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A new WNBA season starts this weekend, and even though Philadelphia doesn’t have a team, there are some interesting storylines for fans here to know about. Here are a few.
Cloud joins the champs
There were a lot of big trades in the offseason, and a Delco native was in one of the most dramatic. Natasha Cloud was part of a four-team, 14-player deal that sent her from the Phoenix Mercury to the Connecticut Sun — a move she didn’t really want to make.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to stay there long. Six weeks later, the New York Liberty swept in to bring Cloud to the team closest to her hometown. That would be news enough on its own, but the fact that the Liberty are the reigning champions makes it even bigger.
The former St. Joseph’s standout joins the Liberty’s roster full of superstars, led by Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu — plus always-viral mascot Ellie the Elephant. New York also has two great international three-point shooters in Leonie Fiebich and Marine Johannès.
Cloud will be dishing to them all, starting with Saturday’s network TV season opener against the Las Vegas Aces (1 p.m., 6abc). She’s likely to be a starter, with Courtney Vandersloot gone and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton out for a long time with a knee injury.
» READ MORE: WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert still doesn’t want to say much about potential expansion to Philadelphia
“Super thankful that they came and saved me in a lot of ways,” said the 33-year-old Cloud, who’s now in her 11th year as a pro. “This is where I wanted to be. I want to play for a championship, I wanted to play with these players, for this coach [Sandy Brondello], and just be really intentional about this latter part of my career.”
Copper’s time to star
When the Phoenix Mercury tip off their season Saturday night, it will be the team’s first game in 22 years without the newly retired Diana Taurasi on the roster. The Mercury have turned to a North Philadelphia native to be their new leader.
Kahleah Copper starts her second season in Phoenix after recording career bests in points, assists, and minutes per game last year, including her first 20-plus-point average.
Her emergence as the team’s centerpiece was confirmed by trades the team made this offseason to add veterans around her: forward Satou Sabally and center Kalani Brown from the Dallas Wings, and Harrisburg-born forward Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun.
“My goal is to lead consistently,” Copper said. “I think the other individual goals will come with winning and with me being a leader.”
She added that she’s ready “to step into the role of getting our new players along, communicating with the coaches, and then just leading in my own way, and also taking help from players alongside me. … It’s about being consistent every single day — the good, the bad, whatever, just bringing it every day.”
» READ MORE: Kahleah Copper pretended to be an Inquirer reporter at the Mercury’s preseason media day
Clark’s next steps
The biggest name in the game isn’t just a rookie phenom anymore. Now Caitlin Clark is an established pro, and she’s ready to push for titles with the Indiana Fever.
Indiana’s front office has stepped up, too, bringing in a slew of veterans: forward Natasha Howard from Dallas, forward DeWanna Bonner from Connecticut, guard Sophie Cunningham from Phoenix, forward Brianna Turner from Chicago, and guard Sydney Colson — one of the league’s great characters — from Las Vegas.
“I think the main thing we were lacking last year was experience,” Clark said. “Adding really great vets like ‘DB’ [Bonner] and Syd [Colson] and ‘Tash’ [Howard], and putting that experience around us of not just being in this league, but also winning — they have the championship pedigree about them. And I think having their voices in our locker room, on the court every single day is what’s going to really help us.”
» READ MORE: Women’s college basketball still got plenty of TV viewers this season without Caitlin Clark
Bonner said she’s excited to play with Clark.
“We kind of play off her energy and how smart she is around the ball, and just putting people in different positions to be successful,” said the 37-year-old, now on the 13th team of her 16-year, globe-trotting career. “It’s just been really fun getting to know her, and getting to know her game, and we have a lot of energetic people around and on our team. … She wants to win, and that’s been really fun, and getting to run around with her is definitely better than chasing her around.”
Paige in the pros
All of women’s basketball has waited for Paige Bueckers to arrive in the WNBA, and now she’s here. The longtime Connecticut star will play her first pro game on Friday when the Wings host last year’s Finals runner-up, the Minnesota Lynx (7:30 p.m., ION — Channel 61 here).
Bueckers will join a team that already had a star scorer in Arike Ogunbowale, and added veterans in the offseason including Sun guard DiJonai Carrington and Indiana Fever forward NaLyssa Smith. Dallas’ squad also includes former Villanova star Maddy Siegrist, and the team gave her a vote of confidence by picking up her contract option for this year.
Siegrist and Bueckers won the last five Big East women’s player of the year awards: the former in 2022 and ‘23, the latter in ‘21, last year, and this year. Now they get to be teammates.
» READ MORE: Geno Auriemma used to tell the rest of women’s college hoops to catch up to UConn. Now it has.
“I’d much rather be on the same team as Maddy,” Bueckers said. “She’s a bucket, she scores at all three levels, she plays the right way, she crashes the glass, she cuts extremely well, and she’s an extremely smart player. She’s really easy to play with, and so it’s been fun getting to play with her [rather] than being on the other side of it.”
Wings coach Chris Koclanes, whose rise up the ranks included a stop at St. Joseph’s from 2013-15, called Siegrist “everything you want on and off the floor organizationally,” and said “her game is going to continue to grow and expand.”
MVPhee?
Casual fans will wonder if Clark can win this year’s MVP award with a big season. Yes, she can, but there will be plenty of other candidates. Stewart and Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson always lead the list. Could Copper join them if she has a big year in Phoenix, or Kelsey Plum if she really elevates the Los Angeles Sparks in her first year there? Sure.
But a name to watch could be Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier. After falling just short of a title last year, the do-it-all-forward is likely to be even more driven to reach the summit this year. The Lynx will be as a whole, including South Jersey-born coach Cheryl Reeve.
File that away ahead of what’s set to be the longest season in WNBA history: 44 games, with a new expansion team in San Francisco, leading up to the league’s first best-of-seven Finals in the fall.
» READ MORE: Women’s sports bars are popping up across the U.S. A group is fundraising to open one in Philly.
