The Seattle Storm selected teenage French big Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 overall pick back in April, but through two games it's become clear that the team isn't ready to fully commit to playing the young center.
Malonga theoretically brings a great mix of scoring and athleticism to the floor. She's still a work in progress, but her game extends all across the floor and she can defend out to the 3-point line.
There are still plenty of things Malonga needs to do to refine her game though, which is part of why she's struggling to get on the floor.
Take Monday night's win over the Dallas Wings as an example. Malonga appeared in the game for exactly one minute and 21 seconds. That was it for the prized rookie.
When will Dominique Malonga see the floor more?
The good news for Malonga fans is that her time should be coming relatively soon.
She won't be able to break into the starting lineup this year. Ezi Magbegor and Nneka Ogwumike are simply too good for that to happen.
But the backup big minutes should be up for grabs, because Li Yueru just isn't cutting it right now.
Yueru was acquired as part of the trade that gave Seattle the No. 2 overall pick. The original plan was probably to use Yueru as the backup big and to draft Olivia Miles to replace the departed Jewell Loyd, but when Miles went back to school, Seattle pivoted and drafted Malonga.
Right now, Yueru is getting those minutes, but she shouldn't for long. In 13 minutes on Monday, Yueru was 0-for-5 from the floor. The Storm were a minus-6 in her minutes, the worst plus-minus on the team.
And while individual plus-minus stats in a single game tend to be relatively noisy, the fact that Yueru is shooting 2-for-11 on the year and was a minus in both games suggests that she's not long for the role.
Malonga still has to figure out the WNBA and the Storm system, but she has tremendous upside and could potentially be the best option as the third big as soon as now.
Don't be shocked to see Yueru's minutes start to drop very soon. Seattle doesn't play again until Friday and that game is against a Mercury team that already defeated Seattle once. Giving Malonga more minutes over Yueru could provide a bit of a spark in that contest.
Or maybe head coach Noelle Quinn plans to be even slower in bringing Malonga along. It's possible, considering how few minutes she played on Monday, that Malonga isn't ready yet to even play 10 minutes off the bench. She played that many in the season opener and barely showed up on the score sheet, going 1-for-2 from the floor while failing to record any rebounds, assists, blocks or steals.
But Yueru isn't cutting it. Seattle needs to do something about the backup big situation if it wants to contend. The team needs to at least see if Malonga can be a plus on the floor. If not, they need to find a way to add another talent off the bench. Because these Li Yueru minutes have been a disaster so far.
Temper expectations for Malonga, but she should get more minutes as the year goes along. Maybe she'll make a few highlight reel plays. Maybe she'll develop some rim protection. Malonga is a pick for the future in Seattle, not the present. The team just needs her to be ready for a potentially larger role in 2026.