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Training camps get underway throughout WNBA

Photo Credit: Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports

Do you hear that? Do you see that?

Those are the sounds and sights of training camps commencing throughout the WNBA, meaning tip-off the regular season is just around the corner.

*Excited face emojis*

The team to beat as the 2018 season begins is once again the Minnesota Lynx, who were once again crowned champions after defeating the Los Angeles Sparks in another unforgettable five-game WNBA Finals. The Lynx will return to a renovated Target Center with much of their core intact, but a Lindsay Whalen who is now juggling her Lynx duties as well as her newfound status as head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

In addition, the Lynx also lost Jia Perkins and Plenette Pierson to retirement as well as Renee Montgomery who is now with the Atlanta Dream. But Minnesota still has Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, and just those two will make the Lynx a threat to win it all again in 2018.

As for the team that the Lynx beat to win the championship in the LA Sparks, they took opened up their training camp. The Sparks, many onlookers believe, had a better offseason than the Lynx which included the signing of Cappie Pondexter, formerly with the Chicago Sky.

Add this to a returning Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Alana Beard, Jantel Lavender, Chelsea Gray and company and could the Sparks join the Lynx and Houston Comets as the only teams to win four championships? That will be the case if all goes according to plan for Brian Agler’s Sparks.

Another team to keep a close watch on is the Washington Mystics – primarily for the reason that they will be without Emma Meesseman for this year as she puts her energy into preparing for the FIBA World Cup later this year.

Mike Thibault’s team is still returning Elena Delle Donne and Kristi Toliver to a team that advanced to the playoff semifinals from a season ago.

The other team that clinched a berth in the semifinals last season was the Phoenix Mercury and on paper, they look more dangerous than last year’s squad.

Sandy Brondello’s team is adding Candice Dupree and bringing back DeWanna Bonner who missed last season due to her pregnancy. As long as the Mercury’s dynamic duo of Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner stays intact and remains healthy, Phoenix could be a team to break the Lynx’s and Sparks’ status at the top of the W’s food chain.

Another one of the teams that could break that Lynx-Sparks hierarchy is the New York Liberty. Say what one wants about their topsy-turvy offseason, but we forget that last season, the Liberty would have been the top seed in the Eastern Conference if the playoffs were still seeded based on conference.

New York has made some late noise as the start of the regular season lurks – including the drafting of Kia Nurse, the signing of Marissa Coleman, and the returns of Brittany Boyd and Shoni Schimmel to a team that is bringing back Tina Charles and Sugar Rodgers. Katie Smith should have an interesting team to watch in her first season as Liberty head coach.

A short two to three hour drive or Acela train ride from Gotham is Uncasville, Connecticut – home of the Sun. While the Sun play in one of the more smaller WNBA markets, we must remember that they are a young team that is bringing back two key pieces.

Those are the returning Coach of the Year in Curt Miller and the reigning Most Improved Player in Jonquel Jones. This season could be another confirmation that the Sun are, indeed, a team of the future.

When talking about teams to watch this season, one would be remiss if they did not mention the Dallas Wings. Fred Williams’ Wings made, arguably, the signing of the offseason with the addition of Australia’s very own Liz Cambage.

The Wings made their first playoff appearance last season since relocating from Tulsa and added Cambage to a team that includes Skylar Diggins-Smith and the reigning Rookie of the Year in Allisha Gray along with the drafting of Azura Stevens.

There appears to be a new look-old look complex as it relates to the Atlanta Dream – and it could very well lead to a winning combination down in the Peach State.

The Dream experienced their fair share of growing pains last season without Angel McCoughtry. She has returned and is ready to go for this year. Michael Cooper is out and Nicki Collen is in as Atlanta head coach. Renee Montgomery adds a veteran presence and a championship pedigree and they landed Monique Billings, who was projected to be a first-round pick, in the second round.

Last season, many WNBA observers felt it would be a year we would see the emergence of the Seattle Storm as a team of the future. That may still happen, but it was not the season many were expecting up in the Pacific Northwest.

The Storm still made the playoffs, but let go of Jenny Boucek towards the end of last season. This year is the first season for new head coach Dan Hughes and the drafting of Jordin Canada could give Seattle its heir apparent to Sue Bird.

Of course, plenty of eyes will be glued to see what unfolds with the WNBA’s newest team in the Las Vegas Aces.

Bill Laimbeer’s new team had the top pick in this year’s draft, which, of course, was A’ja Wilson out of South Carolina. Perhaps things will go better for the franchise than last year when they also had the top pick, which was Washington’s Kelsey Plum.

The team that picked second in the draft behind Vegas was the Indiana Fever, who selected Kelsey Mitchell out of Ohio State.

The 2017 campaign for the Fever was one in which they took experienced a plethora of growing pains after the retirement of all-time great Tamika Catchings. Could the draft picks of Mitchell and Victoria Vivians along with Tiffany Mitchell and Erica Wheeler lead to improved fortunes for Pokey Chatman’s team?

The Fever’s first preseason game is against the Chicago Sky – a team that was in a similar scenario to the Fever as they were playing their first season in a while without their marquee superstar.

Ironically enough, Chatman was the head coach in Chicago before taking the job in Indiana. Amber Stocks is the Sky’s head coach now and while they lost Pondexter to Los Angeles, they are still bringing back Stefanie Dolson and are adding Diamond DeShields and Gabby Williams to a team that is moving to a new arena this season.



By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)

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