What Li Yueru’s departure and Mackenzie Holmes’ return mean for the Seattle Storm

Li had originally been acquired by Seattle from the Los Angeles Sparks in the three-team trade that sent Storm stalwart Jewell Loyd to Las Vegas. During her short tenure with in Seattle, Li appeared in nine games for the Storm while averaging 8.7 minutes, 2.8 points and 1.6 rebounds per game while shooting 30% from the floor and 50% from 3.

Ten days prior to the exchange being made, it was reported that Li had officially requested a trade. The request did not come about because of major issues with the team but specifically because of her limited playing time behind Nneka Ogwumike, Ezi Magbegor and Dominique Malonga, and pressure from the Chinese Federation.

“I came to America only for one reason, to play basketball,” Li told reporters two days after her request was reported. “This team is really perfect. [This] is the best team I’ve ever [been on]. … We have the best post player in the world, we have four post players, and I don’t feel I have enough time. … [The team] really [makes] my feel happy, and I’m so glad for that. But playing is really important, almost like the most important thing for me.

“I don’t want to be a bad or weird person. …. I love this team. I’d love to stay here because I’m so happy every day. … When I only play three to four minutes in a game, that’s a bit sad for me. I hope I can feel happy and excited every day, and I hope I can get some more time.”

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Head coach Noelle Quinn understood Li’s reasoning and the unfortunate situation, acknowledging how she will be missed.

“Li was great when she was here, and really gave us a lot of commitment and [was] really good in a locker room and enjoyed being here,” Quinn said after the trade was announced. “But I think we’re moving forward, and I think our team is just committed and locked in with one another. This doesn’t change our goals and what we want to do.”

Despite her limited minutes, Li’s departure could have a significant impact on the Storm. The 6’7 center was the tallest player on Seattle’s roster and often a useful matchup for physically similar players like Kalani Brown and Teaira McCowan. On the court she provided height, physicality and additional floor spacing.

At 6’3, Holmes is not small, but her size does not compare to Li — nor does her 3-point shooting. Seattle does still have the 6’6 Malonga whose playing time is now likely to increase. But as a 19-year-old rookie, Malonga is still developing and adjusting to the WNBA. Now, being the tallest player on the Storm roster could put additional pressure on Malonga — something Quinn has actively tried to avoid. Quinn may also simply rely increasingly on smaller lineups that aim to use quickness to their advantage.

While Holmes joins the team with no previous professional experience she does bring an outstanding college resume and familiarity with the team’s system from training camp.

In her sole appearance for the Storm, a preseason game against the Connecticut Sun on May 4 on Climate Pledge Arena, Holmes scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and recorded eight rebounds and three blocks.

Holmes finished her five-year career at Indiana University as the program’s all-time leading scorer (2,530 points), all-time leader in made field goals (1,043), all-time leader in wins (123) and with the highest career field goal percentage in program history (63.9). Her 63.9% conversion rate is the third-highest field goal percentage among players who scored at least 2,500 career points in NCAA history. The Maine native was named unanimous All-Big Ten First Team, All-Big Ten Defensive Team, USWBA and AP All American during her senior season.

“I think that Mackenzie came to market pretty early and … she was able to learn our concepts really quickly and get acclimated really quickly,” Quinn said after the preseason victory. “What you see is comfort because she was able to kind of get a head start in things. She’s very physical. She can rebound. She’s top scorer at Indiana for a reason, she’s very efficient in the paint. Even with our offense, as it’s spaced out a little bit different thatn she’s used to, but I think she’s really grasping concepts.”

After being selected in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Holmes took the year away from playing to get surgery on her knee in May and then recover. At media day, Holmes said it is probably the healthiest she has felt in a really long time. Throughout that year Holmes still stayed extensively involved with the game, returning to her alma mater as a coach.

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“I definitely learned a lot in the past year, on and off the court,” Holmes said on media day in late April. “When you get injured, you have surgery, you realize how much you take things as simple as walking for granted every single day. So I knew that when I finally got the chance to be back out on the floor I was going to give it everything I have because a year ago at this time I had no idea if I’d be able to play again.

“The fact that Indiana gave me the opportunity to continue to give back to that program means a lot to me. Being on staff I was able to be sidelined, seeing the game from a different view I think has definitely helped me as a player. They gave me a lot of opportunity to see the game from different perspectives, pour into those girls the best I can, so I feel like it was a great learning experience for me.”

A very traditional center in college, Holmes will likely have to adapt her game to play more like a four because of her size. Additionally, because the Storm offense is predicated on spacing from capable 3-point shooters, Holmes will need to improve drastically on her college career 3-point shooting percentage of 23.8.

The work Holmes put in during her year away and how she could contribute to the Storm was noticable to Quinn.

“Mackenzie has come in [to camp] early, and really reshaped her body. If you look at her, when you see her on the floor, she’s in amazing shape,” Quinn said during preseason. “Yeah, 3-point shooting isn’t her strength right now, but it will, I think, eventually be as she progresses as a pro. But her physicality in the paint, her ability to set really good screens, defensively she’s learning, she’s very efficient around the rim. And so if you think about where we were last season with our paint points, to add some presence in that area is important as well. She’s been a consummate pro, and she doesn’t feel like a rookie. But I think the biggest thing is just she’s healthy.”

“I also think the year that she spent coaching really helped in seeing the game in a different lens and how to prepare for the game.”