5 WNBA Conspiracy Theories

In general, I hate conspiracy theories.  In many situations, I find them to be a waste of time while most are not true.  That said, there are a few things in the WNBA that I can’t explain, so I have 5 conspiracy theories.  This is one of the few times I will even entertain conspiracy theories, so godspeed…and have fun!

 

 

What if Connecticut is starting a rebuild this season?

I’ll start off with the caveat that this is probably a bit less likely now that Alyssa Thomas has been cored, but they could still use her rights in a sign-and-trade.  With several of their stars being free agents and their coach being fired for not so subtly flirting with Indiana’s head coaching job while still being under contract (while Indiana’s coach was also under contract, which felt a bit slimy), there was the big question about what Connecticut’s next plans were going to be.  Despite having immense success in the regular season and making the Conference Finals each of the last six seasons, they never walked away with a championship, and looked clearly outmatched the two times they did make it there.  Admittedly there is an argument to be made that they likely would not have left Veronica Burton unprotected in the Expansion Draft if they were starting a rebuild, the counter points would be that they could get more in a sign-and-trade for each of their free agents, and that she is not somebody who I think has the highest upside.  While there isn’t an advantage to rebuilding given their draft pick situation not being stellar (they don’t have a first round pick this year and their 2026 pick is a swap), I think that the biggest telling sign is the hiring of Rachid Meziane as their new head coach.  He has had a lot of success with developing talent and running an offense that involves a lot of ball movement and shooting while operating at a fast pace, all of which are the opposite of where Connecticut has been over the past few seasons.  To counteract their lack of future picks, they have the draft rights of Leila Lacan, a young French guard who has upside and has experience with Meziane.  I think their direction will be clear pretty quickly if Thomas or her teammate and fiancé DeWanna Bonner (Connecticut’s two best players) announce their decisions in free agency.

 

What if Golden State made their selections to trade for Jewell Loyd?

After Golden State’s Expansion Draft, a lot of people were left confused over their plan; while the team selected several role players, they didn’t really select anyone who is a high upside player with maybe the exception of Iliana Rupert from Atlanta and possibly Temi Fagbenle from Indiana (while some might argue for Kate Martin or Veronica Burton, I don’t think either of them have upsides that are higher than role players, likely off the bench).  The most puzzling selection was their one from Minnesota, where they selected Cecilia Zandalasini, who is a solid role player, but presumably at least two of Diamond Miller, Dorka Juhasz, or Alissa Pili were available (unless my fourth one is actually correct).  While Kelsey Plum has also been rumored to be a target for the team (they would have the cap space to make it work), I also think it’s notable that they didn’t take anyone from Seattle, making me wonder if some of these weird picks are to facilitate a trade for Jewell Loyd.  Loyd requested a trade after accusing Seattle’s coaching staff of mistreatment and an investigation finding no wrongdoing, and what better way to draw the fans in for a new team than by acquiring a star player.  On top of that, Seattle was horribly thin last year in depth, especially offensively, so I could see them wanting to add some more players who can fit alongside their other stars, including Julie Vanloo, Martin, Zandalasini, Kayla Thonrton, and Monique Billings.  Given that Loyd is coming off a pretty bad offensive season, especially with efficiency, some role players and a couple first round picks would honestly be a return that Seattle should be happy about, especially if their roster will already have a couple stars next year.

 

What if Seattle’s coaching staff is not actually safe?

This offseason, Jewell Loyd accused Seattle’s coaching staff of mistreatment, resulting in an investigation that found no wrongdoing and then a trade request from Loyd.  The coaching staff does not appear to be at risk of losing their jobs, but it’s worth monitoring what happens this offseason.  While nobody else has brought up any concerns with the staff’s treatment, it is worth noting that Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams are both free agents (in a surprising move, Seattle has cored Williams, so they have exclusive rights to negotiate with her), so either of them could move on if they felt the same way that Loyd did.  While Skylar Diggins-Smith is still under contract, she hasn’t been one to shy away from being open about teams’ mistreatment in the past (in particular, she was critical of Phoenix’s treatment of her during and after her pregnancy), so it would be interesting to see if she had the same experience that Loyd had.  If she also wants a trade, Ogwumike and Williams don’t resign, and Seattle is unable to sign any bigger names to replace them, I wouldn’t be surprised if the coaching staff is fired.  In particular, I would consider firing the entire staff on the spot in that scenario if I had that power in the front office because that would make the job of the front office creating the best roster possible to be virtually impossible.  Again, it is important to note that nobody else on the team besides Loyd has publicly discussed any mistreatment by the coaching staff.

 

What if Minnesota left Courtney Williams unprotected in the Expansion Draft?

As we go back to the Expansion Draft for this one, one of the biggest surprises in the Draft was selecting Cecilia Zandalasini from Minnesota, especially since it was expected that Minnesota would be limited to protecting their starting lineup from last year and just one other player, with Dorka Juhasz being the one I expected would be protected, leaving Diamond Miller as the most obvious choice to be selected.  While Miller has been inconsistent to start her career, she was the second pick of the 2023 Draft and has shown glimpses throughout her career.  While it is more likely that they aren’t high on Diamond Miller, what if the reason that they didn’t select Miller is because she was protected alongside Juhasz?  I don’t think this is likely at all, but the most likely player to remain unprotected in this scenario is Courtney Williams.  Williams has one year remaining on her 2-year, $355k contract.  While this isn’t a huge contract, there was a clear effort by Golden State to not select many players on decent contracts to conserve cap space.  While Williams is a very good player, I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to take a chance on a superstar instead of selecting her.  Additionally, while a skilled playmaker and aggressive scorer and defender, her shot has been streaky (though part of that is her shot selection), each of these being what Golden State didn’t appear to favor in the Expansion Draft.  While I don’t think Minnesota would have risked this, what if they realized that it was unlikely that Williams would be selected, so they took a chance and left her unprotected?  Again, I don’t think they even risked playing this game, but it is a possible answer regarding how Zandalasini was selected.

 

What if the number one pick is not decided yet?

In general, a team should not bank on one player being their pick in the draft early, especially if something happens with that player or there are concerns that rise.  At this time, it is widely expected that UConn’s Paige Bueckers will be the top pick in the draft, and it makes sense given that she is the top player in the class and has shown an increased ability to be the lead point guard.  Now that Dallas was awarded the top pick, there are two reasons Bueckers could be passed over:  her playing style being more of a score first guard and her injury history.  Dallas already has Arike Ogunbowale on their roster as a score-first guard, so if they view her as the player they should build around (I don’t think they should since she is best suited as a second-best player given her playing style), they might favor a guard who is a better and more natural playmaker in either the Draft or free agency.  On top of that, her injury history is a bit iffy, as she only played 17 games as a sophomore and missed her would-be junior year due to injuries.  While I expect she will be the top pick even still due to her shooting, scoring, playmaking upside, defensive intensity, and competitiveness, it shouldn’t be a shock if they go a different direction.  Some players to watch include guard Olivia Miles, wings Azzi Fudd (unlikely due to her injury issues, but still a possibility) and Sonia Citron, and forwards/bigs Kiki Iriafen, Dominique Malonga, and Lauren Betts (if she declares).  There are a lot of good players in this draft; even while Bueckers is likely the best player, they should keep all options open anyways.

 

 

What do you think of these ones?  Any you think are true?  Let me know in the comments!