From role player to sixth-woman favorite, Naz Hillmon has found her range

And now, so does everyone else. From the sidelines, her mother, NaSheema Hillmon Anderson, no longer holds her breath when Hillmon leaps in the air from beyond the arc. Instead, she watches with the quiet satisfaction of someone witnessing transformation, up close and personal. This season, Hillmon hasn’t just added a three-point shot to her game. She’s weaponized it.

Already known for her grit and efficiency around the rim, Hillmon has stretched her game far beyond the paint, unlocking a new layer of her offensive identity. That evolution has turned opposing defenses into a guessing game. Do they chase her to the perimeter and risk being exposed inside? Or do they sag off and hope she cools down?

Take July 30, for example. The Dream were knotted at 85 with the Dallas Wings, only seconds away from overtime. Te-Hina Paopao stood calmly near the right wing, shadowed loosely by Paige Bueckers. As the clock wound down, Hillmon slipped away from Li Yueru near the free-throw line and bolted into open space at the top of the arc. Paopao fired a crisp pass. Hillmon caught it in rhythm, rose cleanly and let it fly.

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Swish. Hillmon’s fifth three of the night. A career high. She turned, flashed a three-ball gesture with her right hand and found herself engulfed in celebration as Allisha Gray wrapped her in a hug. Hillmon ended the night with a career-best 21 points, sealing Atlanta’s final win of a grueling July, which included a six-game road swing. 

But that shot meant more than a stat line. Hillmon’s jumper wasn’t a lucky bounce. It was a legitimate threat, a result of months of effort behind the scenes.

“I used to get sad when they would cheer for me, like it was a charity [when hitting threes],” Hillmon said laughing after the Dream’s win against the Washington Mystics on Aug. 3. “ … Every single chance I get, I try to get up some extra shots because … I’m not just a natural shooter, like [Allisha Gray]. I have to make sure I’m getting into the gym and getting my reps up.”

Her teammates have seen it coming. Her coach saw it too.

“She never skips practicing her three-point shot,” Gray said after Atlanta’s win against Dallas. “It’s definitely showing on the court.”

Under first-year Dream coach Karl Smesko — who runs a system emphasizing space, movement, stretching the floor, and 3-point shooting — she took the challenge of adding the trey ball to her arsenal head-on. After going just 1-for-6 from deep over her first three WNBA seasons, Hillmon has knocked down 38 threes this season, shooting 33% from beyond the arc. That ranks her among the league’s top 55 in long-range efficiency.

And she’s not just getting it done from deep. She leads the entire WNBA in two-point field goal percentage at 68.7%, according to HerHoopStats. Now, she’s more than another role player. She’s a mismatch nightmare. A late-game closer. A player opponents can no longer afford to overlook.

And for NaSheema, who once built her own reputation as a high-level shooter, watching her daughter evolve into one of the league’s most versatile scoring threats feels like a full-circle moment. With Smesko’s guidance in unlocking this next phase, Hillmon isn’t just growing. She’s thriving in a way that honors both legacy and reinvention.

“It’s a sigh of relief,” a laughing NaSheema told The Next of Hillmon, adding threes to her arsenal. “We would always tease Naz about her IQ and her inability to shoot non-high-percentage shots. How does one score 50 points before and not take a three [laughs]?  … She comes from a pedigree of shooters. I knew it [shooting 3-pointers] would take her game to the next level. It’s opening the floor for [Atlanta] post players. …I thank Smesko for helping her shoot those threes.”

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Hillmon isn’t just catching her mother and her teammates’ attention. She’s making a mark where the entire WNBA landscape is taking notice. Not just for her new three-point stroke, but for everything else she brings onto the court. Her rebounding remains fierce. Her basketball IQ? Elite. She leads, she sets up her teammates and she adapts. And most impressively, she does it coming off the bench.

That mix has propelled Hillmon into a frontrunner for both the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year (SWOY) and Most Improved Player (MIP) honors. She’s embraced her role as a reserve. When she checks in, the energy changes. The offense clicks. The Sixth Woman of the Year award recognizes the player who comes off the bench more often than she starts and makes a significant impact when she’s in the game. 

