No Cap Space WBB Team Previews: Washington Mystics
A massive turnover of personnel and identity has led to a vision of the future in the nation's capitol. Can the Mystics show flashes of their potential ceiling this season?
After an injury plagued and brutally started 2024 season, the Washington Mystics completely cleaned house and committed to a long term rebuild. They shuffled out the Thibaults, head coach Eric and GM Mike, while trading off some long term stars like Ariel Atkins. Elena Delle Donne retired, effectively turning the page on an era punctuated by a 2019 WNBA championship. But now comes a new generation of players, led by the trio of Georgia Amoore, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.
While Amoore’s training camp injury puts a damper on the excitement of the year ahead, there is a clear youth movement happening in Washington. Which will make the Mystics a fun watch, not as much from a competitive standpoint (at least not yet) but for a vision of what can be.
2024 Lookback:
14-26 Overall (1-4 Commissioner’s Cup)
Head Coach Eric Thibault, GM Mike Thibault Fired
Hired Sydney Johnson as Head Coach
Hired Jamila Wideman as General Manager
2024 Leaders:
Ariel Atkins: 14.9 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.5 SPG
Brittney Sykes: 12.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.1 APG
Shakira Austin: 11.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.3 SPG
Who Left:
Ariel Atkins (Chicago Sky via trade)
Karlie Samuelson (Minnesota Lynx via trade)
Julie Vanloo (Golden State Valkyries via Expansion Draft)
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (Atlanta Dream via free agency)
Elena Delle Donne (Retired)
Taylor Soule (Waived)
Who’s Back:
Shakira Austin
Aaliyah Edwards
Emily Engstler
Sug Sutton
Stefanie Dolson
Sika Kone
Jade Melbourne
Brittney Sykes
Draft Picks:
Sonia Citron (Round 1, Pick 3)
Kiki Iriafen (Round 1, Pick 4)
Georgia Amoore (Round 1, Pick 6)
Lucy Olsen (Round 2, Pick 23)
Who’s New:
N/A
2025 Strengths:
Despite what many (including myself) saw as an uninspiring head coaching hire in Sydney Johnson, it appears that the Mystics actually do have a legitimate plan centered around player development and a youth movement. They’ve got a ton of talent in the frontcourt that are all under the age of 26 years old. Shakira Austin is a solid forward/center when healthy, Aaliyah Edwards discussed this spring how Unrivaled helped her become more confident while Kiki Iriafen has an extremely high upside in the WNBA. We still haven’t seen a ton of Sika Kone but the size and length are tantalizing to say the least. Add in Emily Engstler, who has emerged as a league mainstay and you have the ingredients for a really solid frontcourt of the future.
The biggest strength of this team will be in the optimism of its’ youth. It’s easy to aim for a long term vision when most of your roster is younger players all trying to paddle in the same direction. Stef Dolson and Brittney Sykes are battled tested WNBA veterans who have been in winning locker rooms and know exactly what it takes to be successful at this level. If they, along with some younger vets like Austin and Engstler are able to impress that upon the rookies and sophomores of this team, Washington could be set up really nicely in the future with a slew of versatile two-way forwards and centers.
2025 Weaknesses:
I understood at the time why the Mystics didn’t want to hang onto Julie Vanloo and protect her from the expansion draft. At the time she was 28 years old and the belief was that Washington was going to get a point guard in the WNBA Draft. They ended up doing that very thing, selecting Georgia Amoore out of Kentucky. But unfortunately, we learned this week that the rookie point guard suffered a knee injury that will likely sideline her for the entirety of this year. So it falls to Jade Melbourne and, interesting in terms of potential, Iowa rookie Lucy Olsen to run the offense. Sykes isn’t much of a facilitator nor is Sonia Citron. And while Melbourne has managed to find a place in the league, she’s still a rotational guard in the grand scheme of things. In order for the Mystics to succeed this year, she’ll have to take a big leap. Otherwise, Washington might need to find a free agent to help fill the space.
The strength of youth can also be a weakness as well. There isn’t a ton of veteran leadership on this team and as quickly as it can coalesce into a core of the future, it can also blow up if not cultivated properly. I’d like to think that players like Edwards, Austin, Citron and Iriafen are proven winners who simply won’t allow themselves to be a part of a losing franchise. But the issue with youth-centered teams is that if you learn bad habits in the league early, it can come back to bite you when you do start building a contender. The onus on vets like Sykes and Dolson is huge to make sure that the players under the age of 24 get on program and establish good routines that can make Washington an eventual squad to watch.
2025 Outlook:
I don’t expect much out of the Mystics but it’s clear that there is a long term vision in terms of rebuilding the franchise. Initially, the “we’re going to emulate our NBA partner club (the Wizards)” was a big ‘uh oh’ moment from me. But in watching the vision over there this year, it’s clear there is commitment beyond wanting to build a team good enough to be a fringe playoff group that gets bounced early. Nobody wants their team in purgatory and, even healthy, it felt like the last iteration of the Mystics was there. Now, although it might take a year or two to bear fruit, it feels like there’s a firm vision for the future.
Now the question will be whether or not ownership will allow Jamila Wideman and Sydney Johnson to see it through.
There’s a lot of really good pieces here and I truly believe that last season’s version of Kiki Iriafen was a bit of a mirage in a JuJu-centric USC world. She’s got the ceiling of a player like A’ja Wilson and has modeled her game after the W’s best player down to the single leg sleeve. If she can unlock her potential to its highest level, the Mystics will have a dynamic star to build around with a lot of really great frontcourt pieces. The point guard position will be a discussion for much of the next year but I’m gonna assume that they’ll be back in the lottery which means Wideman will have plenty of options to choose from in a stacked 2027 class.
Mystics are rebuilding but are scrappy!