Haley Jones Is A Dream Fit In Atlanta | 2023 WNBA Draft Grades
Haley Jones fell in the WNBA Draft into the perfect situation with the Atlanta Dream. Plus draft grades for every WNBA team.
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It’s been a long time. I shouldn’t have left you without a dope newsletter to step to… there’s probably like four people reading this that will remember what song that’s referencing. Anyways, I was gone for the Final Fours in Texas and the WNBA Draft in New York City. It was incredible to see Caitlin Clark’s masterpiece against South Carolina, my Miami Hurricanes compete in the Final Four, Angel Reese getting her ring, AND my first WNBA Draft in-person! I want to dig deep into all of those things, but first I want to talk about my favorite draft pick from this weekend.
A Dream Fit For Haley Jones
Succeeding in the WNBA requires much more than talent, skills, and even practice. Once you get to the level with the best 144(ish) women’s basketball in the world, everyone has tremendous talent, supreme skills, and psycho practice habits (I mean that as a compliment) relative to college basketball players. The controllables aren’t enough. Players need to stay healthy and need to be put in the right situation to reach their potential.
I believe Haley Jones landed in the perfect situation for her in Atlanta. She fell in the draft according to outsiders’ expectations. But Atlanta provides her with the opportunity, needs, and surrounding talent to grow into a major contributor in the WNBA.
Every young player needs playing time to grow and, unfortunately, many first round picks in the 2023 class may get fewer minutes than needed due to playing on teams that believe they are contending. Others may not play many meaningful minutes because they play for struggling teams. Atlanta is in a sweet spot where they should compete for a playoff spot but still have plenty of playing time for young players.
They especially have spare minutes for ball handlers. Aari McDonald and Danielle Robinson are the team’s only point guards at the moment. McDonald should get more reps as a pick-and-roll operator to develop her already impressive skills in that area. Robinson is a proven veteran with a defensive focus. While she can run an offense good enough, she’s also 33 and not a part of the team’s future. Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray can handle the ball and should get the bulk of Atlanta’s possessions. However, neither of them are true point guards in the sense of getting the team into their offense. Both score much more efficiently after the ball gets moving.
Hopefully, McDonald proves herself on both ends and takes the starting point guard role for the long term. Even in that best-case scenario, the Dream still need another point guard. Jones’s versatility as a big with point guard skills means that she could be the second point guard and play with McDonald. This role would also alleviate some of the strain from Jones’s lack of a perimeter shot. If she eventually takes the starting power forward spot from Monique Billings, Jones will be adding ball handling to the Dream while replacing another non-shooter off the floor. Billings is a good player and great rebounder, but Jones’s ability to run the pick-and-roll and drive could create more space for the Dream’s two stars.
It’s worth mentioning that it is not impossible that Jones develops a three-point shot. Jones shot 21.9% on just 105 three-point attempts in her college career. In the basketball business, we call that bad. However, there are examples of poor college shooters finding their stroke in the WNBA. Azurá Stevens (27.3% on 150 3-point attempts in college), Nia Coffey (30.7%, 309 3pa), Nneka Ogwumike (21.4%, 28 3pa), and Myisha Hines-Allen (31.3%, 32 3pa) all turned it around to shoot over 35% from deep in the WNBA. Others like Betnijah Laney (28.9%, 128 3pa) and Kayla Thornton (28.5%, 312 3pa) got good enough from three to allow their talents to shine through.
The morsel of hope for Jones’s three-point shot is her low volume. Not attempting a lot of in-game threes means she may not have fully ingrained bad mechanics. Hines-Allen, Ogwumike, Laney, and Stevens succeeded likely in part because they could build their shot in the pros, rather than having to rebuild it. I’d say Jones’s shot mechanics and footwork are more inconsistent than broken. I’ll admit that this is a thin argument and I don’t expect Jones to suddenly start bombing threes. But she will get better looks from deep when she plays off-ball with WNBA spacing. Developing her deep shot will also likely be more of an emphasis for the Atlanta coaching staff than it was for Stanford’s.
Another area where Jones could succeed in spite of her college numbers is in transition. Her skill set and size match the description of a grab-and-go break starter. In Stanford’s championship year, she played the role perfectly and ranked 193rd in points per possession in transition including assists. She fell off a cliff over the next two seasons in the category. She ranked 843rd in her junior year and 969th this season.
In Atlanta, she will be encouraged to get the ball down the court as fast as possible and her role should allow her to be more efficient. Her finishing on the break seems like the main culprit for her poor numbers. When she’s on the court with Howard and Gray, Jones will have two elite play finishers who run the wings and leak out well. She is great at pitching the ball ahead and should drop dimes to those two frequently. Atlanta ranked dead last in the WNBA in points per transition possession. Jones should put her teammates in the best positions to score on the break and can hopefully get the Dream more easy buckets.
Finally, we gotta talk about defense! Jones should be able to guard most non-centers in the WNBA. She’s strong with a low center of gravity to bang in the post and has the mobility to prevent guards from blowing by her. Her poor screen navigation skills may cause some growing pains. But the value of Jones to Atlanta particularly is that she’ll cover up for the deficiencies of her teammates. She can switch onto bigger guards if McDonald struggles, she can guard bigger fours so Howard doesn’t have to, and she can fill in for whoever gets in foul trouble. Along with fellow draftee Laeticia Amihere, Jones will round out an already solid Atlanta defense.
