4 things to know about Seattle Storm entering 2025 WNBA season

SEATTLE — The Seattle Storm return to the court for the 2025 season in a few short months, but it will be a much different squad than the one that was defeated in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) playoffs.

The offseason saw the departure of star Jewell Loyd after a trade request, leaving just two players who were part of the Storm’s last WNBA championship team in 2020.

Here are four things Seattle sports fans should know about the state of the Storm ahead of the 2025 campaign.

There is still plenty of talent on the Storm roster, and two of last year’s top performers should each make a big impact on this year’s team. 

Gabby Williams and Nneka Ogwumike were critical parts of the Storm in 2024. Williams averaged a career-best 10.3 points for Seattle after joining the team in late August following an impressive run in the 2024 Paris Olympics with Team France. Ogwumike put up 16.7 points and 7.6 rebounds while earning a spot on the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team, her seventh time being an All-Defense selection.

Skylar Diggins-Smith is also back after a solid first season with the Storm. Diggins-Smith averaged 15.1 points and 6.4 assists while earning the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year Award for the 2024 season. The point guard also set a franchise record with 257 assists.

Alysha Clark is back in a Storm uniform after previously being part of two WNBA title teams in Seattle in 2018 and 2020. Clark played for the Washington Mystics and then won a championship with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023 while earning the WNBA Sixth Player of the Year. 

After a run to the WNBA Finals with the Aces in 2024, Clark now is back where her WNBA career began.

As part of the Loyd trade to Las Vegas that also involved the Los Angeles Sparks, the Storm now hold the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. It is the Storm’s highest selection in the draft since the team chose Breanna Stewart No. 1 back in 2016.

Paige Bueckers of the University of Connecticut seems to be the unquestioned top pick, according to most experts, but there are many more questions around who will be the second selection. The University of Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles is the most common player linked to the Storm at No. 2, with Kiki Iriafen of the University of Southern California also being mentioned as a potential choice.

An investigation into bullying allegations found no wrongdoing by the Storm and head coach Noelle Quinn, and the team’s front office is prepared to put the saga behind them.

“I believe that the organization did the right thing,” Quinn said Tuesday. “Throughout this entire process, the communication level was tremendously high. I felt supported in a lot of ways and I know my staff felt supported as well. With anything like this, it is important to take the right steps and our organization did that.”

“First, we let the process play out and that was very important to us and the integrity of that process,” general manager Talisa Rhea said Tuesday. “Second, we’ve been locked in with Noelle this entire offseason and it’s been very clear through our free agency conversations that players do want to be here. They believe in what we’re building here in Seattle. They want to play with Noelle.”

The Storm will begin the preseason on May 4 with a home game against the Connecticut Sun at Climate Pledge Arena.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.