
Personnel-wise, Fam will be a clear beneficiary of Seattle’s guards. Both Natisha Hideman and Jade Melbourne thrive in pick-and-roll situations, and both are more than willing to defer to their big when they get cut off by a hedging defender. Fam’s realistic upside for this year, and possibly her first two or three seasons, will absolutely be as a play finisher. She has shown fun flashes of shot creation, but her offensive bread and butter is as a roller, cutter, and catch-and-drive player.
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Fam finished her first game with 10 points and two rebounds in 20 minutes, shooting 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
As silly as it may seem to bring up, she’s a very good free throw shooter for her age and position (shot 77 percent from the line in Spain) which is a solid indicator of an ability to shoot 3s down the road. She shot 27 percent from 3 in her pre-WNBA career, which isn’t the worst rate but certainly isn’t going to encourage Raman to give her the green light as soon as she touched down on US soil.
If her efficiency continues to be a strong suit, it will be easier for her to be trusted in more important roles and pressured scenarios.
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How high is the ceiling for Fam and the Storm?
Although she’ll likely be led slowly towards comfortability before Seattle tries really experimenting with her tactical limits, Fam’s ceiling is the most attractive part of her player profile.
We saw a small amount of that Sunday night. Seattle feigned her as a perimeter player, running her through off-ball screens to set up spacing so that she could get into a ball screen with a guard. At some point, we can hope to see Fam attack off of those kinds of actions, allowing her to be the sole beneficiary of space rather than being lead to a ball screen. That will obviously come with time, but her movement and ball handling are certainly developed enough to play her as a forward/wing combo rather than entirely at the 5.
Unlocking Fam’s wing skillset will also be important for enabling Seattle’s future.
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Alongside Dominique Malonga, who was also 19 years old when she entered the league in Seattle last season, the Storm have two of the league’s best young forwards. Finding ways to fit them together will be a challenge of development. Fam is lower to the ground and generally looks more fluid playing out of wing spots than Malonga, but Malonga’s 3-pointer is probably slightly further along, even if both were equally inconsistent shooting the basketball during their European pro careers).
Once Seattle unlocks more of Fam and Malonga’s floor-stretching and shot creation, the ability to play them together will quickly become more and more enticing. Very few teams in the W can match that level of athleticism, length and defense. None can match it at the same age range.
Fam is far, far from the player that she can be in the WNBA—and that seems like the scariest part.
