Olivia Miles wasn’t supposed to be this good, this quickly — or was she?
The 23-year-old guard, drafted second overall by the Minnesota Lynx after a fifth year at TCU, was widely known as a brilliant passer and playmaker in an era of basketball that’s largely moved away from the traditional point guard.
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But, entering the WNBA, questions about her jump shot and defensive abilities surrounded the 5’10 prospect.
One month into the WNBA season, Miles has not just established herself as the faraway frontrunner for Rookie of the Year — she’s also legitimately entered the MVP conversation.
Miles is averaging 17 points, 6.4 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. For context, that’s the 15th-most points per game in the league, 7th-most assists, and 8th-most steals. She’s shooting 50.4% from the field, 34.5% from the field, and 91.7% from the line.
Most importantly, with Miles driving the bus, the Lynx are winning. They have an 8-2 record — the best in the league — and are outscoring opponents by 11.1 points per game. They’ve won 6 straight games, undefeated since May 17th.
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Entering Thursday, Miles had made just 2 of her first 18 three-point attempts as a pro. But, in an 87-84 win over the Golden State Valkyries, she sank 8 of 11 attempts from behind the arc.
Miles finished the game with 28 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, and just a single turnover, becoming the first rookie in WNBA history to make 8 three-pointers in a game.
“She went crazy,” Lynx guard Courtney Williams said on the TV broadcast after the win. “She carried us in that first half. I don’t know why they kept going under, but I told her, ‘They wanna keep going under, make ’em pay,’ and that’s exactly what she did.”
One month into the season is too early for a legitimate MVP conversation. But it’d be hard to have one that doesn’t include the goggle-wearing rookie.
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Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson, a four-time MVP, is the league’s leading scorer, averaging 24.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game. Wilson is probably the MVP until proven otherwise, given her impact on both ends of the floor.
Indiana Fever guards Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark, Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray, Toronto Raptors guards Brittney Sykes and Marina Mabrey, Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart all top the scoring leaderboard, but most of the players on that list don’t rival Miles’ efficiency and playmaking.
None of them play for the best team in the league, either.
For Miles, the shooting might end up being the differentiator, and on Thursday night, it came around in dramatic fashion
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“I’ve always been able to shoot,” Miles said afterward, per The Athletic. “I think it’s just a matter of me being comfortable, me taking the right shots, getting in the right rhythm for me, obviously within our system, so I just felt comfortable tonight. Obviously, they were going under the ball screens, which, you know, they respect my drive. So I just had to be confident and knock them down.”
Still, the Lynx did not expect Miles to put together that kind of shooting performance, said head coach Cheryl Reeve.
“It was not on our bingo cards, to be honest with you,” Reeve said, per Andrew Dukowitz. “But we’ll take it.”
Olivia Miles is just 10 games into her WNBA career. But, she’s already entering conversations few could have foreseen when she was selected second overall in the draft less than two months ago.
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