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WNBA Season Preview 2019: Can the Storm weather Breanna Stewart’s absence?

By Ben Ladner

WASHINGTON D.C - SEPTEMBER 12: The Seattle Storm starters Natasha Howard #6, Sue Bird #10, Jewell Loyd #24, Breanna Stewart #30 and Alysha Clark #32 of the Seattle Storm huddle during the game against the Washington Mystics during Game Three of the 2018 WNBA Finals on September 12, 2018 at George Mason University in Washington D.C. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON D.C - SEPTEMBER 12: The Seattle Storm starters Natasha Howard #6, Sue Bird #10, Jewell Loyd #24, Breanna Stewart #30 and Alysha Clark #32 of the Seattle Storm huddle during the game against the Washington Mystics during Game Three of the 2018 WNBA Finals on September 12, 2018 at George Mason University in Washington D.C. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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When Breanna Stewart toppled to the floor in the Euroleague Championship, rupturing her Achilles’ tendon and ending her WNBA season before it started, the Seattle Storm and the WNBA fundamentally changed. No league could possibly hope to look the same without its best player, much less a team coming off a WNBA title run. Stewart is coming off a year in which she won league MVP and Finals MVP while staking her claim as the game’s best player. Now the Storm are left to grapple with what her absence means for them and how to go about filling Stewart’s void on the front line.

Fortunately, Seattle has the sort of infrastructure to weather the loss of a star player — to the extent a team even can. Sue Bird, despite entering her 17th season, proved in last year’s playoffs her capability of playing at an elite level, and will offer structure and stability to an offense now in search of a focal point. Younger guards Jordin Canada and Jewell Lloyd both figure to absorb a significant amount of what were once Stewart’s touches while Natasha Howard will be more important than ever as a roller and defensive anchor. With plenty of shooting on the roster, the Storm won’t lack for floor spacing around pick-and-rolls and post-ups. But while Seattle has talent and continuity, none of their players package their skills into the sort of all-around threat Stewart poses.

The 24-year-old was a hub in the post, a catalyst of elbow actions, an outlet on pick-and-pops and, most importantly, an immutable individual creator when she needed to be. She was the basis of the most efficient offense in the WNBA not only because of her prodigious individual ability but the gravity she possesses in the halfcourt. Much of her teammates’ success is a product of the attention defenses pay to last year’s MVP:

Absent Stewart’s pull, the offense will likely be drastically reoriented around less versatile, less skilled players. All the diligence and purpose with which Seattle ran its actions last season will become even more necessary.

Bird will have to channel the heroics of last year’s postseason more often. While Lloyd and Canada are capable of taking leaps and stepping into larger roles, their doing so isn’t a certainty. Head coach Dan Hughes could slot either Jordin Canada or Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis into the starting lineup, depending on how big or small he wants to play. Canada is more dynamic, but poses no threat as a shooter. Mosqueda-Lewis, meanwhile, shot 42 percent from deep last season — on a fairly limited sample size — and brings more size in the place Stewart once stood. But it’s Lloyd who figures to take on the bulk of Stewart’s scoring and playmaking load. The fifth-year guard had arguably her best season last year, offering complementary scoring and playmaking punch next to Stewart and Bird. She attempted and made the most 3s of any Storm player, and only Stewart earned more trips to the free-throw line. She’ll be called upon to do all of that at a higher level now, without the benefit of playing off the MVP.

Bird, who serves as the connective tissue of the entire offense, will likely initiate the action more often and make more plays out of the pick-and-roll. Last season, she was content to facilitate and take only the most open of shots; her low-usage, high-efficiency and sterling assist numbers reflected a true pass-first point guard. Now she’ll have to balance that with a higher volume of shot attempts. She is a capable shooter off the dribble, and her pick-and-rolls have the sort of gravity that allow Bird to sling passes to any spot on the floor when defenses collapse:

She and Howard have a dynamic partnership fueled by decisive downhill movement and quick decision-making:

Whether their efficiency sustains under heavier usage and less surrounding talent remains to be decided. The basketball gods could hardly have picked a worse injury not only for the Storm, but for the league at large. Stewart is central to her team’s success and to the appeal of the WNBA, and represents the best of the league has to offer. That large a void won’t be easily filled, but Seattle has little choice but to try.