Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) drives past Phoenix Mercury forward Brianna Turner (21) during a WNBA basketball game at the Mandalay Bay Events Center Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
Thursday, July 23, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Ever since they arrived in Las Vegas two years ago, the Aces have been set up to contend for a WNBA title. Every level of the organization, from ownership to coaching to on-court talent, is championship caliber, yet a deep postseason run has eluded the team.
That was supposed to change in 2020, but then the pandemic happened, throwing the upcoming season into the kind of tumult that renders offseason prognostications meaningless.
The league pushed its starting date back two months to July 25 and will play its season in a bubble environment at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, without fans. In addition to those abnormal circumstances, medical concerns prompted Aces star center Liz Cambage to announce she will sit out the campaign.
All that uncertainty is far from ideal for Las Vegas, with the franchise in the middle of its contention window. But that doesn’t mean 2020 has to be a lost year for the Aces. It’s probably going to be a bumpy, disjointed, anomalous season, but someone has to raise the trophy at the end. And Las Vegas is as good a bet as any team to do it. Here’s why …
The talent level remains high
Despite losing Cambage (15.9 points, 8.2 rebounds in 2019) to coronavirus concerns and Kelsey Plum (8.6 points, 36.5% from 3-point range) to injury, the Aces are still right up near the top of the league when it comes to overall talent.
When championship odds were posted back in March, pre-COVID-19, the Aces were 3-to-1 favorites to win it all. Even with the personnel losses, Las Vegas remains a 3-to-1 favorite. That’s how stacked this team is.
A’ja’s just entering her prime
Not many teams could replace a player like Cambage with another elite post option, but the Aces have A’ja Wilson ready to slide into the No. 1 role and carry the team.
Wilson deferred to Cambage a bit last season and took a step back from her rookie year, statistically speaking (16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds per game), but the lefty is quite capable of dominating down low.
Heading into her third season, Wilson should be ready to lead a championship push.
Diluted competition
The Aces aren’t the only team that has had to deal with losing top players. The defending champion Washington Mystics will be without Tina Charles and Elena Delle Donne due to coronavirus concerns, while the Los Angeles Sparks will be without Chiney Ogwumike and Kristi Toliver for similar reasons. The Connecticut Sun, which lost in the Finals last year, will have to play without star center Jonquel Jones. And the list goes on.
It’s not necessarily the way you want to win a title, but if every team is losing key contributors to coronavirus, then at least the playing field is somewhat leveled.
Hamby can handle it
Dearica Hamby made the play of the WNBA season in 2019, when her last-second steal and subsequent 3-point heave eliminated the Chicago Sky from the postseason, but her impact went way beyond that five-second sequence.
Hamby was one of the league’s top breakthrough players, and though she came off the bench most of the time—eventually earning Sixth Woman of the Year honors—she ended up being part of the Aces’ six most efficient lineup groups.
The 6-foot-3 Hamby’s versatility in the frontcourt will be important in covering for the absent Cambage. It should work out for the Aces; last year, lineups that included Hamby, Wilson and guard Kayla McBride outscored opponents by 15.3 points per 40 minutes. That should remain a killer trio for Las Vegas.
Mac attack
Speaking of McBride, she’s no longer the only “Mc” in the backcourt; the Aces signed star guard Angel McCoughtry in the offseason.
McCoughtry has played a decade in the WNBA and averaged more than 19 points per game, so there are few perimeter scorers more proven than her. She’s also been lights out in the postseason, averaging 22.8 points per game—making her exactly the kind of clutch performer the Aces need to break through in the playoffs.
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
