This is my third time doing this “within the margins” feature, highlighting the unheralded moves in the WNBA offseason and one thing I’ve noticed about preparing for this piece is that the big moves that happen keep making bigger and bigger impacts on the sports landscape.
It seems almost laughable now that I started the 2022 version of this article by writing “The 2022 free agency period was hyped to be one of the league’s biggest ever, and so far it has lived up to that distinction” (and that was in a year where many top free agents stayed with their team). In the years since we’ve seen franchises use the recent free agency periods to build multiple super teams and just recently the 2024 WNBA draft became the talk of the sports landscape and drew a record number of viewers.
The growth in this league is for real.
Despite the attention received by these marquee free agents and draft picks, it’s more important than ever for teams to leverage their limited roster space and salary dollars to build a lineup that features individuals who can contribute immediately and often.
Again when referencing a player “within the margins” I mean someone who has signed a contract at or below $100,000 and signed to the team via free agency.
Let’s get into this year’s list.
Megan Gustafson, Las Vegas Aces
The former leading scorer of the University of Iowa signed with the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces, further raising the profile of a player who has fought for an established role and roster spot in the WNBA.
Gustafson comes to the Aces organization after a career year with Phoenix last season, serving as the backup to Brittney Griner but still establishing career highs in minutes (514), points (269), rebounds(131), blocks (14), assists (25), steals (17) and somehow even more statistical categories, like three point field goals (15). Gustafson brings an offensive jolt to an Aces team who ranked last in bench scoring during the 2023 season. For a team without many glaring weaknesses, Vegas sure found a way to patch one up going into their quest for a third championship in as many seasons.
In her progress to become an established WNBA player, Gustafson has honed a number of the skills that got her into the league in the first place, like her footwork in the post. In this highlight, you can see this offensive work on the block fits right in with an Aces offense that features A’ja Wilson.
Are there enough people talking about Megan Gustafson's footwork?
Because c'mon. pic.twitter.com/8Ym4yGzo0I
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 9, 2023
While the rebounding and defensive skills don’t match what she can provide on the offensive end, Gustafson should prove to be an important contributor and depth piece for a team primed for another deep playoff run.
(It should also be said that Megan and her corgi Pancake will fit right in with the social media celebrity of Sydney Colson and A’ja Wilson’s tweet conversations and Kelsey Plum’s memes)
Layshia Clarendon, Los Angeles Sparks
If there were a wing of the Basketball Hall of Fame dedicated to players who made an impact on their teams without ever getting the bag, Clarendon would be a first ballot pick when her career is over. The former ninth pick in the 2013 draft has adapted throughout their different stops in the league, providing playmaking, defense and scoring in a variety of different ways as each of those situations called for it.
In February, the Los Angeles Sparks re-signed Clarendon to a two-year deal, following a season that saw the vet start at point guard for 24 games and average 11.1 points, 3.4 assists and shoot a career-best 45.7% from beyond the arc. As impactful as the statistical contributions was Clarendon’s leadership to a young team adapting to first-year head coach Curt Miller’s system.
Even as player who missed the entirety of the 2022 season, after being waived by the Minnesota Lynx, Clarendon showed she belonged,
Miller spoke on that leadership value in a post game press conference after a win against the Seattle Storm late last season, saying “The toughness, the grittiness that she brings, it’s contagious for our whole team.”
After their win against Seattle, I asked Sparks HC Curt Miller about Layshia Clarendon’s impact on this team this season. @Winsidr pic.twitter.com/q00wvd9Wkm
— Imanni Wright (@ImanniWright) September 12, 2023
Los Angeles will look quite a bit different than they did last season, as Nneka Ogwumike signed with the Seattle Storm in the offseason after 12 years with the Sparks. Los Angeles has new faces like Kia Nurse, Aari McDonald and Monique Billings who arrived via free agency and trades, not to mention two lottery picks from the 2024 draft in Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson. Once could be forgiven for wondering how Clarendon will fit with this younger group’s athleticism and speed. But Clarendon has adapted to new rosters before and found ways to thrive, so it’s hard to doubt that she will find a way to do it again.
Rachel Banham, Connecticut Sun
The 2023 Connecticut Sun came into the season ready to build off their WNBA Finals run the previous year but ultimately fell short of that goal by losing in the second round of the playoffs to the New York Liberty. It was a let down for the franchise and raised a lot of questions about how far the team could go with a core featuring Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner.
Since last season the Sun have lost a number of their 2023 key contributors including Rebecca Allen, Tiffany Hayes and Natasha Hiedeman to trades and free agency and Hayes’ retirement from the WNBA.This group contributed in a number of ways, including being three of the top four in three point shot attempts for Connecticut last year.
In hopes of supplementing that loss of shooting, the team has welcomed back Rachel Banham, the fourth overall draft pick for the Sun back in the 2016 draft. Banham had spent the previous three seasons with Minnesota, where she played primarily as a backup point guard for the Lynx.
The results were mixed for Minnesota with Banham as a point guard. Her highest assist numbers were in her first season in the “Wubble” in 2020, where she averaged 2.4 per game. However her shooting number stayed consistently good and she averaged 40.2% shooting on 3.3 attempts per game from three.
RACHEL BANHAM, EVERYONE. 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/mhfTSHpOE5
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) September 4, 2023
It’s that shooting that will aid Connecticut who already have Moriah Jefferson as their primary ball handler, allowing Banham to focus less on facilitation and more on her shot.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats are via WNBA.com
