At the outset of the 2025 regular season, many a WNBA viewer had a rather bearish view of the Washington Mystics.
After all, the team underwent more than its fair share of changes over the offseason. The Thibault era in D.C. effectively concluded over said offseason with Mike Thibault stepping down from his post as general manager and Eric Thibault calling it a career as Mystics head coach.
Jamila Wideman became the new Washington general manager and Sydney Johnson is now the team’s head coach. In addition, Elena Delle Donne announced her retirement from the WNBA.
Not to mention, one of the team’s three first-round draft picks in Georgia Amoore was sidelined for the season with a torn ACL. It appeared that the Mystics were all but destined to be lottery-bound following this season.
But that is why the season is played on the court and not in the columns of women’s sports websites. Washington as of this writing is 4-6. The Mystics are only one game behind the Golden State Valkyries for the eighth and final playoff berth in the WNBA.
This is in large part because a big three has emerged at CareFirst Arena where Washington is no longer the gimme many thought it would be at the start of the season.
Two rookies are elements in that big three. At the start of the season, the consensus selection for Rookie of the Year appeared to be Paige Bueckers, drafted first overall by the Dallas Wings.
Those two rookies have displayed they were WNBA-ready from the nanosecond they first stepped foot on a W court. One of them is Sonia Citron.
Citron was the third-overall pick in this year’s draft, selected behind Bueckers and the Seattle Storm’s drafting of Dominique Malonga. She made a statement in the first game the Mystics played – a home game at CareFirst Arena against an Atlanta Dream assembling that major moves during the offseason (Brittney Griner, Bri Jones, Karl Smesko as coach).
The Dream were picked by many to be a contending team, but the Mystics proved they belonged on the same court as the Dream by virtue of its 94-90 win over Atlanta. Citron got the start and played nearly 24 minutes. She tallied 19 points in that Washington victory. She is averaging 13.7 points and 4.3 boards for the season.
This season has also led to a resurgence for Brittney Sykes. She was the leading scorer in that win over the Dream with 22 points and played nearly all 40 minutes in that hard-fought contest with Atlanta. She is the second-most experienced player on Washington’s roster with eight years under her belt in the W. Only Stefanie Dolson has more at 11 seasons.
Slim is currently the team’s leading scorer as she has averaged 20.6 per contest. Also, she is currently Washington’s clubhouse leader in assists at 4.7 per game in the nine matchups she has played.
And, of course, we must give flowers to the other rookie making waves for the Mystics this season in Kiki Iriafen. She was the fourth overall selection in this season’s draft and has also shown she was about that W life from the second her kicks made contact with the court.
In that matchup with the Dream, Iriafen was part of the starting five. Also, one must remember that the Dream had two bigs in Griner and Jones with more experience than her and Citron. Not only did the two rooks hold their own, but the pupils got the better of the teachers.
Iriafen played nearly 28 minutes and scored 14 points along with hauling in four rebounds. She is Washington’s leader in rebounds with 9.4 per game and has averaged 14.6 points per contest. There is actually a compelling argument that says Iriafen could be the favorite for Rookie of the Year instead of Bueckers with a quarter of the 2025 campaign in the books.
The Mystics have been a pleasant so far this season. Washington may not receive the flashy headlines of the Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Indiana Fever or Las Vegas Aces. But Washington has the same number of wins as the Aces at this stage in the season.
Washington is a locale that knows all about ballots – and there should be plenty of ballots with the names Sykes, Iriafen and Citron on them when it is time to send the W’s best and brightest to Indianapolis next month.
