Hello and happy Friday! It is Tyler here holding down for Andrew to cap-off our week of free daily newsletters coming your way!

We had a fun night of games so let us dive into the thoughts that have stuck with me from the slate.

Tyler answered the Ball-Knowers’ questions on the NCS Hotline…

If you gave me a non-incredibly dramatic but dramatic enough number of guesses on who would be leading the WNBA in three point percentage on July 10th, my guess wouldn’t have been Aliyah Boston. And yet here we are. It is July 10th and Aliyah Boston is leading the WNBA in three point percentage.

Prior to this WNBA campaign, Boston never attempted more than a three per game. Now she is up to 2.8 threes per game and shooting 46.4%. It is a remarkable addition to her game and it is a growth that she is pursuing with massive confidence. It truly does feel that visually speaking her deep ball gets smoother by the attempt.

The new weapon in AB’s arsenal also provides brand new opportunities for the Fever offense. Boston generally has possessed the movement and playmaking of a more modern big but being able to space the floor in the modern game is a major option to have for bigs. AB already possess a MVP caliber offensive skill-set and this is another feather in the cap as she grows into her prime as a player.

In the time it took me to write this sentence Kelsey Mitchell has already scored another bucket. Imagine having Aliyah Boston adding a three point shot in the way that she has and she still hasn’t been the most dominant offensive player on your team. It is a ridiculously impressive run that Kelsey Mitchell is on right now.

It has been easy to get caught up in the discussion of the Fever’s overall teambuilding and fit due to the fact that wins haven’t come in the way it was anticipated, I am certainly guilty of that. But last night watching this Fever game, I truly felt nothing but awe for the pure bucket getting that Kelsey Mitchell was displaying. And the thing is that it isn’t anything new.

Over the last two seasons with players in and out of the lineup and non-stop #discourse, the primary constant for the Fever is Kelsey Mitchell’s offensive abilities. We think about signature moves in basketball, and while it isn’t a move, the burst on Mitchell’s first step is up there with the most unstoppable signatures moves in basketball. I understand there is ALWAYS something with the Fever, but don’t let the all-time offensive talent that Kelsey Mitchell possesses be ignored.

The Seattle Storm are in an unique position of suffering from success. Normally when your record is the second worst in the league, that is not something you will have to deal with. But when you have Dominque Malonga, Awa Fam, and Ezi Magbegor, that is an equation that you do eventually need to solve.

In my eyes there are a couple of ways this can go. You can keep Magbegor and have her start alongside Fam and Malonga. In my eyes, this is incredibly dependent on the continued growth of Fam and Malonga’s outside shooting, which have shown genuine flashes at different degrees. You also could have Magbegor coming off the bench, which would be an incredible piece to have as depth, but to me Magbegor feels too good to be satisfied with that.

Then you get to Andrew’s tweet, and it is a question I don’t have an answer to. In terms of guards in the WNBA, you don’t have a large volume of impactful and tradeable ones that would feel worth it in a trade for Magbegor. I certainly think there are generally teams that would love her on the roster, first to mind are Dallas and Golden State, that might be willing to give up draft capital to add her.

Regardless, to me now this season has one goal more important than any for the Storm, deciding if your three forwards work together in a way that Seattle would feel comfortable putting resources into building around long-term.

Chicago Sky (7-14) vs. Los Angeles Sparks (9-11): 10:00pm ET on ION

Loser gets the title of worst franchise in the league! (Kidding……….kinda). This is a big one folks as both teams try to make a push for the 8th seed. The Sparks are just a game behind the Mystics and coach Kelsey Plum has relit the fire that this team DESPERATELY needed. For the Sky, winning is a fantastic medicine to any locker room issues. They also are barely hanging on to being able to say that they are in the race for the playoffs as they sit 3.5 games back from the 8th seed. It still feels early-ish to rule teams out. But the Sky are teetering on that line, and wins against teams around them in the standings could make or break a push for the playoffs.

The WNBA is losing control of its own story, by Seerat Sohi, The Ringer

Inside Olivia Miles’ record-breaking WNBA rookie season, by Michael Voepel, ESPN

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