WNBA: Collier, Reeve headline Lynx regular-season award candidates

With 4 video games remaining within the 2024 WNBA common season, the Minnesota Lynx (27-9 stay in second place, and may sew up a top-two end within the coming days. Then it’s onto the postseason, when the Lynx will compete for his or her first WNBA championship since 2017.

Within the meantime, voting will likely be underway for the 2024 WNBA regular-season awards, corresponding to Most Priceless Participant, Rookie of the Yr and Coach of the Yr. As among the finest groups within the league, the Lynx presently have candidates for a number of of those awards. Let’s run by way of which Lynx might be honored for his or her excellent regular-season performances.

Napheesa Collier

At this level, it could most likely be simpler to checklist the awards Collier isn’t a candidate for. Minnesota’s prized ahead has taken yet one more step in her ascent to full-fledged superstardom, and her title will certainly be written typically up and down award ballots when the time comes.

Statistically, Collier has probably the most spectacular resumes of any participant within the WNBA. She ranks fifth within the league in scoring (20.4 factors per recreation) and third in rebounding (9.8 rebounds per recreation) whereas additionally chipping in a career-high 3.5 assists. And although she’s the focus of Minnesota’s offense, Collier stays one of many WNBA’s best scorers; amongst WNBA gamers who try not less than 15 area purpose makes an attempt per recreation, she ranks fourth in true taking pictures proportion at 56.1 % (Throughout the Timeline).

Las Vegas Aces ahead A’ja Wilson is having a traditionally good season (27.3 factors, 11.9 rebounds and a couple of.7 blocks per recreation, together with a league-record 956 complete factors scored and counting), so it could be a shock if Collier wins MVP honors. She is, nonetheless, basically a lock for her second consecutive All-WNBA First Staff honor—and that most likely received’t be all, both.

Collier has lengthy been considered one of many few gamers within the WNBA that play at a star degree on each ends of the ground, and on a Lynx crew that has been stout defensively all season lengthy, her efforts have been extra recognizable than ever. It’s typical that the league’s Defensive Participant of the Yr award goes to a participant on a high defensive crew; as of September 12, Minnesota has the second-best defensive score within the WNBA (94.9 factors allowed per 100 possessions), so it’s possible that Collier and her 1.9 steals and 1.3 blocks per recreation will get some shine. Her capability to defend in all places on the courtroom has been her calling card since she was a rookie, and she or he’s been named to the WNBA All-Protection Staff twice in her profession. A 3rd honor in 2024 appears inevitable.

Cheryl Reeve

On condition that there are solely 12 head coaches within the WNBA, the sphere for Coach of the Yr is rarely a deep one. The winner is normally determined by some mixture of crew efficiency relative to expectations and basic ranges excellence, and based mostly on how the Lynx have performed in 2024, Reeve has a stable case to win Coach of the Yr for the fourth time in her profession.

Photograph by David Berding/Getty Photographs

It goes with out saying that the Lynx have performed wonderful basketball, and the methods during which they’ve excelled level in the direction of being a well-coached crew. They’re unselfish (76.7 % help fee; first within the WNBA), they play terrific protection they usually stack up effectively towards different high groups, having overwhelmed Las Vegas and Seattle thrice and New York as soon as.

It also needs to be talked about that Minnesota was not broadly anticipated to be amongst these groups earlier than the season started. The Lynx have been ranked from No. 6 to No. 9 in varied preseason energy rating polls, which, in hindsight, are trying like pretty poor predictions. Award voters deciding who to choose for Coach of the Yr will possible contemplate this closely when weighing Reeve’s case towards these of coaches of different high WNBA groups, corresponding to New York’s Sandy Brondello and Connecticut’s Stephanie White.

Alanna Smith

It takes multiple participant to make a crew’s protection, and in Minnesota’s case, the defensive playmaking capability among the many roster’s frontcourt gamers is only one purpose why the Lynx are so good on that finish of the courtroom.

Whereas Collier is having an incredible defensive season and can possible be rewarded for that, Smith is one other Lynx participant who might be honored on this season’s All-Protection Staff. As proven by Swish Attraction’s Josh Felton in his latest video analyzing Minnesota’s excellent protection, Smith has been one of many WNBA’s high shot-blockers, swatting 1.5 pictures per recreation and rating No. 7 within the league in blocked shot fee (4.9 %; Her Hoop Stats). In complete, she’s averaging 2.8 mixed defensive stats (steals plus blocks, or “shares”) per recreation.

Alone, these numbers wouldn’t make Smith a shoo-in for an All-Protection honor, however taken throughout the context of Minnesota’s protection as a crew, it’s very potential that she’ll be the second Lynx represented. Smith might even garner a number of votes for All-WNBA, relying on how a lot the voters weigh protection, as a result of she’s no slouch offensively both; she’s presently averaging profession highs in scoring (10.4 factors) and assists (3.1), whereas taking pictures 42.9 % on 3-pointers.