Out of all of the possibilities of WNBA Free Agency in 2020, who would have guessed that Tina Charles’ status with the New York Liberty would evolve into the biggest “will she or won’t she” question that has fans buzzing with conversation.
In the run-up to the start of free agency, most onlookers believed that Skylar Diggins-Smith and Angel McCoughtry would be the two big names to watch in terms of changing teams. McCoughtry signed with the Las Vegas Aces and Diggins-Smith was traded to the Phoenix Mercury for draft picks.
Then … came this report from High Post Hoops’ Howard Megdal…
Our @howardmegdal reports the Phoenix Mercury are in talks to acquire both @tinacharles31 AND @SkyDigg4. Details here #WNBA https://t.co/3nw019umqa
— High Post Hoops (@HighPostHoops) February 12, 2020
Not to mention a later report from High Post’s Liberty beat writer, Jackie Powell, where Libs general manager Jonathan Kolb did not even mention Charles, who by the way, became New York’s all-time leading scorer last season.
.@tinacharles31 is now the @nyliberty ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER! 🎉🎉 pic.twitter.com/jco1gjqngr
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) June 4, 2019
We did an unscientific hard count of how many other teams we believe would love to have a player of Charles’ stature on their teams. That count resulted in … about … 11 teams.
On the surface, it would make sense for the Liberty to begin inquiring to other teams about No. 31’s services … and for other teams to begin making phone calls to Brooklyn. The Liberty already cored Charles, so any deal would have to come via a trade.
It makes sense on the surface because the Liberty have been a very un-New York like 17-51 over the past two seasons. Not to mention, many of New York’s veteran players it used to field in the last days the black and seafoam/statue green called home are now on other teams. Sugar Rodgers is in Las Vegas as is Epiphanny Prince and former Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer. Shavonte Zellous is in Seattle.
What do teams typically do after enduring a few seasons of losing basketball? They begin to rebuild, primarily through the draft. That is what the Indiana Fever have essentially done since Tamika Catchings retired and the Fever now have a young core that includes Tiffany Mitchell, Kelsey Mitchell, Victoria Vivians and Teaira McCowan.
Indiana finished only two games outside of the playoffs in 2019 and now have a new coach in former Washington Mystics assistant Marianne Stanley.
The Liberty will enter the 2020 season with a new coach in Walt Hopkins after two seasons of Katie Smith, formerly an assistant under Laimbeer, at the helm. With so much in New York in a constant state of change, continuing the rebuild and beginning to build around young up-and-comers such as Kia Nurse, Asia Durr, Rebecca Allen, Amanda Zahui B, Han Xu and the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft (Sabrina Ionescu, more than likely).
But this is not any ordinary transition New York is undergoing – and this detail alone should make the Libs front office really think twice (or three times, or four, or five, or six or seven) about dealing No. 31.
This will also be the Liberty’s first full season (of many) that its primary home will be Brooklyn’s Barclays Center after two trying seasons at Westchester County Center in White Plains. Needless to say, the County Center was as much a fan favorite in WNBA circles as Christian Laettner is in the commonwealth of Kentucky.
The 2020 season is significant for the Liberty because it will be the first season where the team has played consistently in the five boroughs since 2017 – its last at Madison Square Garden. It basically reintroduces Liberty basketball to New York City, where the bulk of Lib Loyals reside.
Something tells us that even if the plan is for the Liberty to start anew by parting ways with Charles that she deserves to play one full season at the Libs new Atlantic and Flatbush cathedral. After all, she is Queens’ very own and has become a New York basketball icon in her own right as are Charles Oakley, Patrick Ewing, Carmelo Anthony and Teresa Weatherspoon.
New York is also where many of her philanthropic initiatives originate from (See: Hopey’s Heart Foundation). Aside from this, the Liberty hope to fill Barclays as much as they did MSG back in the day. The team will be a draw, regardless, especially once it starts filling up the win column again and given New York has always been passionate about hoops, but it will be an even bigger draw if Charles is on that Barclays court representing her team and her city.
And the last two seasons of Liberty basketball cannot be totally seen as an accurate guide to what New York will look like for the forseeable future. Add Ionescu to how this team is currently constructed, and if her college play translates to the pros, then it may not be long before the Liberty are where the Las Vegas Aces have ascended to after drafting A’ja Wilson with the top pick in the 2018 draft.
Ever since the ink became dry on the sale to Joe Tsai (hey, we’re poets and of course we know it), the Liberty have made some sound moves, including the relocation to Barclays and the partnership with YES Network. The jury is out on Hopkins and what we see from New York in 2020 will have an effect on if that verdict is guilty as it was for Smith.
Trading one of New York’s very own before she even has a chance to step on the Liberty’s new court could generate a public relations hit for the organization, especially if Kolb gets fleeced by Phoenix, Minnesota or another team and there is not a significant package (draft picks galore) being airmailed Gotham’s way in a deal.
In a perfect world, we would get an announcement that Charles will have signed a 1-year deal with New York, then she can decide if staying in her hometown or winning a championship is more important. Because this season should tell a lot more about what the Liberty’s future looks like moreso than the last two.
Regardless of what happens this offseason and how New York fares in 2020, one future Liberty event is guaranteed – the No. 31 being raised to the top of Barclays Center.
