WNBA Season Preview 2019: Every team's best case scenario

WNBA Season Preview 2019: Every team’s best case scenario

By Miles Wray | May 21, 2019

UNCASVILLE, CT - MAY 14: Kia Nurse #5 of the New York Liberty shares a laugh with Teresa Weatherspoon before the game against the Atlanta Dream on May 14, 2019 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. 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 the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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BROOKLYN, NY – MAY 9: Han Xu #21 of The New York Liberty is introduced prior to a game against the China National Team on May 9, 2019 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. 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 the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Matteo Marchi/NBAE via Getty Images) /

New York Liberty: Kia Nurse locks in a role as a full-time starter; Han Xu shows long-term potential

Unlike the other three rebuilding teams, the Liberty regularly won 20-plus games a year as recently as 2017. This means the Liberty roster doesn’t have high-lottery picks all up and down their rotation: there is only rookie Asia Durr, the second overall pick this spring. Accordingly, the Liberty need to get the most out of their later draft picks, specifically, Nurse (No. 10 in 2018) and the cerebral, 6-foot-9, 19-year-old Xu (No. 14 in 2019). The emergence of Nurse, in particular, would help pave the way forward in New York: in 2018, the Liberty’s roster was bizarrely guard-heavy. Having Nurse and Durr locked-in-place would allow the team to fill more specific roles with its bench.