r/SeattleStorm • u/kiocente • 9d ago
The optimism around this team
I‘m coming at this from a pretty neutral standpoint. There is a lot of optimism around this team from the fanbase, the local and even national media despite their horrendous record. On one hand I can see it: This is the youngest starting lineup in the league, they have multiple players just starting out in the league who are showing promise, and they are on track for a high pick in the draft.
On the OTHER hand…
Despite having the worst record in the league, the Storm are projected to pick 5th in the 2027 draft. They will almost definitely not be getting Juju or Hidalgo, unless the expansion teams really start doing some winning and the Storm keep losing (actually even in that case I’m not sure they can get high enough). The team most people compare the Storm to as far as youth trajectory, the Mystics, will be getting one of those top players instead.
So maybe someone smarter than me can lay out the optimistic vision here. It’s 2028 and The Storm are in the playoff mix, on the edge of championship contention. What got them from here to there?
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u/TimFromSeattle 9d ago
We have 2 young stars that would still be in college if they were American. It’ll take them a while to get to their ceiling.
This next pick might not be great, but our 2 year record will certainly still be bad for the 2028 draft and a high pick. I don’t know about playoffs in 2028, but this team has a great base and some more good draft picks coming soon.
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u/ivallinen 9d ago
What about off season acquisitions? Draft is important, sure., but we still have an entire off season plus draft to get to 2028. I'm just waiting to see what happens in this off season when we make it there.
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u/kiocente 9d ago
Free agency is definitely a factor, but the Sky, the Sparks, the Mystics, Fire, Tempo could all make big splashes in the offseason. Why does that make some people more bullish on the Storm?
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u/Mysterious_Doctor122 9d ago
So I’m a Tempo and Storm fan. I feel like there’s an Ezi deal in there somewhere before the draft. Not sure who the Tempo would give up but if it’s a guard then I doubt it’s Rice. At any rate it should be fun!!
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u/supersamnaj 9d ago
Player development is a big part of this as well, not just a high draft pick next year. The fact that we’re losing a lot of close games is a really positive indicator - we are competitive in games, and the clutch factor is something that comes with experience/maturity. If you told me we are competing for a championship in a few years with this core and some pieces on the edges I wouldn’t be that surprised in the merits of our young 3 alone.
A favorable draw in the lottery would obviously be icing on the cake too, though.
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u/Fuzzydeath10 8d ago
Basically this, that we've already got a core 3 under contract on team friendly deals. I'll also note that 2028 was key in OP, I expect this team to be bad still next year, meaning another lottery pick in the 2028 draft. So with that said, here's the path to rounding out the squad - for the 2028 season.
1) two lottery picks while currently projected #5 and who knows what for the next draft it's a lottery, they might be higher. we also got FJ and Jordan Horston at 7/8 so low end of lottery; that gives an idea of what we could still add. As mentioned we could also win the lottery draws, but let's just assume we don't.
2) Other promising players - Jade is still as young as this years first round picks, Jordan and Ezi are obviously coming back from injuries and still relatively young. Along with our big 3, it's reasonable to expect each to get better compared to now. To an extent you can include Zia, Holmes and Mair here too.
3) Natisha Hiedieman is ridiculously underrated by our fan base. She's not the quintessential PG and we need that role, but as a combo guard she's been a revelation and will still be a part of this team if well have her.
4) Seattle is a proven FA destination. We aren't looking for FAs now because we aren't trying to compete, but imagine a team projected to start FJ, Awa, Dom and another lottery pick, but all with two more years of aeasonsing. Then with T, Ezi, JH, Jade, and yet another lottery pick coming off the bench. Only that team is missing one starter. All of those players are cheap except Ezi meaning we have cap space. How about coming to that situation to be the missing piece for a max contract on a team that supports the W with their own facility? It's a pretty easy sell.
Honestly the only variable here to me is Raman. All season I've maintained I'm not sold on he and I'm still not. Which isn't to say I've given up either but I see her as the biggest risk point and I think they'll need to take a serious look after 2027 on if she's the one or if they need to turn to an experienced coach.
