Vandersloot, Stevens draw interest from Lynx
The Courtney Vandersloot competition continues to grow. Multiple league sources tell The Next that Vandersloot will meet the Minnesota Lynx once free agency begins Jan. 21.
The move comes amid a retooling of Minnesota following the retirement of Sylvia Fowles, and fittingly, the Lynx are also after a big game. Azurá Stevens is a top Lynx target, according to multiple league sources, with hopes the big all-rounder will earn maximum pay once negotiations are over.
Vandersloot ranks third in WNBA history in assists, just ahead of Lindsay Whalen, and would serve as the rightful heir to the standard Whalen established in that position during his nearly decade-long stint with the Lynx. The extent to which such a move would alter the balance of power in the WNBA could only be matched, among unrestricted free agents, by a change of teams by Breanna Stewart.
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Stevens will be busy, with at least five suitors: Connecticut, Los Angeles, Chicago and Indiana are all in the mix for his services, with another league source telling The Next to expect Washington s also implies.
It’s half the league, if you keep score at home. This type of interest and bidding is the source of maximum wages.
Vandersloot has had interest in joining Minnesota in the past, meeting them last offseason, before Allie Quigley’s decision to return for the 2022 season brought her back to Chicago Sky, her only WNBA team. With Quigley said to be in a different place on the matter this offseason, a new destination for Vandersloot is being actively considered. Seattle and New York are also in the mix, although multiple league sources said they weren’t ruling out the Sky either.
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Stevens, who turns 27 on Feb. 1, was absolute luxury for Chicago last season, an entry-level player coming off the bench behind Candace Parker and Emma Meesseman. It’s easy to imagine she works well alongside Napheesa Collier in Minnesota’s frontcourt, and not just because the two were teammates in Connecticut.
Stevens shot 36.2% on three last season on 3.3 attempts per game, while posting a 3.9 block percentage – identical, by the way, to Fowles’ mark in 2022. Also critical for a team that finished tenth in turnover percentage last season, at 19.3%, Stevens took exceptional care of the basketball, posting a microscopic 7.2 turnover percentage.
Now the Lynx are hoping she will do the same a little further north. But they are not the only ones.