Following the WNBA draft on April 14, a reporter asked Cheryl Reeve about the Minnesota Lynx going all-in this season.
“Why would we not. That’s what mode we are in, right?” Reeve said with a smirk before answering her own question. “[In] 2023, we were saying, not too long ago, we’re going to develop some young talent. Then 2024 happened, so now we’re in that window of all in”
Fast forward two weeks to April 28, the official start of Lynx training camp, and the sentiment had not changed. The Lynx have five returning starters and Natisha Hiedeman, one of their key bench players. They also traded a first-round pick for Karlie Samuelson.
That leaves only four to five roster spots left for the remaining 15 players on the training camp roster, and no one else’s spots are guaranteed. (The WNBA only requires teams to carry 11 players on their roster, or a max of 12.) Therefore, the competition level at camp has been intense.
“This was a really good day of reality,” Cheryl said after practice before expanding, “You see the ones that are really starting to get it and can perform and not survive. We had some out there surviving today, and that’s not a great place to be.”
Survival is an apt word to describe camp. No spots are safe other than the top seven, and the Lynx’s lack of roster spots means they’ll likely let someone go in their ultimate quest to win a championship.
With that being said, the training camp roster is deep with potential.
The starters
Minnesota returns all five starters from last year’s finals runner-up roster. Courtney Williams returns as the point guard, something she admitted I can finally call her. All-Star Kayla McBride and Bridget Carleton flank her at the SG and SF spots, followed by Alanna Smith at center, and Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier at PF.
The Lynx lineup last season ran through the WNBA, playing 491 minutes together, going 25-7, and posing a remarkable +214 plus/minus in their minutes together. They also shot 40.4% from three and outscored opponents by roughly 6.7 points per game.
The locks for the bench
Hiedeman will return to her role as Williams’ backup point guard for the second straight season, a role she thrived in last season. She had the third highest assist percentage on the team (26.3%), and the third best assist to turnover ratio (2.16).
The hope in Hiedeman’s return is that her shooting will return to form after posting her second-worst shooting percentage of her career last season (38.0%) from the field. She also had a career low of 28.0% from three, which caused her true shooting percentage to dip to a career low of 46.9%
Reeve revealed that Samuelson is the other lock to the rotation. The Lynx acquired in a draft-day trade with the Washington Mystics. Samuelson brings a knockdown shooter to the bench rotations after the Golden State Valkyries plucked Cecilia Zandalasini in the expansion draft.
Samuelson shot a blistering 39.8% from three last season on a career high 4.2 attempts per game, while providing solid defense at the guard position. Her 2.48 assist-to-turnover ratio will fit well with Reeve’s low-mistake offense, and they expect Samuelson to make an immediate impact.
Returning faces but not locks to make the team
This is where it gets tough to map out Minnesota’s roster. There are only four or five roster spots available, and many talented players who deserve to make the team.
Diamond Miller is the first of this group of players to come to mind. The 2023 second overall pick had an injury-plagued 2024 season that caused her to lose her starting spot in the rotation to Carleton. Miller only played in 21 games, and her minutes reduced from 26.1 in 2023 to 10.1 in 2024.
Her offensive rating also fell severely from 99.8 to 81.7 in 2024. The dropoffs were widespread across the board for Miller, which is likely more a testament to her inconsistent role and injury woes throughout the season. The hope in camp is that she will return to the 2023 version of Miller after playing in Poland in the offseason.
Miller’s 2023 draft running mate, Dorka Juhasz, played an average of 8.1 minutes less last season. However, Juhasz didn’t suffer injuries last year. She was available to play in 34 games and saw improvements in her field goal percentage (a 0.7% improvement) and three-point percentage (a 5.3% improvement).
Juhasz meaningfully improved her defense, raising her defensive rating by 12.1 points. As a result of her improved shooting and defensive rating, Juhasz had a plus-6.0 net rating when she was on the court, second-best among the non-starters in 2024.
After the Lynx took her 11th overall, Alissa Pili placed herself toward the end of the Lynx’s bench in what amounted to a redshirt season. She played in just 22 games for a total of 138 minutes, most of which came at the tail end of blowout wins.
