If you follow women’s basketball and its social media channels, you’ve probably formed an opinion about Angel Reese that nothing you’re about to read will change.
You like her or you don’t; there’s no middle ground. And if you like her, you probably think the Minnesota Lynx were crazy for not drafting her.
Reese, the 6-foot-3 rookie power forward and dynamic rebounder from Louisiana State University, hit town this past Sunday with the Chicago Sky and offered irrefutable evidence she belongs in the Rookie of the Year conversation with Indiana’s Caitlin Clark. Reese broke WNBA single-season records for total and offensive rebounds that day en route to 17 points and 19 rebounds, one of her 25 double-doubles on the season.
That wasn’t enough to stop the Western Conference-leading Lynx from outplaying Chicago in the fourth quarter to win, 79-74. But it left an impression on the Target Center crowd of 8,421, some of whom booed as she shot free throws late in the game.
Relentlessness is the trademark of all great rebounders, from Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain in the 20th Century NBA to Sylvia Fowles and Rebekkah Brunson in the more recent WNBA. Smart coaches call rebounding one of the most transferable skills from college to the pros; if you can board in the Southeastern Conference or the Big Ten, you can board in the WNBA. Reese proves that every time she steps on the court.
Reese’s passion to pursue every loose ball was evident late in the second quarter. After missing a running one-hander, Reese changed direction, dove into the lane, outhustled three Lynx for the rebound and fed former Lynx Rachel Banham, who also missed. That Reese wore a Dennis Rodman jersey to another recent game was apt; they share the same every-rebound-belongs-to-me mindset.
“It’s a tremendous mentality,” said Chicago Coach Teresa Weatherspoon, a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. “Most people don’t like to do what we all call the dirty work, to go rebound, because most people don’t think that’s the pretty part of the game of basketball. But it’s a part of the game of basketball that helps everybody win. Her role is to go get rebounds, and she goes and gets those rebounds. She takes it very personally, and she takes it very seriously.”
Reese confirmed this postgame Sunday.
“Offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds are something I know I could always do,” she said. “A lot of people think it’s because I get my own rebounds. Physically, it’s not. A lot of people think it’s because I’m the tallest on the court, when I’m not the tallest on the court.
“Defense and rebounding wins championships, and I’ve won championships at every level by just doing that. So coming into the league, before I sharpen up on my offense game, being able to come in and have that on my shoulders as something I could always do, I knew would translate.”
That mentality certainly could have benefitted the Lynx, who rank eighth in the 12-team league in rebounding. Reese was among the players the Lynx considered drafting with the No. 7 pick before the club swapped selections with No. 8 Chicago, which wanted Reese badly enough to include in the deal young forward Sika Kone, a second-round pick in 2025 and the right to swap first-round picks in 2026. (The Sky also acquired forward Nikolina Milic from Minnesota.) The Lynx then took Utah’s Alyssa Pili, a promising though undersized power forward who still hasn’t cracked the regular rotation.
At first glance, it appears a huge miss by President of Basketball Operations and head coach Cheryl Reeve, her biggest since taking full control of the basketball side in December 2017. And in the long run, the Lynx may regret this. But there’s a lot more to parse here, from the Lynx’s long-term personnel strategy to how Reese would have fit with the current roster. (We’re deliberately avoiding Reese’s status as a fashion and cultural icon, and the ongoing social media clash between her fans and Clark’s. Neither seems relevant here.)
Let’s start with the basketball part: Reese and MVP candidate Napheesa Collier play the same position, which casual fans and newcomers to the WNBA may not realize. Collier is one of the three best players in the league, and the Lynx built this roster to maximize and compliment her skills. Given that, Reese wouldn’t start for the Lynx or play as much as she does with Chicago. (Sunday, Reese logged more than 38 minutes, the most of any player on either team.)
But Reese wouldn’t ride the bench, either. Had the Lynx taken Reese, Reeve speculated Reese might have rotated in with Collier and Australian Olympian Alanna Smith, an undersized center who’s having a career-best season. Sliding Collier to small forward might gain Reese more minutes as well, Reeve said.
“I suspect if Angel Reese was rebounding and defending, she’d be on the court,” Reeve said. “Probably not be a starter, because we had Phee and (Smith) in that space. But there’s no question she’d be playing, yeah.”
It’s also worth revisiting why the Lynx made the trade in the first place, which Reeve detailed in an interview with MinnPost back in April.
The Lynx sought to stockpile “draft capital,” i.e. players and draft picks to use to move up in the 2025 draft. With one year to go before the end of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the 2025 free agent class figures to be thin. The best ones are expected to sign one-year extensions so they can benefit from a higher veteran salary scale in the new collective bargaining agreement.
If the Lynx stay where they are in the standings, they’ll pick ninth in the draft. To land an impactful player, they need to be in the top four.
In the end, as much as the Lynx liked Reese’s game, they felt Pili’s three-point shooting potential better fit their spread-the-floor offense. And Reeve correctly predicted that decision left the Lynx, and her, open to the kind of second-guessing that’s gone on for weeks.
“We had a very motivated team that wanted the seventh (draft) spot,” Reeve said then. “We thought moving from seven to eight, getting back the draft capital and getting a player that matched the skillset we wanted, we got to a place where we got very confident with what was going to happen. There were a lot of players in the draft we liked. And if we did not move, we would be very happy as well.
“Angel certainly had a lot to offer. Her floor is, she’s going to defend, she’s going to rebound, she’s going to o-board (offensive rebound). I think she’s a great passer. She has some very strong qualities as a pro. We just kind of looked at our situation. No one is a sure thing other than Caitlin Clark, like a sure-thing sure thing. Time will tell. We all get really smart when we have the hindsight.”
The Lynx already used one asset from the deal – Kone – to acquire veteran forward Myisha Hines-Allen from Washington. Putting together a package to move up in the draft to take a future star (Paige Bueckers, anyone?) would make Reeve’s choice more defendable.
For now, Reese proved a better fit in Chicago with up-and-coming center Kamilla Cardoso and Weatherspoon’s defensive-minded coaching. But Reese’s offense needs work. If she develops her midrange game and finishes better inside – she’s shooting roughly 40% from the field, not great for a post player – Reese could be superstar. As it is, she’s an All-Star and an Olympic Team candidate for 2028.
And the Lynx? Even without Reese, Reeve assembled her best team since the four-championship dynasty, one that appears one star player away from another run of titles. The trick will be finding that player, to make everyone forget about the one they let get away.
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