The Minnesota Lynx have continued their already busy offseason — both on and off the court — by officially signing a familiar face from the WNBA free agent market.
The organization announced on Friday that it has added former post Damiris Dantas for the 2019 season.
Dantas, who was a restricted free agent, agreed to terms of a contract with the Lynx earlier in the week but had to wait the four-day span to see if the Atlanta Dream, who she played for last season, would match Minnesota’s offer since the Dream held her rights heading into the offseason.
“I am excited to welcome Damiris back to the Lynx family,” Lynx head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve said in a team-issued statement. “In her time with the Lynx previously, Damiris showed how valuable she is with her versatility to play both post positions and ability to both score on the block and stretch the defense with her shooting.”
Dantas is a face that Minnesota fans have seen before in a Lynx uniform, having played for the organization during her rookie season in 2014 and part of year in 2015. Dantas was originally drafted by the Lynx in 2012 and was eventually traded as part of a deal that brought Sylvia Fowles to Minnesota in 2015.
Last season in Atlanta, where she appeared in 19 games, Dantas averaged 5.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 13.4 minutes per game. She shot 43.3 percent from the field, 23.8 percent from three and 72.2 percent from the free throw line.
Overall in her four-year career thus far, the post has career averages of 6.7 points, four rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.5 steals while having flipped between starting and bench roles throughout her time in the WNBA.
This signing by Reeve and company is one that makes a ton of sense for the organization and one that will provide nice, much-needed depth behind Fowles and Rebekkah Brunson in the starting lineup — assuming Brunson, who is still an unrestricted free agent, re-signs with Minnesota in 2019.
Dantas, who is a solid 6-foot-3 presence in the paint at 26 years old, will also be a nice pairing next to Temi Fagbenle among the second unit post players. Fagbenle made a nice jump last season to prove to be somewhat of a spark off the bench in relief of Fowles.
With the official addition of Dantas, the Lynx offseason signings have now included adding Dantas and wing Karima Christmas-Kelly, along with re-signing veteran wing Seimone Augustus.
Minnesota, which will, of course, be without All-Star’s Lindsay Whalen and Maya Moore in 2019, still have plenty of flexibility this offseason along with currently having players such as Brunson and Cecilia Zandalasini still on the free-agent market.
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