In its quest to find the items on its Black Friday wishlist, the New York Liberty won’t have to deal with stampeding crowds and camping out in the immediate aftermath of Thanksgiving dinner.
Instead, they’ll face much more dangerous threats that nearly every holiday celebrant can sympathize with: their 11 sisters in the WNBA.
In spite of its relatively dreary conclusion, the most recent Liberty season wrapped with an aura of hope. It came with the burden of a three-game series defeat at the hands of the defending champion Chicago Sky but the Liberty hosted the ultimate housewarming party to cap things off, entertaining a sellout crowd with an ultimately futile yet lively comeback effort in the opening round of the WNBA playoffs.
That game was the current culmination of the Liberty’s return to play within city limits after three years of nomadic basketball (two years at Westchester County Center for the joining the Association’s Bradenton bubble) following their parting of ways with The Madison Square Garden Company. New York previously reached the playoffs on the final day of the season in 2021 before clinching by their own power last year.
The WNBA offseason process … unofficially underway with the draft lottery earlier this month … won’t hit a fever pitch until free agency begins weeks later. What will the Liberty look for? In honor of Black Friday, here’s an early look …
For Sabrina: Veteran Depth
The 2022 season was Sabrina Ionescu’s professional breakout campaign after her rookie year was mostly erased by injury and her sophomore season endured a few overuse hiccups. En route to the playoffs, Ionescu earned All-Star and second-team All-WNBA honors and also joined Candace Parker in rarified triple-double air.
Ionescu took on an expanded leadership role last season with All-Star nucleus Betnijah Laney missing a majority of the campaign with a knee injury. While she embraced and hurdled most, if not every, challenge thrown at her, the Liberty could certainly use some assurance so Ionescu has a minute to catch her breath.
Since the release of Layshia Clarendon, the Liberty have mostly operated with younger options behind Ionescu, which was noticed by seafoam-branded reps in the season’s aftermath. Forward Natasha Howard believed that an experienced option off the bench would help the team “balance the floor.”
Does salvation lay within? The Liberty enjoyed unexpected clutch minutes from 2020 Rookie of the Year Crystal Dangerfield. Ionescu offered her seal of approval for her draft classmate at several points last season, claiming that she “(took) a lot of pressure off my shoulders.”
Fellow point woman Sami Whitcomb is the team’s only unrestricted free agent. Notable, experienced, realistic names available in the department from abroad will include Sydney Colson and Erica Wheeler.
For Stef and Tash: Inside Scoring
The Liberty ledgers are dominated by the efforts of women in the interior, such as Tina Charles, Rebecca…
Read More: New York Liberty: A Black Friday Wishlist 2022-11-26 02:05:06