WNBA Free Agency 2024: What Will New Forward Alanna Smith Bring to Lynx?

The Minnesota Lynx made their first splash in 2024 WNBA Free Agency on Friday when they agreed to terms with versatile 6-foot-4 forward Alanna Smith on a two-year contract, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou and later confirmed by our Mitchell Hansen.

Smith, 27, enjoyed career-highs across the board last season with the Chicago Sky. The Tasmania, Australia native averaged 9.2 points on 49.8% FG, 29.4% 3PT, 67.9% FT shooting splits, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists to 1.5 turnovers, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks across 26.5 minutes per game in 38 appearances (35 starts).

After the 2023 season ended, Smith took her talents overseas to Turkey, where she has been terrific for Emlak in both the Turkish League and EuroCup. New Lynx teammates Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride and Nina Milić also play in the Turkish League (Fenerbahçe), while Jess Shepard (Umana Reyer Venezia) takes the floor in EuroCup action. Smith holds averages of 18.7 points on 48.7/38.5/66.9 shooting splits to go along with 8.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists to 3.2 turnovers, 2.1 steals and 1.5 blocks in 29.6 minutes per game across 22 games spanning both leagues.

Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve loves forwards with versatile skillsets, so it should come as no surprise that Minnesota pursued Smith and brought her aboard. At 6-foot-4, Alanna can operate in space, pass, drive, post-up and pass off the block, cut, crash the offensive glass, set screens, roll, pop, and stretch the defense with a jumper that is getting better every season. Defensively, she can guard multiple positions, and effectively uses her length on both the perimeter and the interior to disrupt passes and shots before willingly battling on the glass.

Regardless of how the Lynx proceed from here in free agency, Smith is a terrific pickup. She will fight right into what Minnesota does defensively around Collier, McBride, and Dorka Juhász, and has the potential to be a low-usage, high-impact player offensively with her driving, cutting, offensive rebounding, playmaking in the post and evolving jump shooting.

Given that Smith won’t command a maximum contract, signing her won’t prevent the Lynx from making more moves in the coming days. And while we don’t know exactly what the Lynx roster will look like next season, that doesn’t mean we can’t dive into what she’ll bring to the Lynx next season.

Offense

Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images

Overall Shot Chart

Face-Up/Screen Game

The first thing that pops out about Smith when turning on her game film is her aggression as a driver. She spends most of her time out on the perimeter as a forward that can handle the ball, set screens and play in the dribble hand-off game. But where the former Stanford star…