Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles making a splash in her rookie season
Plenty of rookies find themselves on juggernaut franchises their first year in the WNBA.
Connecticut Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti, for instance, came into the league as a fourth-round pick in 1999, joined a Houston Comets team fresh off back-to-back championships, and it took more than a month for her to see what it was like to lose a game. But with living monuments like Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson on the roster, minutes were scarce.
At the same time, plenty of rookies have made splashy entrances — from Seimone Augustus averaging 21.9 points as a rookie with the Minnesota Lynx in 2006 to A’ja Wilson putting up 20.7 points and 7.5 rebounds as a rookie with the Las Vegas Aces in 2018 to Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers bringing an instant boost to the Indiana Fever and Dallas Wings by averaging 19.2 points each the past two seasons — but the wins lagged behind.
The Lynx won 10 games in Augustus’s first season. The Aces went 14-20. The Fever went 20-20 in Clark’s first season. The Wings won 10 games last year.
But the list of players who broke into the league with big numbers and find ways to make those numbers fuel wins is both short and elite.
Through her first 11 WNBA games, Olivia Miles has put herself on that list and put the Lynx (9-2) at the top of the standings.
Miles, the No. 2 overall pick in April’s draft out of Texas Christian, has made the transition to the professional level look frighteningly easy. She’s averaging a team-high 17.2 points, 6.3 assists (seventh in the league) and 5.0 rebounds (tied for third among guards) per game.
The scary part? After the Lynx stretched their winning streak to seven games with a win over Seattle, Miles said it’s only getting easier.
“Obviously we’ve got a lot of new pieces — me being one of them,” she said. “But just playing with people who have been here and have been in the league for a long time, it makes it almost easier because I’m able to ask them questions, see what they need and what I can do to get them open and make them better. So getting more comfortable each game.
“Obviously, finding my shot, finding my rhythm, adjusting to the physicality and intensity and it can only go up from here.”
The start to her career already puts her in rare air. It’s rare for players to have so much on their shoulders so early in their careers, but the players who did it before Miles are all Hall of Famers. Yolanda Griffith, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Cynthia Cooper and Diana Taurasi all averaged at least 17 points and 30 minutes per game while winning more than half of their first 11 games. Miles has more wins at that stage.
The Lynx have dominated the past two regular seasons. They’ve been among the top three teams in wins for all but 13 days over the past two years.
That was thanks in no small part to having Napheesa Collier as their centerpiece. But with Collier recovering from offseason surgery on both ankles and expected to be out until mid-June, it was uncertain how the team would hold up in her absence.
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Miles has helped solve that problem. The Lynx are plus-142 when Miles is on the floor.
Whether it was at Notre Dame, where she started out, or TCU, Miles’s playmaking ability made her special.
“It’s a gift,” said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. “It’s a generational gift. You just don’t see it very often.”
A gift, she said, she tries not to interfere with — even as a four-time champion as a head coach.
“I don’t coach her passing — at all,” Reeve said. “I try to stay out of the way of that. We try to play call to feature some of the things we know she’s going to find. She just has an incredible, incredible gift on the instincts of who’s open, when they’re open. Just sees it before everybody else.”
Aneesah Morrow is a rebounding machine
Aneesah Morrow is all of 6-feet, 1 inch tall. But through 12 games, the only people hitting the glass harder than her right now are Angel Reese (11.7 rebounds per game) and Jessica Shepard (11.4).
Morrow’s averaging 10.9 boards for the Sun. Her 3.1 offensive rebounds per game ranks third in the league.
She’s among the top rebounders in the league, but for players her size, she’s on another level entirely. Of players 6-1 or shorter, the next closest player to Morrow is Kayla Thornton, who’s pulling down 5.5 boards a night.
At this pace, Morrow’s putting up the best rebounding season ever for a player her size. Napheesa Collier, also 6-1, averaged 9.7 rebounds in 2024.
In her second season, Morrow also leads the league with eight double-doubles and, with 12.3 points per game, she’s emerged as Connecticut’s second-leading scorer behind Brittney Griner (12.8).
Appointment viewing
Lynx at Aces, Saturday: In the five-year history of the Commissioner’s Cup, there still hasn’t been a repeat champion, but the Aces and Lynx have as good a shot as any team in the league. The franchises each already have a Cup title (Aces, 2022; Lynx, 2024) and they have a combined 58 wins in Cup play (through Sunday). The Lynx are 3-0 in Commissioner’s Cup play this season (through Sunday). The Aces are 2-0 (they play Seattle Monday).
Aces at Fire, Thursday: On paper, the defending champs going on the road to face one of the league’s two new expansion teams might seem innocuous. But the Portland Fire already have two high-profile wins under their belt after knocking off the championship-minded New York Liberty (on the road and at home!) and clipping the Indiana Fever. Carla Leite, a second-year guard from France, is having a breakout season, averaging 14.4 points and 5.1 assists through her first 10 games.
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