2024 WNBA Training Camp News: Week 1
The confetti has fallen in the Women's NCAA Tournament, the celebrations surrounding the draft have concluded, and teams have begun training for the start of the WNBA season.
Now that most players have reported to camp, there's more clarity surrounding some of the players who dealt with offseason injuries, either from last year's WNBA campaign or from playing elsewhere over the winter. Several teams received good news as training camp got underway, but some teams, such as Dallas, found out that they'll be playing without key players early in the year.
We've combed through the news updates over the first few days of camp and are emphasizing the most important stories. To see how these updates impact Fantasy WNBA Rankings, check out RotoWire's Fantasy WNBA Cheat Sheet and Fantasy WNBA Projections.
Satou Sabally Out Through Olympic Break
Satou Sabally was one of the biggest question marks heading into training camp. She dealt with injuries over the first three years of her career but finally stayed healthy for most of the season in 2023 and averaged 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals in 33.1 minutes per game, all the best marks of her career. That put her on track to be a first-to-second-round target in this year's fantasy drafts, but she underwent shoulder surgery in mid-February. While she's on track in her recovery, the Wings recently revealed that they don't expect her to return to the court in the WNBA until after the Olympic break, meaning she's on track to miss at least the first 25 games of the season.
Sabally is among the league's strongest players when healthy, but fantasy managers will have to decide this spring whether they want to commit to the forward occupying their IR spot over the first half of the year. Also, while Sabally plans to play in the Olympics this year, she may face some restrictions once she rejoins the Wings in August, making her especially risky in this year's fantasy drafts. Her absence also leads to the question of who will fill her shoes. Kalani Brown will be back with the team in 2024 after an encouraging 2023 campaign, and she was already expected to see additional playing time with Awak Kuier sitting out this year. Brown could see more playing time, as well as Maddy Siegrist and Lou Lopez Senechal, both top-5 picks in last year's draft. Lopez Senechal missed last season due to a knee injury, but Siegrist was healthy for most of the year and struggled to see much time on the court. Siegrist and Lopez Senechal had productive careers, so they could have a chance to make an impact in Sabally's absence in 2024.
Brionna Jones Expects to be Ready for Start of Season
Brionna Jones has been a stellar contributor for the Sun over the past four seasons, and she was on track for a career-best year in 2023, averaging 15.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals in 31.7 minutes per game over her first 13 appearances. However, she ruptured her Achilles in June and was forced to miss the remainder of the season. She rejoined the Sun on a one-year deal during the offseason, and coach Stephanie White revealed Sunday that she expects Jones to be ready for the regular-season opener against the Fever on May 14.
While Jones hasn't yet been cleared for game action, she's been able to work out over the past month and will presumably ramp up as the first week of training camp progresses. Even if the 28-year-old is ready for the regular-season opener, it wouldn't be surprising to see Connecticut ease her into action and potentially give her some games to rest, especially early in the year. However, Jones has been healthy for most of her career before last season's major injury. While I'm slightly tempering expectations for Jones in case she's limited early in the year, she's still a strong mid-round target in fantasy drafts who should reward fantasy managers if she can handle a full workload early on.
Shakira Austin Cleared for 5-on-5 Work
Shakira Austin underwent surgery over the winter to repair a torn labrum in her hip, and she was expected to have a recovery timetable of 4-6 months. She's entered the second half of that timetable, and coach Eric Thibault recently provided an encouraging update by saying that Austin has resumed 5-on-5 work. The 23-year-old hasn't yet been fully cleared for game action, but she's looked aggressive while participating in drills over the first few days of training camp. Her status for the preseason is in question, but it wouldn't be surprising to see her cleared to play around the start of the regular season.
Two of the biggest news items of the offseason were Elena Delle Donne stepping away from basketball and Natasha Cloud signing with the Mercury. With both stars now away from the team, Austin should have a chance to take on a sizable role in 2024 once she's fully healthy. She took a step forward during her second professional season last year, averaging 10.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in 23.2 minutes per game. With so much usage vacated during the offseason, Austin is in prime position to have a strong 2024 campaign and appears to be trending in the right direction health-wise as training camp gets underway.
Candace Parker Announces Retirement
Candace Parker's retirement has more real-life significance than fantasy relevance heading into the 2024 season, but it's still one of the biggest stories to begin training camp. The back-to-back champion Aces haven't had much trouble dominating opponents over coach Becky Hammon's first two years with the team, but Las Vegas now has a hole on its roster ahead of the regular season.
Kiah Stokes served as the main fill-in starting option when Parker was hurt last year, but Stokes didn't make many fantasy waves, averaging just 2.4 points and 6.6 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game as a starter. Alysha Clark came off the bench in all but one of her appearances last year but was the slightly more valuable fantasy option, averaging 7.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game. The Aces also added center Megan Gustafson, who could carve out a sizable role in the frontcourt. Even if Stokes begins the season as a starter for Las Vegas, Clark and Gustafson are the players I'm prioritizing slightly more in fantasy drafts this spring. Especially if the Aces consistently blow out opponents for a third consecutive season, Clark and Gustafson should see decent run off the bench and have proven to be more reliable per-minute contributors.
Kelsey Mitchell Dealing with Ankle Injury
Kelsey Mitchell hasn't received significant attention during the offseason after the Fever selected Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft. However, Mitchell is still a prolific scorer, as she's averaged 18.1 points per game over the past four seasons. While her scoring opportunities will likely decline in 2024 with Clark in the fold, Mitchell is still worth considering in the middle rounds of fantasy drafts.
The severity of Mitchell's injury is relatively unclear, but the guard has been able to get some shots up in practice over the first few days of camp. I'm not too concerned about her availability for the start of the regular season, but it'd be encouraging to see her cleared to suit up for preseason action. If she's forced to miss any time, Erica Wheeler could handle a starting role. Mitchell's injury appears to be a minor concern at this point, but her status is still worth monitoring with the regular season less than two weeks away.
