In what Wings executive vice president and general manager Curt Miller called the biggest trade in WNBA history, the team acquired three players and signed another that are looking to improve their games and are hungry to win a title. Dallas officially introduced those players on March 26: DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris , NaLyssa Smith and Myisha Hines-Allen. Miller explained during the press conference why these players were the best fits for the team.
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“We wanted to improve shooting. When we brought Ty Harris, who led the entire league in ’23 in 3-point shooting percentage, we brought post players in that can continue to help us stretch the floor, and obviously, DiJonai, who’s taken a huge step and continues to be emerging as one of the great two-way players in our league,” Miller said. “We wanted to improve defense coming off the last year. Well again, go back to DiJonai coming off an outstanding year defensively, arguably the best guard defender in all the league, in ’24 to bring her on board to pair with us, to really, really be a lockdown defender, was an important piece of what we were looking for in the offseason. We wanted to improve our post play and in post depth, we knew we have some holes, and to be able to go attract NaLyssa Smith and Myisha Hines-Allen was really, really important to us.”
So far Dallas has appeared to fill the holes that the team has had in previous years. One of the most important areas of improvement was the post play. Both Smith and Hines-Allen express how they want to improve their games, which will only elevate the team. With championship experience, Hines-Allen could be somewhat of a mentor to Smith as well. She and Smith have been teammates before, playing overseas in Turkey two years ago. Hines-Allen spoke highly of her during the introductory press conference.
“Just to see her growth from college to now the pros, I’m super excited just to be teamed up with her again,” she said. “Like Curt mentioned, her rebounding is phenomenal, but I think one-on-one basketball with her is like another player; you just roll out the ball and she can go get a bucket too. So super excited to be teamed up with her again.”
Building chemistry
The Wings have gone through so many changes over the years. They have changed coaches about every two years since 2018. They have tried to build the team through the draft year after year, mostly trading players for picks. This offseason is one of the first where they have attracted talent through free agency.
One mainstay through all of it has been Arike Ogunbowale. Since she was drafted in 2019, the 5’8 guard has made the Dallas her home. Instead of trying to build around her with young players through the draft, the organization has brought in talent to help shoulder the load.
Hines-Allen and Smith shore up the post alongside Teaira McCowan, and with Carrington and Harris on the floor, Ogunbowale will be able to play off of the ball more. Harris returns to Dallas coming off a career year with the Connecticut Sun.
“I just want to keep stacking years. Just show Dallas that I’ve grown from the first [time] I was here for the team. I want to win, simple as that,” the former Gamecock said.
Unlike Harris, Carrington has not played with Ogunbowale, but both have had the challenge of guarding her during their matchups against the Wings. Having to do that has allowed her to know more about how Ogunbowale plays.
Now that they are on the same team, she said that she is glad that she will not have to do that anymore. She said Ogunbowale is a one of those players where you can just roll the ball out and can get a bucket. She thinks that is what is going to be exciting about playing for Dallas.
“To be able to have that on our side now is going to be great, because like I said, she is one of the hardest people in the league to guard, so glad we don’t have to do that no more,” Carrington said.
The familiarity each of these players have with each other will aid them in building chemistry more quickly. They each know what they bring to the table, and they all want the same thing — to win.
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