But her story doesn’t stop there. She’s also making a compelling case for Most Improved Player. Her numbers have jumped across the board—scoring, rebounding, efficiency, even her shooting range. And, it’s not just the raw stats. It’s her presence. Her poise. Her consistency. Hillmon checks every box: higher output, more impact, smarter decisions and elite efficiency. She’s remained healthy and available in a season that’s tested depth across the league.

And Smesko believes the 25-year-old should “strongly be considered” for both awards.

“She’s been fantastic this year,” Smesko said after Atlanta’s win against Dallas on July 30. “She gives us a burst off the bench almost every game. She’s reliable. She’s very smart. …With the development of her shot, that’s opened up a lot of things. She can drive by people and make decisions. …This year, maybe the most improved player.”

On Sunday, she found herself in the starting lineup — only the fourth time in 31 games played this season — helping the Dream grind out a 74–66 win against the Phoenix Mercury. Brittney Griner returned to the floor but came off the bench while Brionna Jones held down the center position for only the fifth time this season. Hillmon, meanwhile, filled in the gaps like she always does, hustling for rebounds and stretching the floor en route to her third double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds) in Smesko’s rhythm-heavy system.

A year ago, Hillmon was a role player, logging modest stats in limited minutes. Over the Dream’s first 31 games in 2024, she averaged just 4.7 points, knocked down 1.9 shots on 3.5 attempts and no threes. She grabbed 4.3 rebounds and dished 1.4 assists per game while shooting a reliable 53.7% from the field. Solid. Efficient. But not game-changing.

Through the same 31-game stretch in 2025, Hillmon has transformed into one of the league’s most valuable reserves. Her production has doubled nearly across the board: 8.7 points, 3.1 field goals on 6.4 attempts and a newfound perimeter game that includes 1.2 threes on 3.7 attempts per night. She’s rebounding better (5.8 per game), passing better (2.3 assists) while shooting 48% from the floor and leading the entire team in plus/minus, averaging a +7.1 when she steps on the floor.

“… The jump that she’s [Hillmon] made and being aggressive offensively, looking for herself …that’s helped us a lot,” teammate Rhyne Howard said. “… For her to come out and be shooting the ball and looking to score and looking to get herself involved has been really helpful for us.”

Smesko often deflects credit for Hillmon’s breakout. He rather points to her confidence rising from training camp, where she worked closely with assistant coach Chelsea Lyles.

“Naz took it [the shooting reps with Lyles] very seriously,” Smesko said. “She wanted to become a shooter. … She’s at a point now where she can shoot it really well. When she’s open, she’s going to take it. She can handle missing a couple and just be ready to knock down the next one.”

Lyles agrees, pointing to Hillmon’s fearlessness and quick adaptation to Smesko’s system as driving forces behind her leap. “It usually takes players a year to kind of get comfortable with their shot,” she added. Her defense has taken a leap, too. She moves like a shadow, sticking to opponents whether they’re in the paint or out on the perimeter. 

Lyles credits long hours in the film room for sharpening Hilmon’s instincts. “Her IQ is really high,” she said. “She understands what players are trying to get when they get down low.”

As the Dream (20–11) gear up for the WNBA’s Canada Game against the Seattle Storm (16–16) on Wednesday, they are chasing a sixth consecutive win. Hillmon’s rise has aided the Dream to third place in the league standings, helped drive the team past last season’s win total (15) and eclipse the franchise’s 2023 mark. Atlanta made its most recent postseason appearance that year. Bench production has become just as vital as the team’s usual starting five, which includes Jordin Canada, Gray, Rhyne Howard, Jones and Griner.

Currently, the Dream sit 11th in the league in total bench points (559) and 10th in bench points per contest (18). Atlanta may not crack the league’s top five, but their scoring has come at the right moments — key stretches and pivotal quarters — woven into the fabric of Atlanta’s success with Hillmon setting the tone. 

