Locked On Women’s Basketball: Which WNBA rookies will make an immediate impact in 2024?

Cruse leads off the pod by asking Adler which rookie outside the lottery — in other words, outside the top four picks — will make the biggest impact. Adler picks the No. 5 overall selection, Jacy Sheldon, who will play for the Dallas Wings:

“Maybe not right this second, but by the All-Star break, by the Olympic break, she’s going to be — I think we would put pretty good odds on her being the best non-Arike [Ogunbowale] guard on the Wings. … She has the driving ability. She has solid playmaking for a team that plays a certain way of offense that they don’t need as much full playmaking. So you have the shooting and you have the movement there. And she … is probably going to be a solid defender in a way that none of their other guards are.”

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Later in the episode, Adler breaks down what the Chicago Sky’s roster looks like this season after drafting center Kamilla Cardoso at No. 3 overall, forward Angel Reese at No. 7 and guard Brynna Maxwell at No. 13. Chicago is expected to struggle this season, but Adler sees a vision for the team taking shape:

“You see where there’s some frontcourt defense, you see where there’s some shot creation, you see where there’s some shooting. There’s the outlines of a winnable system with a young team such that you give runway for young players like Cardoso, like Angel, like Dana [Evans] to get reps and to get solid pieces around them. This is why you bring in a Brynna Maxwell because they’re not signing a shooter off the street … and you need some some level of spacing in this lineup because otherwise, there’s really, Marina [Mabrey] is your only actually above-average shooter.

“So you can see where they slot things in here and where things fit and they should be setting up some of their younger players for, I think, as much success as could be hoped for.”

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