Kayla McBride has chosen to leave the Las Vegas Aces to sign with the Minnesota Lynx. Minnesota has a glaring hole in their backcourt. Where McBride will slot in is interesting, though with Odyssey Sims and Rookie of the year Crystal Dangerfield both expecting to start and play big minutes. While Sims struggled last year that was not unexpected coming off giving birth. My gut feel is that McBride will start over Odyssey Sims.
It, however, cannot go unstated that Kayla McBride was terrible in the bubble for the Las Vegas Aces. Without Kelsey Plum Vegas needed McBride to be a strong outside threat and she just was only shooting 34% from three point range which is down from 42% in 2019. Now it must be said 2019 was her career high and the only time she has shot above 40% on 3. I guess what I am getting at is I am not sure Kayla McBride is that great of a basketball player anymore.
Most people see this probably as a slam dunk fit but Sims and Dangerfield are both high usage players in the backcourt. I assume this move was made to get less usage players back there so the team focuses on getting the ball to Collier and Fowles. While this move does improve Minnesota some it doesn’t get them any closer to being a contender. This is still a team that will probably be an underdog in the first round of the playoffs.
DFS Impact of Kayla McBride to Minnesota Lynx: It’s a downgrade for Sims and Dangerfield as McBride should cut into their playing time. For McBride it’s more of a lateral move as she goes from being the 3rd option on a team to still being a 3rd option. This is before we factor in if Kayla McBride is still good.