Storm Desperately Need Champion Awa Fam Ready to Roll
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2048"]
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert (left) poses for photos with Awa Fam Thiam who was selected third overall by the Seattle Storm during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed at Hudson Yards. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images [/caption]
Awa Fam, the Seattle Storm’s No. 3 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft, will be joining her new team as a champion.
Fam and Valencia, the team she has played for in Spain since 2021, won the Liga Feminina Endesa Championship on Sunday, May 17, defeating Casademont Zaragoza 68-67 on a buzzer-beater layup.
It wasn’t her best game, but Fam totaled six points on two 3-pointers and added four rebounds, one assist and a steal.
Valencia’s season is what has been keeping Fam, 19, from joining the Storm, who are currently 1-2 ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Indiana Fever (1-2). Fam will still have to get to Seattle and potentially get a short rest before she can get on the court for the Storm this season.
Then, of course, there’s the fact that Fam has no reps with the current lineup, meaning she will have to ease into playing time. Head coach Sonia Raman may start working Fam in quickly since the entire Storm lineup is still jelling, and she figures to be a big part of the 2026 plans.
The championship, while a huge accomplishment for Fam and Valencia, made her timetable for joining the Storm the latest it could be. That’s good for Valencia and bad for the Storm.
Fam, along with 2025 No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga and rookie No. 8 pick Flau’jae Johnson, are the prospective future of the Storm, and all are 22 years old or younger. We just haven’t seen how that trio will work together yet.
Fam can’t arrive soon enough
Even after keeping extra frontcourt depth, the Storm still don’t have enough pieces in the post.
Ezi Magbegor is still sidelined due to injury, with no update on her timetable. It’s been nearly a month since the Storm announced Magbegor will be reevaluated in six to eight weeks.
Malonga has also been ruled out for Sunday’s matchup with a concussion. The Storm star hit her head on the court on a hard foul in Wednesday’s loss to the Toronto Tempo and now will miss at least one game.
Seattle does have a few days off before facing the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday, May 20. It’s unclear the severity of Malonga’s concussion, however, so her status for that game is unknown.
That leaves the Storm with Stefanie Dolson, Mackenzie Holmes and Grace VanSlooten as the team’s only true post players who are healthy. When Magbegor, Fam and Malonga are healthy and with the team, it’ll be a deep rotation. But it’s currently extremely thin.
The Fever haven’t had the best start to the season either, but it’ll be a tough matchup for that frontcourt against Indiana center Aliyah Boston and forward Monique Billings. Seattle is already averaging the second-fewest points per game so far this season (80.7) among WNBA teams, and it won’t get any easier on Sunday.
It’s going to take time before we see the full potential of this Storm roster. There’s plenty of games left, so it’s no rush, but that will be when fans can really begin to get excited (or anxious) about the future.
