The Lynx are no doubt going through it as Cheryl Reeve is attempting to pull off a very early season roster reconstruction job. Minnesota, a perennial powerhouse, has been the league’s biggest letdown so far, losing all four games it’s played, including one to the rebuilding Fever.
The Lynx looks a heckuva lot different than they did in last season’s run as the league’s No. 3 seed. The team knew it wouldn’t have All-Star forward Napheesa Collier to start the year as she’s expecting her first child and Natalie Achonwa who’s out indefinitely with a hamstring strain, but in the last few days, the franchise has moved on from 2020 Rookie of the Year Crystal Dangerfield, future Hall of Famer Angel McCoughtry, former All-Stars Layshia Clarendon and Odyssey Sims, and No. 7 2021 pick Rennia Davis. That’s a lot of movement for a 12-person squad!“
We’ll do what we have to do to get where we want to go, because there’s only one path,” Reeve, the four-time champion head coach who is also the team’s general manager said on Friday, according to ESPN. And that path is to be able to be difficult to play against from a physical standpoint and mental standpoint, your defense, your connection on offense.”
Reeve attributed the decision to move on from McCoughtry to the wing’s injury status , and the team waived Sims after she missed a game due to personal reasons. Reeve said that choice was to “give her the time to [address] that.”
Who’d the Lynx add as replacements?
In a stroke of luck, the Wings opted to part ways with veteran point guard Moriah Jefferson just as Minny had cleared its space, and the team is hoping she, alongside No. 21 pick in this year’s draft, Evina Westbrook, can fill in guard duties.
Jefferson scored 16 points with five assists in her debut as a starter, and Westbrook chipped in four points with five assists in 20 minutes off the bench.
What’s next?
The Lynx played the Sky to a close four-point loss on Saturday and showed a heckuva lot more promise than their first three games. But their biggest fix could come tonight as All-Star Kayla McBride — two days removed from her season in Turkey — returns to the lineup. The guard averaged 13.7 points on 37.9 percent 3-point shooting last year, and should allow the team’s superstar center Sylvia Fowles more space to work the paint.
In just a 32-game season, Minnesota has a bit of ground to make up, but with McBride back, and Damiris Dantas’s return looming, there’s time to right the ship.
