Seattle Storm Make Unofficial Final Roster Cuts
Seattle Storm small forward Alysha Clark surveys the floor against the Minnesota Lynx on July 17, 2019. Credit: Lorie Shaull
The Seattle Storm most likely set their roster for the regular season on Monday, waiving training camp tryout Brianna Fraser and rookies Serena Sundell and Mackenzie Holmes.
Parting ways with those three players brought Seattle’s active list of players to 10. Their final 11-player roster includes Katie Lou Samuelson, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in training camp. Seattle began training camp with 16 players, including five rookies. It will begin the season with just one rookie on the squad.
Assuming no more changes are made before the team’s season opener on Saturday, May 17, here is the Storm’s final roster.
*denotes rookie status
G Skylar Diggins
G Erica Wheeler
G Lexie Brown
G Zia Cooke
F Gabby Williams
F Alysha Clark
F Katie Lou Samuelson (inactive)
F Nneka Ogwumike
F/C Ezi Magbegor
C Li Yueru
C Dominique Malonga*
As expected, the Storm could only keep 11 players due to salary cap constraints. That meant head coach Noelle Quinn had to make difficult decisions regarding the team’s trio of third-round draft picks, all of whom were waived. Third-round picks Jordan Hobbs and Madison Conner were the first two players waived last week.
Sundell, who initially appeared to be a steal by the Storm in this year’s draft, is likely the toughest one for the franchise to swallow. Despite being projected as a late first-round pick in some mock drafts, Seattle took Sundell with the first pick in the third round. She struggled, though, in her first and only preseason appearance on May 4. Sundell logged one point, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and four turnovers in 20 minutes of action during the Storm’s 79-59 win over the Connecticut Sun. She apparently didn’t do enough to turn heads in Seattle’s closed scrimmage against the LA Sparks, either.
Holmes, a 2024 third-round pick who didn’t sign with the team last season due to a knee injury, stood out in the preseason victory. She nearly had a double-double with nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks — sinking 4 of 5 shot attempts. The Storm opted to keep guards Erica Wheeler and Zia Cooke over Holmes and Sundell.
It’s a win for Cooke, as the former 2023 No. 10 overall pick has earned another opportunity to justify where she was drafted. Cooke showed impressive slashing ability in the preseason victory, totaling eight points on 3-of-9 shooting.
Quinn and her staff opted for the safe keep in Wheeler, who is entering her 10th WNBA season. Wheeler came off the bench with the Indiana Fever last season for the first time since 2018 and is coming off a career-worst scoring average of 3.6 points per game. It’s yet another unfortunate example of WNBA teams having to sacrifice young talent to retain game-ready veterans due to the lack of development programs and systems the league has in place.
Regardless, the Storm have a balanced roster with plenty of do-everything talent. Malonga will have ample opportunities to contribute to the projected post rotation as a rookie. With three players down low who are over 6-foot-4, Seattle has outstanding height to protect the rim.
The Storm will begin their regular season on the road at the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday, with Malonga and multiple other players making their Seattle debut.
