At the end of the second quarter in the Los Angeles Sparks’ first regular season game against the Atlanta Dream, Rickea Jackson finally asserted herself.
Jackson, a rookie from Tennessee with a high ceiling and major highlights from her time with the Lady Vols, got a steal at the end of the half and laid the ball in with ease, right at the buzzer. Her teammates were jubilant from the sideline, including fellow rookie Cameron Brink, who was slamming her towel on the floor in celebration of Jackson’s first WNBA bucket.
Brink and Jackson represent a future for the Sparks that, if done right, can be sustained for many years to come. So far, Los Angeles has managed to assemble a roster around these two talented rookies that can seemingly compete with almost any team this season. Despite the loss to the much stronger and more established Atlanta Dream team, the Sparks looked completely ready for the challenge—with Brink and Jackson locked in to that effort, as well.
Between adding some depth in their backcourt with Kia Nurse and, of course, drafting the two rookie phenoms in Brink and Jackson with their second and fourth overall picks respectively, the Sparks have done an excellent job of positioning themselves for sustained growth. While they are going to be considered a rebuilding team alongside the Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky, they may have the most balance of the three teams and may even get close to a postseason berth if they play the way they did in their season opener.
This is part two of a three-part series on the “Rebuilders” in the WNBA for the 2024 season—the moves they have made and how quickly they can hit the ground running.
Read part one on the Chicago Sky HERE.
Read part two on the Washington Mystics HERE.
Draft: Home Run for Fit & Best Available
The Sparks would have had to really bungle this draft to miss out on drafting both Brink and Jackson. While there was some speculation that the Sparks would be looking to take Brink and Kamilla Cardoso with their second and fourth picks, they thought of fit first and took Jackson at the four spot.
With Brink, the Sparks immediately add a defensive presence in the paint to help improve upon their defense from last season, which found them clocking in with a 100.0 defensive rating per WNBA stats. This wasn’t a bad defense in 2023, per se, but at the same time, the Sparks could use a big like Brink monitoring the paint and acting as a deterrent for opposing teams like the Dallas Wings or the Dream, who have formidable frontcourts to throw out and throw off smaller teams.
Most striking, though, was the Sparks second to lowest rebounds per game (RPG) grabbed last year. Rebounding, and second chance points, are always crucial to a team looking to improve and create flow on offense. Brink averaged 11.9 RPG in her last year with Stanford, so coupling that with her blocking propensity was a no brainer to a Sparks team desperate for some frontcourt identity.
Jackson is also a rebounding machine, averaging 8.2 RPG in her last year with Tennessee per Her Hoops Stats. Her being brought into games in relief of Brink, which is what head coach Curt Miller did in their season opener, ensures that the Sparks are never without an athletic rebounder.
Jackson, of course, adds such a versatile scoring threat to an already-strong Sparks paint scoring team. Last season, 46.6 percent of the Sparks’ points came in the paint, good for third most in the league behind the Connecticut Sun and Dallas Wings. Her ability to score outside of the paint with her silky jumper can only add to the offensive profile for the Sparks, stretching the floor and opening up looks for herself and sharpshooting teammates like Kia Nurse and other multi-level scorers like Dearica Hamby.
So far this season, Brink has averaged 2.8 blocks (BPG) along with 5.9 RPG, 1.9 assists (APG) and 8.2 points per game (PPG)—although, she has gotten into a ton of foul trouble that has prevented her from playing more minutes. Jackson is hovering just under double digit scoring at 9.6 PPG along with 3.0 RPG, and her numbers are going to continue to grow as she gets more comfortable in her scoring bag from her Tennessee days off the bench with the Sparks.
Offseason Additions: Free Agency & Trades
Losing Nneka Ogwumike is rough. There’s no way around that. Ogwumike, now with the Seattle Storm and aiding in their contention efforts, averaged 19.1 PPG with the Sparks last season along with 8.8 RPG and 2.7 APG. She was often a force, and often the only force, on the floor for a team that struggled with injuries to much of their roster.
With her gone, the Sparks were forced to look themselves in the mirror—as were all rebuilding teams. Ogwumike was not the only veteran they lost, signing and trading away Jordin Canada to the Dream for the number eight pick in the 2024 draft and Aari McDonald. They did not end up keeping that pick, instead sending that off to the Chicago Sky for Julie Allemand and Li Yuery and a 2025 third round pick. But, sending Canada off to the Dream signaled that they were looking to shake up their depth considering she had been one of their most reliable guard contributors aside from Lexie Brown and Zia Cooke.
The Sparks were not just sending players off this offseason, though. They acquired Kia Nurse in a pretty big deal with the Seattle Storm, getting her and the number four pick in the 2024 draft in exchange for the Sparks’ first rounder in 2026. Nurse, a lethal three-point threat and veteran presence in her five seasons in the league, provides a solid replacement for minutes lost relinquishing Canada.
In addition to Nurse, they re-signed Layshia Clarendon and Rae Burrell and kept Aari McDonald from the Canada trade. The depth on the team, especially with having Clarendon and Burrell return, helps to add continuity and experience around Brink and Jackson, while also ensuring that they will be competitive despite losing an All-Star force in Ogwumike and a solid guard in Canada.
Front Office
The biggest front office change made by the team was at the team president and general manager positions. LA hired former WNBA player Raegan Pebley as their next GM ahead of 2024, and Christine Monjer as their president. These two moves were fairly milquetoast—the biggest move for a front office this past offseason has been at the head coach position, and Curt Miller has job security as the Sparks look to him to aid in their rebuilding efforts and to unlock the potential of this talented roster.
The Sparks have much to look forward to in 2024. They are going to witness the blossoming of Brink and Jackson at a professional level if they are given the proper coaching and support, and they will be able to get a feel for a roster teeming with veteran talent that could find them acting as spoilers throughout the year at worst, or sneaking into a postseason spot at best.
