Minnesota Sports Forum

FNG wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2026 11:04 am There is a lot of shared admiration here for Cheryl Reeve (No, I'm not going to start a fire Cheryl poll) and appreciation of Angel Reese's game. Don't we then have to criticize Reeve for declining to draft Reese in 2024 and instead trading down to get draft bust Pili? The draft capital we got back seems miniscule to what we gave up.

That trade ended up being

Chicago got: Angel Reese
Minnesota got: Pili and a 26 pick swap that became Olivia Miles.

Obviously the Lynx got a little lucky that Chicago ended up being trash for 2 straight years but they got Miles with the pick (also at the time of the trade Juju Watkins was projected to come out in the 26 draft before she tore her ACL)


*Couple more things on that draft night, it was rumored that Cheryl did not want Reese due to off the court attitude concerns, now I don't know if they would have taken her anyways for the asset but the Sky did end up giving up Olivia Miles just for moving up 1 pick. Also the sky have been a terrible oganization the last few years, they are like the Kings. They trade the pick that became Sonia Citron (One of the best young PGs in the league) for Ariel Atkins, they also gave up their 27 1st pick swap in that trade. Then they traded their 28 first for Jayce Sheldon this offseason, Siheldon is sort of like a Kris Dunn caliber of player in NBA terms. So if they didn't make a trade they could have a roster of Miles/Citron/Jaquez/Reese/Cardoso with 2 great draft classes coming up in Juju Watkins, Hannah Hildalgo, Sarah Strong, Maddison Booker. Now this offseason they did the band-aid fix in bringing in Natasha Cloud, Skyler Diggins, Dijonai, Azuera Stevens, Rickea Jackson (ACL injury) and they have been devastated by injury already and are going to be fighting for a playoff spot again.

kekgeek wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2026 1:18 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2026 11:04 am There is a lot of shared admiration here for Cheryl Reeve (No, I'm not going to start a fire Cheryl poll) and appreciation of Angel Reese's game. Don't we then have to criticize Reeve for declining to draft Reese in 2024 and instead trading down to get draft bust Pili? The draft capital we got back seems miniscule to what we gave up.

That trade ended up being

Chicago got: Angel Reese
Minnesota got: Pili and a 26 pick swap that became Olivia Miles.

Obviously the Lynx got a little lucky that Chicago ended up being trash for 2 straight years but they got Miles with the pick (also at the time of the trade Juju Watkins was projected to come out in the 26 draft before she tore her ACL)

Actually there is a little more to it than that.

The Lynx traded a pick to have the 2026 Chicago pick outright. They also had received the 2025 2nd round pick that they used on Kosu.

Personally I'm fine with them passing on Reese but maybe there was a player that would have been more worthwhile they could have selected in Pili.

I get the sense that the WNBA draft is a pretty big crapshoot at this point especially when you have international players available to be signed like the Wolves did this season. The player Chicago drafted with their 1st round pick they got from the lynx...isn't on a WNBA roster. Whatever navigating the Lynx did to trade around to get #2 pick would be worth it. Imagine what a team like the Wolves would give up in terms of future draft picks to get a top 3 pick in the next couple drafts.

Yes they missed on Pili but they have also built their roster somehow again with a #2 overall pick PG some savvy FA signings of vets (and a minor trade for Caldwell) and also added some young international players. Even the best organizations aren't gonna bat 1.000.

Sloppy game from the Lynx but the Lynx win another double digit game. Nia Coffey was so good. Already matched her 11+ scoring games from last year.

kekgeek wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2026 9:50 pm Sloppy game from the Lynx but the Lynx win another double digit game. Nia Coffey was so good. Already matched her 11+ scoring games from last year.

From what I could gather going into the season there was more than a couple people that thought Coffey would thrive with the Lynx but she really has been so good all year and this game even more so.

It looked like McCowen was a mixed bag in her Lynx debit which honestly seems positive.

Some lynx players are playing very well but McBride hasn't even started hitting 3's at a good percentage and Miles is shooting like 11% from 3. even if some things regress there is some things that could easily get better.

Meanwhile I saw that Shepard had a 22-20-10 triple double with only 2 turnovers. I remember watching her at Nebraska and thinking she was super talented but she was also a little frustrating because of inconsistent play. I wish she could have been more fully realized as a player at Nebraska but I'm glad over the years starting with going to Notre Dame she has become a pretty good player.

Lynx destroy the Mercury by 30+ to win the first commissioner cup game. Just beautiful beautiful basketball

Reeve can steal all the flowers from my garden if she wants.

Let's be honest, the WNBA is still light years away from the men's game as far as the way it's managed and covered. And that means that a few really smart people can stand out even more.

The Lynx are the pinnacle of WNBA basketball, in large part because they have smart people in charge who know what works and what doesn't. A completely revamped squad that just keeps churning out wins. It's really impressive. Hopefully, the rest of the league never catches up.

kekgeek wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2026 11:08 pm Lynx destroy the Mercury by 30+ to win the first commissioner cup game. Just beautiful beautiful basketball

I've only caught one of their games and know very little about the women's game, but Olivia Miles popped off the screen like Ricky Rubio used to in his early years.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2026 7:14 am

kekgeek wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2026 11:08 pm Lynx destroy the Mercury by 30+ to win the first commissioner cup game. Just beautiful beautiful basketball

I've only caught one of their games and know very little about the women's game, but Olivia Miles popped off the screen like Ricky Rubio used to in his early years.

The Lynx are on a heck of a roll right now.

One of the most impressive things is that as a rookie Reeve basically lets Miles do whatever she wants.

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2026 6:53 am Reeve can steal all the flowers from my garden if she wants.

Let's be honest, the WNBA is still light years away from the men's game as far as the way it's managed and covered. And that means that a few really smart people can stand out even more.

The Lynx are the pinnacle of WNBA basketball, in large part because they have smart people in charge who know what works and what doesn't. A completely revamped squad that just keeps churning out wins. It's really impressive. Hopefully, the rest of the league never catches up.

Good post. There are still just 15 teams and while I don't think there is 32 teams deep of talent like the NBA the game has grown drastically like the past 10-20 years. The recent expansion teams success have shown there is enough talent around and with legit WNBA salaries now there will be more international players coming which the Lynx look to be ahead of the curve there too. It just seems Reeve is good at finding certain players and getting the best out of them.

Monster wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2026 7:47 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2026 7:14 am

kekgeek wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2026 11:08 pm Lynx destroy the Mercury by 30+ to win the first commissioner cup game. Just beautiful beautiful basketball

I've only caught one of their games and know very little about the women's game, but Olivia Miles popped off the screen like Ricky Rubio used to in his early years.

The Lynx are on a heck of a roll right now.

One of the most impressive things is that as a rookie Reeve basically lets Miles do whatever she wants.

May be Reeve understands that a player with Olivia's particular skill-set needs a lot of creative license, meaning you take the good with the bad. I absolutely love pass-first PGs with some panache to their game. I know it's a dying breed in the NBA, so good to see it in a player like Miles (who I know can also get buckets).