The Lynx face some difficult choices this offseason. We are a good team lacking in balance. We have talent and depth in the post, but in terms of true guards (Katie Smith is really a small forward), we are probably the worst in the league.
(Let me say -- T-Edwards is a hero of mine, and I love having her as part of this franchise, but she no longer has what it takes to start in the WNBA.)
To put a finer point on it: we have two great young players at the same position, and we need to decide whether to trade one of them.
Aside from Katie, Ohlde and Hayden are our only two players with any real value on the trade market. They are both great talents. Nicole got more minutes this year and is more of a sure thing, but Vanessa, with her size and huge rebound mitts, might have more potential. Both need to gain upper-body strength, and Vanessa needs to make a serious commitment to conditioning, but both could be All-Stars within a few years.
So we basically have three options:
1. Keep them both. It's a great thing having two great posts -- think David Robinson and Tim Duncan -- so we could build a team around that, and try to make some moves (trade Svet, Lassiter, even Tamika) to get at least one serviceable guard, someone from a team with good guards on the bench.
2. Trade one for a quality guard. It would be sad to give one up, but if we could get someone like DeForge or Pee Wee, we would have the kind of lineup that could do damage in the playoffs.
3. Trade one for McCarville. Janel will be a lottery pick, so we'd have to trade up to get her (in other words, we're going to go through the same shit all over again). It might be worth it. Getting McCarville wouldn't solve our guard problem, but it would give us a post with a midrange game, and it would bring fans to the Target Center.
I don't know the right answer. It would be fun to have Janel, and I like the idea of having twin towers, but if we want to win games, getting a guard is probably the smart move. At a minimum, we need to make some serious inquiries and see what's out there.
(Let me say -- T-Edwards is a hero of mine, and I love having her as part of this franchise, but she no longer has what it takes to start in the WNBA.)
To put a finer point on it: we have two great young players at the same position, and we need to decide whether to trade one of them.
Aside from Katie, Ohlde and Hayden are our only two players with any real value on the trade market. They are both great talents. Nicole got more minutes this year and is more of a sure thing, but Vanessa, with her size and huge rebound mitts, might have more potential. Both need to gain upper-body strength, and Vanessa needs to make a serious commitment to conditioning, but both could be All-Stars within a few years.
So we basically have three options:
1. Keep them both. It's a great thing having two great posts -- think David Robinson and Tim Duncan -- so we could build a team around that, and try to make some moves (trade Svet, Lassiter, even Tamika) to get at least one serviceable guard, someone from a team with good guards on the bench.
2. Trade one for a quality guard. It would be sad to give one up, but if we could get someone like DeForge or Pee Wee, we would have the kind of lineup that could do damage in the playoffs.
3. Trade one for McCarville. Janel will be a lottery pick, so we'd have to trade up to get her (in other words, we're going to go through the same shit all over again). It might be worth it. Getting McCarville wouldn't solve our guard problem, but it would give us a post with a midrange game, and it would bring fans to the Target Center.
I don't know the right answer. It would be fun to have Janel, and I like the idea of having twin towers, but if we want to win games, getting a guard is probably the smart move. At a minimum, we need to make some serious inquiries and see what's out there.
posted by Ted at 7:07 AM