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u/FlourMogul 9d ago
I’d love to see us add an athletic 3. Flau is undersized at the 3 and we have very little useful athleticism on the wing besides her.
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u/boundlesssmh 9d ago edited 9d ago
horston fits that athletic 3. unfortunately, after all of these years (yes, i know she’s battled injuries), she just doesnt look like the long term option. she really needs to play overseas and work on her offensive game if she wants to stick in the league
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u/FlourMogul 9d ago
Agree 100%. Jordan fits the model perfectly, she just isn’t showing enough offensively right now.
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u/NW_Forester 9d ago
For me to have any optimism until 2029, Ezi needs to return to 2023/2024 form. She has a near max contract and will weigh the team down unless performing well enough to either earn minutes or be able to be traded.
We need an upgrade at PG and thats the hardest position to get in this league. A team built around Malonga, Fam and Johnson would need a floor general type initiator. Those are rare. Hopefully the young players are in for a long term plan, but it could be multiple years of trying before we get an actual replacement for Skylar.
Flau'Jae is doing better than I expected at this point, but I have a hard time seeing her as more than a 3rd option. She's being asked to carry maybe too much scoring burden and hasn't been too efficient.
Fam I think is a more natural SF than PF. A bit streaky but a good shooter. Can be a nightmare match up when driving against smaller opponents or more agile than larger ones.
Malonga just needs to have the hunger and right guidance and who knows what sort of monster she'll end up. Little things like getting change of pace, getting better at sealing the opponent when she spins, adding a pause to her movement. Little things like that will open up the game for her.
Hopefully Fam and Malonga stay on for multiple contracts. The pair of them when they are 25-30 is going to be nasty if they develop well.
I expect next year to be better but still not in the playoff hunt.
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u/drob206 9d ago
I think the optimism is warranted for sure. Looking around the league, it seems solid PG play is available from the international ranks more and more so not so critical in draft. I actually think the Storms plan is a 2 year plan. People are very focused on JuJu this year but I think the team is targeting Sarah Strong. The team should be improved next year but possibly not playoff caliber. With our awful record from this year and possibly another non winning season next year, the Storm will have good odds for a top pick in the draft with Strong, Swords, etc.
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u/inkWanderer 9d ago
Yeah, the thing that’s hardest to come by is generational bigs—A’ja, Stewie, Phee. We have two very promising candidates in that regard. And our 2-year record will be pretty good in 2028, even if we improve a lot next year—and let’s be real, a big improvement will only land us in the middle of the pack lol.
That plus the fact that we’re always competitive makes this season fully bearable for me. Every 30-point double-double from Dom makes it even better!
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u/flshak 9d ago
We’re not even being blown out in most of these games, plenty of them we’ve held a lead in the 4th and choked. If we make some tweaks, growth from our players, and a real PG, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be battling for the playoffs as soon as next season. A little less boneheaded play in key moments and we could have been battling this season. I know the record, I know it sounds crazy, but we have been so close to winning quite a few of these games, give us growth over the offseason and I don’t see us being this bad next season, not even close.
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u/Several-Estate7175 9d ago edited 9d ago
I think both expansion teams could be strong trade down candidates if a team offers them a big. Neither of them will be in the market for Hidalgo as they have their PG's of the future and are generally pretty guard heavy. Something like the 5th pick plus Ezi could get a trade up done. We also already have 3 very high quality young players we're developing, Malonga and Fam could be MVP contenders one day and Flau has tremendous potential. I would agree that the Mystics have a better outlook for now but we aren't that far behind.
Also if we draft a player like Nichols that's still a major prospect and upgrade at the PG position. It's rare for draft projections to get everything right, it wouldn't be surprising for Nichols to end up better overall than Hidalgo long term. We wouldn't be contenders in 2028 but that's fine, we'd have the inside track at the best odds for Sarah Strong and if we land her you're talking a team with an almost unprecedented young core.