“Naz does it for us every night,” Griner said after the Dream’s loss to the Connecticut Sun on June 6. “She’s going to do all of the little things we need her to do. What ya’ll don’t get to see is her talking to us on the bench in time outs, always saying the right thing and just being positive and making sure we see what we need to see.”

Since July 13, starting with the Dream’s second matchup against the New York Liberty during their six-game road trip, Hillmon has averaged 11.8 points, hitting 4.1 of 8.6 shots, draining 1.7 threes on 5.3 attempts while shooting 32.8% from deep and 47.4% from the field per game. 

“We [family members] told her she’s allergic to the paint now since she’s started shooting threes,” NaSheema laughs. “She doesn’t go in the post now. She hasn’t done an up-and-under move or a drop step all season. She could’ve been out on the three-point line. …Watching her throw three-point poses or when the whole team has their hands out with the threes up [when she makes a three], is hysterical.”

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Moments after Atlanta’s win on Sunday, Hillmon smiled and laughed at her mother’s critique. She admitted that she’s getting more comfortable with her growing three-point volume, although it is still an adjustment.

“… It’s hard not to be comfortable when your teammates are always telling you to shoot the ball,” Hillmon said, laughing. “Me and Bri [Jones] will pass the ball three times to each other, trying to get somebody to shoot the ball. …That’s the type of confidence that my teammates and my coaches have in me every single game.”

Her +2.7 plus/minus leads Dream reserves in this stretch and +7.9 among all Dream players, trailing only Gray and Canada. During that same stretch, Atlanta’s reserve unit is averaging 19.3 points per game, 1.3 more points than its current season average.

When Naz Hillmon scores in double figures, Atlanta usually wins, posting an 11–4 record in those games. They’re undefeated (4–0) when she grabs 10 or more boards and 9–3 when the bench outscores opponents. And when four or more players hit double digits, Atlanta is a dominant 18–6.

Still, Hillmon knows rebounding matters just as much as buckets, especially in her family. After her career-high scoring night against Dallas, where she pulled down just one rebound, NaSheema didn’t hesitate to call it out. For the Hillmon women, including her grandmother Gail Hillmon-Williams, rebounds aren’t optional. They’re the foundation.

“Anybody that watched Naz play will tell you that they can hear my mom screaming rebound from the stands,” NaSheema told The Next. “In order to get more shots, you have to rebound.”

And Hillmon took that to heart, telling The Next, “My mom did talk to me about having one rebound a couple games ago … So, that’s been a point of emphasis for me.”

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With 13 games remaining in the regular season and the league’s award season approaching, Hillmon’s name deserves a spot in the conversation. Not only for the stats, but for the spark she’s become, an engine running quietly but powerfully under the hood of a Dream team still rising to the occasion.

Since the WNBA introduced the SWOY award in 2007, no player from Atlanta has ever taken it home. The Most Improved Player honor has been just as rare for the Dream. Only two players in franchise history have earned it. They include Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (2020) and Elizabeth Williams in 2016. 

When it comes to the WNBA’s SWOY award, recent history has been dominated by the Las Vegas Aces. Five of the last six winners have worn an Aces’ jersey, including last season’s recipient, Tiffany Hayes. That decorated group — Hayes, Alysha Clark (2023), Jones (then with Connecticut in 2022), Kelsey Plum (2021) and Dearica Hamby (2020) — averaged a combined 11.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists in a little more than 25 minutes through 29 games. The five also hit a combined 33% from deep and shot 49.7% from the floor, showing that efficiency and impact, not only volume, shape what it means to be the league’s top reserve.

Statistically, Hillmon has made her case for the SWOY loud and clear. While she currently averages more points than only one past winner in Clark, her all-around impact speaks volumes. Still, the race remains tight. Minnesota’s Natisha Hiedeman and Phoenix Mercury’s DeWanna Bonner — who already owns three SWOY trophies from earlier in her career — are also in the mix, along with a handful of others, as the second half of the season unfolds.