However, in the three games when the Lynx gave her 15 or more minutes, she was 13 of 22 from the field, 6 of 10 from three, and pulled down 3.3 rebounds per game. Pili committed to staying the entire offseason in Minnesota to work with the coaching staff, hoping to make a leap forward in her development.
The final returning player is somewhat of a surprise. Jessica Shepard missed the 2024 season due to overseas playing commitments, but she inked a training camp deal to return to the Lynx. In 2022 and 2023, Sheppared played over 25 minutes per game at center and was known for her interior scoring, rebounding, and physicality.
When Sheppard returned to camp, she said she had worked on a mid-range jump shot and had improved overall in terms of the speed and flow of the WNBA game. The Lynx don’t have a backup center locked into their rotation, so if she makes the team, she will be battling with Juhasz for minutes.
Camryn Taylor returns to the Lynx after they invited her to training camp in 2024. Taylor played for Esperides in Greece, where she averaged 19.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. Taylor will be able to make the team for the second consecutive season.
New to the Lynx
Grace Berger reported to the Lynx two weeks before camp began to work with the coaching staff. The former Hoosier spent two seasons with the Fever, but they let her go before the 2024 season. Berger spent the 2024 season playing overseas in Turkey, where she averaged 13.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.
She pulled double duty playing over the winter in Australia, where she again performed well, scoring 14.6 points per game, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. Berger hopes to fit in as an emergency point guard who can mimic Williams’s production with her mid-range scoring ability.
Marieme Badiane was the Lynx’s major free agent acquisition. The 30-year-old French rookie hopes to make the roster after spending her entire career playing in the Euroleague, starting at age 15 in 2009.
She will transition to the Lynx after winning the 2024 Euroleague championship and a silver medal as a member of the French national team in the 2024 Olympics. Badine is in a similar position to Juhasz and Sheppard in battling for the backup center position. Badiane fits the Lynx prototype as a spacing big by shooting 37.1% from three last season in EuroLeague and the physicality that the Lynx demand from their post players.
Rookies and camp invites
The Lynx welcomed six rookies to their competitive training camp:
Dalayah Daniels is a center out of Washington known for her ability to pass and score around the basket.
Regian Richardson is a scoring guard out of Duke who helped reset the Blue Devils’ culture and averaged 9.7 points per game.
Ajae Petty joins the competitive forward position at camp after spending her senior season with Ohio State. She started all 33 games and averaged 9.4 points and 7.2 assists over the 2024-25 season.
Christyn Williams joins the long list of UConn Huskies who have come through the Lynx organization. The 5’11″ guard hasn’t yet made her WNBA debut after finishing her time with Connecticut in 2021-22. She will look to make the Lynx as part of that backup guard rotation.
Diamond Johnson is also fighting for the third-string guard spot. The 5’5” point guard out of Norfolk State averaged 10.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists for the HBCU in her senior season.
Anastaaiia Olairi Kosu has yet to report to Lynx camp as she finishes the season with her Russian club. The 15th overall pick recently turned 20 and is still expected to report to training camp, assuming her visa process goes smoothly.
Kiara Leslie rounds out the training camp roster. The 29-year-old former 10th overall pick is attempting to make her comeback to the league after the Washington Mystics waived her in 2021. She played in Puerto Rico in 2024, where she averaged 18.3 points per game, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists.
Given the talent on the Lynx training camp roster and the lack of available spots, the energy level has ramped up as camp continues.
“For sure, the first couple days were more teaching day,” Pili noted. “Coach says it to us all the time, these next days in training camp are just going to be putting that to the test and executing that.”
The players who adapt to the structure, playstyle, and playbook will likely grab and hold on to the last roster spots. With the Lynx in win-now mode, the amount of competition at camp makes sense. The end of the roster will need to be dependable and ready at a moment’s notice to fill in during the expanded 44-game WNBA season.
With so many players fighting for a roster spot, it’s inevitable that someone who deserves a roster spot will likely not make the team. However, with the Lynx focusing on hanging a record fifth WNBA championship banner, the players who survive training camp will have earned those accolades.
