With the starting five set and a handful of role players looking like favorites to make the team, the fight to make the Minnesota Lynx will be a tough test for everyone else.
According to head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve, there have been a few specific newcomers among Minnesota’s 18-player training camp roster that have impressed through the first week of training camp.
That includes the veteran acquisitions from the offseason and the two Lynx draft picks, Carlie Wagner and Jill Barta.
“The two draft picks are holding their own. Carlie and Jill, you see them grow and their comfort level grow. You see them hitting a groove now,” Reeve told Zone Coverage. “The thing that I’ve really enjoyed is everyone has had their moments in camp. They’ve all had the chance to show their game.”
“It’s been a fun time with a great group. It’s a talented group.”
During training camp this year, the new faces that have filled the practice facility along with the returning starters has provided a new feel early on in camp.
“There are a lot of moving parts with the moves in the offseason with Danielle Robinson, Tanisha Wright and Lynetta Kizer,” Reeve said. “For them, it’s about getting them up to speed very quickly.”
In 2017, the Lynx finalized their regular season roster with 11 players, leaving one spot open which allows them flexibility during the season and especially right before the postseason to add a player.
Assuming that stays the same this year, there are one or two positions that could be up for grabs by the time training camp ends.
With Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson and Sylvia Fowles holding down the starting five, and Robinson, Kizer, Wright, Alexis Jones and Cecilia Zandalasini likely coming in behind them, that leaves one spot open that a total of eight players are fighting for.
One of those players would include Temi Fagbenle, who played with the Lynx last season and had a good season overseas with CCC Polkowice, whom she led to a Polish League championship in which she was named Finals MVP.
The rest of the pack includes more than a handful of rookies trying to fight their way onto a WNBA roster, including Wagner and Barta.
Minnesota has a limited amount of room as it prepares to take a look at who will make the roster in 2018. But there have been a few new faces that have impressed early on.
“Overall, there are a lot of different things going on right now. We’re trying to manage the starters and the returners while working with the new players,” Reeve said. “There are a lot of different things going on, but we are right on track.”