But Hillmon isn’t caught up in the hype. While others weigh her résumé against the rest of the league, she keeps her focus locked on Atlanta’s bigger goal of winning. She’s chasing victories. Her eyes are on helping the Dream earn the highest playoff seed possible and pushing the franchise back to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013.

“[I’m] just focusing on the games and the next win we could get,” Hillmon recently said after Smesko gave her a strong recommendation for the accolade. “If y’all [the media] believe that, if y’all see it, vote me in [as Sixth Woman of the Year]. … I appreciate all the people who are pushing for that.”

Hillmon feels the same way when people mention her name in the Most Improved Player conversation. Flattered but not distracted. Over the past five seasons, five players from four different teams have claimed the WNBA’s MIP honor. That group — beyond Laney-Hamilton — includes Jones (2021), the Aces’ Jackie Young (2022), then the Wings’ Satou Sabally (2023) and last year’s winner and then the Sun’s DiJonai Carrington. They set a high bar, averaging a combined 14.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists in nearly 32 minutes per game while shooting 47.3% from the field.

While Hillmon continues to earn buzz for MIP, her teammate in Gray has been a consistent frontrunner in the race due to her statistical leap. But the field doesn’t stop in Atlanta. Several others are making strong cases of their own. They include Los Angeles Sparks’ Azura Stevens, Seattle Storm’s Gabby Williams and Brittney Sykes as well as Golden State Valkyries’ Veronica Burton. 

Still, as Hillmon remains grounded while the league continues to measure her impact over the final weeks of the regular season, her teammates believe she’s deserving of either MIP, SWOY or both.

“My sixth Player of the Year is Naz,” said Dream reserve guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough ahead of the Dream’s victory against the Washington Mystics on Aug. 3. “Naz has been phenomenal on both sides of the ball.”

Gray concurs: “Clock it!”

Before this breakout season, Hillmon had a front-row seat to some of the WNBA’s best frontcourt players. They helped shape the player she’s becoming. In Atlanta, she learned alongside Monique Billings, now with the Valkyries; Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, who joined the Aces in the offseason; Kia Vaughn, who has since retired; and eight-time All-Star Tina Charles, now with the Sun.

Charles no longer shares the paint with Hillmon. However, the four-time rebounding champion and two-time scoring leader sees a player worthy of the WNBA’s Sixth Woman or Most Improved award. Not only for the numbers Hillmon has put up, but for the way she leads, for her relentless drive to elevate herself and for the example she’s setting for everyone around her.

“Naz has always been a natural-born leader and held herself to a higher standard,” Charles told The Next. “She’s put in the work and I’m so proud of her. I hope she gets both [Sixth Woman of the Year and Most Improved Player] awards. She’s making a big difference for Atlanta and the Dream are not in their position without her.”

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Hillmon’s evolution reflects more than personal growth. It mirrors the direction Smesko is steering the franchise, one that values intelligence over flash. In Atlanta’s locker room, everyone knows her impact. 

For NaSheema, the picture is clear: her daughter’s surge this season fits the mold of a Sixth Woman of the Year.

“She changes the trajectory of a game,” she told The Next. “She comes off the bench, does all the little intangible things — rebounding, scoring, leading. That’s what Sixth Woman of the Year is about. If someone doesn’t win MVP, they might fall into the MIP category. But Naz? She checks the box for SWOY.”

But if Hillmon doesn’t earn one of the league’s highest honors, she won’t be any less proud. Hillmon’s goal is bigger than an individual accolade. She wants a WNBA championship in Atlanta.

With every game, every rebound, every perfectly timed defensive stop, and every clean swish from beyond the arc, Hillmon’s momentum keeps building. This is the season she envisioned,  the one where it all comes together through a new, sharper view of the rim.

“This is God’s will,” NaSheema said. “It’s his destiny for her, from all the things she jotted down when she was little, the things we talked about on long car rides driving all over the world for basketball.”

Now, every time Hillmon rises from deep, the rim looks as inviting as ever and everyone watching sees exactly what she’s become.