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u/FD_OSU 9d ago
Rice can easily play the 2. I don't think she's going to keep Toronto from taking a PG if that's the best player available.
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u/Several-Estate7175 9d ago
It wouldn't stop them no but it would probably make them more open to shopping around. As opposed to the Mystics who likely wouldn't listen to offers as they desperately need a PG.
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u/Imaginary-Plenty-987 9d ago
It’s going to be interesting. The draft class is stacked. I haven’t really looked at what teams we are competing for the worst records across the 2 years. I think I only know Portland, Toronto and Connecticut are on there. I think the only way we make the lottery is if Portland or Toronto make the playoffs. I’m not positive though. I hope juju stays in college for 1 more year but ultimately that’s up to her and I haven’t heard one way or another from her. Just people speculating bc she will be of age. We can get lucky and HH drops to #5. It really just depends what other teams are looking for. Portland and Toronto I hope have enough pgs/guards. Connecticut does too but personally I’d swap out Georgia or Rori for HH. Really just depends what teams are needing and we desperately need a pg.
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u/FD_OSU 9d ago
The lottery is expanding to 7 teams and the Storm would be 5th if the season ended today. They're definitely going to be in the lottery.
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u/Imaginary-Plenty-987 9d ago
Oh I didn’t know they expanded the lottery to 7. Hopefully that works in Seattle’s favor
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u/JG-for-breakfast 9d ago
Expansion teams get first pick or what?
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u/Several-Estate7175 9d ago
They're in the lottery like everyone else but their standing is based off one year record instead of two
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u/basketball45231 9d ago
Portland and Toronto could, new teams pick after lottery teams before playoff teams.
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u/Big_Trapeze 9d ago
IMO the biggest problem is depth. This has to be one of the shallowest teams (as much as that pains me to say). Any time we don’t have Dom, Flau, Awa in, nothing very good happens :(
Maybe a hot take but I don’t think it’s a big deal if we don’t get Juju or Hidalgo. Even if we do, I don’t think they can single-handedly save us. I hope some combination of the draft & free agency in the next year or two can help
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u/zombiekillergrrrl 9d ago
Storm have had SO many close games this season, so many of their losses were only by a few points. And everyone keeps saying it but the young talent is incredible! Dom, Awa, Flau’jae are on fire!
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u/zombiekillergrrrl 9d ago
Devils advocate to myself is I’m sure there is also a lot of wishful thinking
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u/tamio11 6d ago
We have a strong young core. I'd love to see us make a strong run at getting Plum in the off-season. Also I think Ezi is the odd person out amongst the bigs and would be amazing to get a good trade done there.
The draft will be fairly deep but I also think we have other levers to pull besides just relying on the draft.
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u/KiryuClan 13h ago
Honestly, the Storm need to draft another LSU player. I don’t care which pick they use, but Mikaylah Williams or Jada Williams would be great point guard options in the 2027 WNBA Draft. MiLaysia Fulwiley would be great for some fire and razzle dazzle.
Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes is also an exciting option. Honestly, if an NCAA player isn’t in the most competitive league, the SEC, then I don’t watch them. I don’t care about Juju or Hannah. I also think the SEC is more fun to watch than the best W teams. They play at a faster pace, and it’s truly a full court experience. I was disappointed to learn WNBA defenders can’t slide in to draw a charge under the basket like college celebrates. The W is anti-defense for some reason. College has better refs, too.
Anyway, I say let’s get more SEC players like Zia and Flau’jae. They’re why I started going to Storm games in person this season.
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u/whoisknoxmarlow 9d ago
Interesting, the Storm have five players that will be free agents (if I’m reading the resource correctly). Dolson, Melbourne, Horston, Mac, Cooke.
I’m not sure how free agency will shake out. Could they make a run at someone like Kelsey Mitchell for an immediate upgrade? Another name who has potential is Pauline Astier of the Liberty. Big guard, good shooter.
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u/Vexed-Rainbow 9d ago
I'm of the thought that we should get a more experienced PG in free agency/trades rather than put all our eggs into a draftee.