On Monday night, the first-place team in the Eastern Conference Commissioner’s Cup standings and the still-undefeated third-place team from the Western Conference are in action.
The 2023 Cup champion New York Liberty can strengthen their hold on the East with a win against the Connecticut Sun (7 p.m. ET, WNBA League Pass). The 2022 Cup-winning Las Vegas Aces can remain in the hunt for the West’s top spot with victory over the Seattle Storm (10 p.m. ET, USA Network).
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Considering the Sun and Storm are a combined 5-19, the Liberty and Aces should have no trouble padding their Cup positions. Blowouts seem almost guaranteed for New York and Vegas.
Should our certainty about these games being such mismatches be concerning? Especially just one month into the season?
Due to their offseason moves, or lack thereof, both Connecticut and Seattle signaled that 2026 was not their priority. With a relocation and rebranding on the horizon, the Sun have ceded their final season in Connecticut to the future, extending extensive opportunities to young players. The Storm eschewed retaining veteran stars, instead reorienting the organization around recent, high-profile draft picks.
Both approaches not only made sense, but also were indicative of the smart, longer-term thinking that might be required to build sustainable teams under the new CBA.
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Yet, there’s a difference between fielding future-focused teams designed to develop players versus putting out teams that are so uncompetitive and disorganized that development, much less evaluating such development, becomes difficult and even meaningless.
Right now, I don’t think the Sun or Storm are in the latter situation.
But, things seem to be trending more towards the latter than the former in both Connecticut and Seattle. The teams aren’t a total mess, but it’s also becoming harder to see how the teams’ seasons will lead to positive pay offs in 2027 and beyond. (Unless they win the No. 1 pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft and she automatically erases all the issues. No pressure JuJu!)
To begin to believe that both team are actually building towards something, what needs to happen in Connecticut and Seattle?
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The Sun need to establish a hierarchy around Leïla Lacan
Based on the instant impact she had last season, it was easy to imagine that Leïla Lacan would instantly alleviate many of the Sun’s ills.
And while capable of introducing desperately needed on-ball organization and creation, it was probably a little absurd to expect a just-turned 22-year-old who began her 2026 season with only 25 career WNBA games to her name to transform Connecticut, even if head coach Rachid Meziane seemed to invest such hope into Lacan.
Although last season’s Sun were not impressive, Lacan at least joined a team with a stronger veteran infrastructure, embodied by Tina Charles and Marina Mabrey. This season’s vets—a Brittney Griner who has been dealing with injuries and Kennedy Burke—are less reliable sources of production. Plus, the rest of the Sun roster is stocked with more players defined by still-elusive promise.
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Lacan, in short, has a much heavier lift, and she’s being asked to carry that load after a long European season. But with a bit more time, Lacan not only can serve as the primary solution to the Sun’s woes, but also as their driver of lasting development—if the team also becomes more intentional about constructing lineups around her.
Meziane seems committed to giving everyone on his roster a chance. In theory, that’s a good thing, as the team wants to understand the pro-level potential of all their prospects. But in practice, that’s resulted chaos over clarity. Inconsistent, changing rotations prevent players from gaining the familiarity, chemistry and connection with teammates that is conducive to players displaying how their talents can translate to (eventual) winning basketball.
Establishing a player hierarchy could give the Sun coherence so that players’ performances—not only the stats they accumulate but also how they function in certain offensive and defensive schemes and operate in different game circumstances—can be better evaluated.
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The Sun know Lacan’s at the top. Who are the four who should start with her? Who are the two to three primary reserves? Who’s on the fringes of the rotation?
Aneesah Morrow would be my No. 2. Yes, she has limitations as an undersized forward with a work-in-progress shot, but she’s a hard worker who is going to produce.
After that, I think it could be difficult to prioritize both Diamond Miller and Saniya Rivers, who bring similar strengths and weaknesses as elite athletes in need of offensive refinement. Rookie Nell Angloma could also fall into that bucket.
From there, how invested is the team in trying to tap into Aaliyah Edwards’ skills? Like Morrow, she is an undersized forward who, in contrast to Morrow, has less consistently produced in the WNBA. And what about Griner and Burke? Is it best to feature BG as a high-usage post option in her minutes, or can she be deployed more as a dirty-work screener and roller?
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Entering the season, I was optimistic that the Sun could be better than widely-projected. That was way too rosy. But, I still think this team does not have to be resigned to a forgettable final season. While it probably won’t happen against the Liberty on Monday night, they can steadily find the kind of connected two-way play needed to be a tough out for all opponents making their final treks to Uncasville.
Do you agree? Do you see glimmers of brightness with Sun? Which young players should be spotlighted? Or, do you think this Sunset season will only get darker?
It’s time for the Storm go all-in on Awa Fam
While the Sun have been quite bad on both sides of the ball, ranking in the bottom three in offensive and defensive ratings, the Storm’s issues are one sided.
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They can defend. They cannot score.
Constructing the fourth-best defense in the league with such a young roster, especially when the players with the most defensive upside—Dominique Malonga and Ezi Magbegor—have played a combined four games, is impressive.
But, all that is negated by an anemic, league-worst offense.
The Storm don’t take enough shots. They don’t make enough shots. They don’t rebound enough of their own shots. And so, they do not score nearly enough points. In this high-scoring WNBA, they’re just reaching 75 points per game. Their 56-point outing against the Dallas Wings was the lowest-scoring game in the league this season.
It’s not surprising that Seattle is not good offensively. But this bad?
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The absence of a true primary offensive initiator is at the core of the Storm’s offensive struggles. Rookie Flau’jae Johnson and free agency addition Natisha Hiedeman are overextended in that role, as both are score-first hoopers over traditional organizers. Jade Melbourne is an adequate rotational guard limited by her lack of off-the-dribble shooting.
Still, Seattle can wring better offense from the current roster. The return of Malonga, who can author stretches of brilliance, will help.
And so could going all in on Awa Fam.
The Storm should be feeding Fam all she can eat, permitting her to explore the full extent of her offensive game. As she is coming off a long season overseas, it’s understandable if the organization doesn’t want to put too much on her. However, Fam has been steadfast in expressing her intention to be great. Seattle needs to use this season to see what she’s got.
Let her frequently led the team in shot attempts. Give her more than 19.8 percent usage. Allow her to operate from different spots of the floor. Six total field goal attempts in 30 minutes—Fam’s stats from the Storm’s latest loss—is inadequate.
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Thus far, Fam’s numbers aren’t outstanding. She’s shooting less than 44 percent from the field and just 7.7 percent from 3. She’s not getting to the line. Her rebounding numbers are not great. She’s committing too many turnovers. But just as the organization is doing with Johnson, who has almost 26 percent usage, Fam should be empowered to discover her game through struggle.
While having a veteran support around young players is valuable, it’s also important to mine the most information possible about young players. If Seattle believes in their Dom-Flau-Awa trio, they all need to be prioritized. So far, it seems like Fam is being unevenly brought along.
What’s your assessment of the situation in Seattle? Did you think they’d be more competitive? Do you think Malonga’s reintegration will be a needed salve? Do you want to see the team give Fam more chances to fail, succeed and everything in between?
