Can a team finish 10 games below .500, somehow make the playoffs, get swept in the first round and, yet, still feel good about themselves?
That might be where the Atlanta Dream are at.
After a mostly nightmarish season, the Dream seemingly saved their best for last. When it mattered most, they won three-straight games—matching their longest winning streak of the season—and claimed the No. 8 seed. Following a flat Game 1 performance against the New York Liberty, the Dream played to their potential in Game 2, maximizing their strengths—challenging the top-ranked Liberty offense with connected defense while pushing the pace, moving in the half court and putting pressure on the rim to test New York’s top-three defense—in ways they had failed to do consistently throughout the season. If not for a powerhouse performance from Sabrina Ionescu, Atlanta may have forced a decisive Game 3 down South.
Instead, the team can at least take pride in their final performance of the season. Although, it remains worth exploring why it took do-or-die circumstances for that version of the Dream to emerge. Was Game 2 representative of a team finally realizing what it takes to compete game in and game out in the highest-level women’s basketball league in the world? Or, what it just another tease from a team that has underachieved?
What went right for Atlanta?
TC x ATL
There were reasons for skepticism about the Dream’s addition of Tina Charles. Since departing the Liberty after the 2019 season, she’d struggled to fit her game within other franchises’ systems and cultures.
In Atlanta, however, she found another WNBA home. Charles served as a stabilizing force for the Dream, reliably turning in double-doubles as she played in 39 games at age 35. And she even got better as the season progressed, averaging 17 points and 11.8 rebounds per game after the Olympic break. During that time, she also inked her name into the the WNBA record books, ascending to first all-time in rebounds and double-doubles and second all-time in points.
Even if her post ups, hook shots and elbow jumpers are not the ideal ingredients for an efficient offense in today’s WNBA, they still work well enough, especially for a team that could struggle to generate easy scores.
Canada in Georgia
A quick look at Jordin Canada’s stats suggest she had a decent season, as her averages and percentages dipped after a career year for the Los Angeles Sparks last season. Yet, the data does not capture the transformative impact Canada had in the 20 regular-season games she played for the Dream. She imposed order on the too-often wayward team, commanding the offense and spearheading the defense.
On offense, the lightning-quick Canada consistently broke the paint, after which she sped to the basket or collapsed the defense and found an open teammate. Oftentimes, that teammate was Rhyne Howard, who demonstrably benefitted from Canada’s creation. Frequently forced into tough 3s when Canada was sidelined, Howard enjoyed more favorable spot-up triples when sharing the court with Canada. The pairing was Atlanta’s best two-player lineup, a promising indicator for the future.
Defensively, she was dogged at the point of attack, scrambling over screens to stick with her assignment. That effort earned her more than her fair share of offensive fouls drawn, as she often induced whistles for opponents’ illegal screens. By always doing the little things, she was a defensive leader, modeling the kind of defensive attentiveness the entire roster needs to adopt for Atlanta to reach their organizational ambitions.
What went wrong for Atlanta?
Inadequate depth
While losing a combined 30 games of Canada and Howard due to injuries can explain Atlanta’s underperformance, the absence of adequate replacements exacerbated the effects of their missed time, especially that of Canada. Without Canada, Haley Jones was overextended as a starting point guard, as Crystal Dangerfield and Destanni Henderson offered only short, ineffectual stints.
Additional injuries to Cheyenne Parker-Tyus and Aerial Powers further sapped Atlanta’s depth. Both players also underperformed before being sidelined. Parker-Tyus was struggling to replicate her first-time All-Star effort of 2023, in large part because she and Charles were an ill-aligned frontcourt pairing. The Dream were outscored by a team-worst -4.2 points per game in her minutes, a mark that Powers matched. Limited to 17 games, Powers’ high-energy boom-or-bust play did not provide the off-the-bench consistency the Dream needed.
A down year from Nia Coffey added to Atlanta’s depth issues. After shooting better than 40 percent from 3 last season, the historically inconsistent shooter saw her percentage plummet to 27.3 percent in 2024. Those shooting woes resulted in a reduction of her minutes, preventing her from boosting Atlanta with her still solid defensive playmaking.
Inadequate development
A lack of development also contributed to Atlanta’s lack of depth. As noted above, Jones often seemed overwhelmed when serving as the team’s point guard. Once Canada returned, she did not have a role, seeing only 8.4 minutes per game after the Olympic break. The team’s vision for the highly-regarded prospect they selected No. 6 overall in the 2023 WNBA Draft is unclear. Is she best suited as a primary ball handler? Can she develop as an off-the-ball threat on offense? Can she sharpen her focus on defense?
The same applies to Laeticia Amihere, selected No. 8 overall in the 2023 draft. Weaponized as a versatile talent under Dawn Staley at South Carolina, Amihere has mostly been glued to the bench in Atlanta, and when she has been given scant minutes, she often seems afraid to make a mistake, rather than confident in her abilities to make plays.
What’s next for the Dream?
The Wright coach?
Apparently, WNBA teams think its fashionable to fire coaches. If this mindset is, in fact, infectious, how does Tanisha Wright survive into 2025?
However, in contrast to the hasty moves made in Los Angeles and Chicago, the Atlanta brass has given Wright three season to turn her squad into a bona fide playoff team. Even as the Dream have made two-straight postseason appearances, the Wright era feels like a disappointment. The team’s personnel—with past, present and, hopefully, future All-Stars—suggests it should be more than first-round fodder that flounders under .500 in the regular season. Additionally, it’s hard to tell if team is responsive to Wright’s voice. Based on Game 1 of the first round, not so much. Game 2, in contrast, suggests Wright’s instructions still resonate.
Should Wright be given a longer runaway, allowing the Dream’s current core to continue to slowly but steadily develop into a team with a solid cultural foundation? Or, is a fresh perspective needed, with a new head coach offering alternative strategies and motivations that better fit Atlanta’s personnel?
Who’s staying in the ATL?
The Dream’s core of Howard, Canada and Allisha Gray is under contract through the 2025 season. Naz Hillmon, who emerged at the team’s fifth starter, also is on a guaranteed contract for next season.
The biggest free agency question involves Charles. The future of the 13-year vet who will turn 36 before next season could be tied to Wright’s. Throughout the season, Charles expressed appreciation for the opportunity to resume her WNBA career in Atlanta, emphasizing the importance of Wright’s belief in her.
The decision on Charles, in turn, could inform the fate of Parker-Tyus, who also is an unrestricted free agent. As noted above, Charles and Parker-Tyus proved a poor froncourt paring. That Parker-Tyus never has developed a consistent enough 3-point shot also might encourage Atlanta to look for a big—either a starter or reserve—who could allow the team to experiment with five-out lineups, which, as Beckett Harrison recently detailed, are the best avenues to achieving an efficient offense, something that has eluded Atlanta.
The Dream should hang on to reserved free agents Maya Caldwell and Lorela Cubaj, both of whom are above-average end-of-roster options. Caldwell flashes as a game changer, coming off the bench with a fearlessness on offense and aggression on defense. Cubaj understands her role as a dirty-work big who effectively cleans the glass, runs the floor and, occasionally, unleashes some sick post moves.
Otherwise, the organization should be open to re-envisioning its bench options, with particular attention to acquiring more ball handling and shooting. Quite possibly, the futures of Jones and Amihere are not in Atlanta. Could those players be exchanged for young players in similar situations on other teams? For instance, could the Dream target the Indiana Fever’s Grace Berger, Seattle Storm’s Nika Mühl or Dallas Wings’ Lou Lopez Sénéchal?