It’s unlikely that everything works out exactly how I just laid it out. But the fact that Jones has the chance to contribute in so many ways and put her teammates in better roles to succeed shows how good of a fit she is in Atlanta. Talent wins out in basketball and the absolute best players should flourish in any situation. But a lot of good and even great players have specific skill sets that need to be developed in the right environment. Jones seems like the latter and Atlanta seems like the perfect environment.
(Kind of) Quick Grades
I feel like I need to say something about each team’s draft and everybody seems to do grades. They’re pretty pointless as evidenced by my grades last season when I ranked Las Vegas as having the 6th-best draft before they cut a player they traded up for ahead of training camp. This year, we’re getting this out of the way as quickly as my verbosity allows. Grades are only for the impact of the team’s draft night decisions on the future of the franchise.
Rubric: A=very positive, B=positive, C=neutral, D=negative, F=very negative
Indiana Fever: A
Lin Dunn is getting it done in Indy. They got a franchise piece in Aliyah Boston at #1 and a potential contributor in Grace Berger at #7. Those two along with last year’s haul of NaLyssa Smith, Emily Engstler, Lexie Hull, Queen Egbo, and Destanni Henderson have formed an impressive young core. Taylor Mikesell has to win a camp battle to get on the team, but she’s an excellent shooter and teams never have enough shooting. LaDazhia Williams and Victaria Saxton were great value picks but seem likely to get cut.
Minnesota Lynx: A
#2 pick Diamond Miller should make an immediate impact and could be a starter this season. The Lynx’s biggest need was a stretch five to fit around Napheesa Collier in the long term. They grabbed Maïa Hirsch, who will stay in Europe for the time being, and Dorka Jushaz. Hirsch has a tantalizing skill set with a long runway to grow. Jushaz could get into the rotation this season, albeit with a lower projected ceiling. Brea Beal, the last pick of the 2nd round, and Taylor Soule, a 3rd round selection, were first-round talents according to your boy. I doubt they make the squad so they didn’t factor into the grade. But great value!
Washington Mystics: A-
The Thibaults did it again. They traded the 4th overall pick to Dallas for a second-rounder in 2024 and a first-rounder in 2025. I dove deep into the move for Bullets Forever. The trade could end up changing the face of the franchise if the 2025 pick ends up in the lottery for potentially the best WNBA Draft Class in recent memory. The trade could also not make major waves with some bad luck. Regardless, the picks add to the team’s future especially when they likely couldn’t have drafted a contributor for this season. I like Elena Tsineke a lot, but she’s unlikely to make the roster.
Atlanta Dream: B+
I just talked a lot about why I like Haley Jones. Her and Amihere should fit well into the roster and the culture that Atlanta is trying to build. Leigha Brown has a decent chance of making the team, as well. Another good draft in the Dream’s rebuild, but they get a B+ because of the downside risks with both prospects.
Los Angeles Sparks: B
I just love Zia Cooke and think she’ll end up being a contributor on good teams for a long time. Shanice Swain is an interesting prospect who will not play in the WNBA this year. The Australian point guard could make up the Sparks’ backcourt of the future with Cooke. Good start to the Curt Miller era in LA. They get straight B because Cooke probably doesn’t have franchise player potential and Swain is largely an unknown.
Seattle Storm: B
Jordan Horston at 9 is a steal. She’s got tremendous upside due to her athleticism. She’s raw and needs time to grow. But Seattle probably isn’t competing any time soon so Horston should have room to expand her game. Madi Williams is a really intriguing prospect with 3-and-d potential and she has a great chance to make this barebone roster. The Storm most likely didn’t get a franchise changer, but did get one player with starter potential and one that could end up in the long-term rotation.
Chicago Sky: C+
As an ACC stan, Kayana Traylor has been on my radar for two years and she’s the real deal offensively. She may not ever be a major contributor, but she may make the team and could fill in for the rest of Chicago’s backcourt.
Connecticut Sun: C+
It seems unlikely that any of Connecticut’s picks make the team this year. But there’s a chance that Alexis Morris makes it and, if she does, she’ll eventually hit a big shot in a big game. That’s worth the plus next to the C.
Phoenix Mercury: C+
The plus is for drafting MIAMI HURRICANE LEGEND DESTINY HARDEN. She has a chance to make the team and, similar to Morris, she’ll make a big play at some point if she does. You draft a Miami player, I say nice things. Thems the rules.
Las Vegas Aces: C
Brittany Davis, the last pick in the draft, is a good player who will not make this team. I think Vegas will be just fine, but they did nothing to affect the future.
New York Liberty: C
27-year-old Okako Adika won’t affect the Liberty’s future. I think they’ll live.
Dallas Wings: C-
I feel bad about this grade because I believe in Maddy Siegrist and think she could be a valuable piece in Dallas. Lou Lopez Senechal could help replace Marina Mabrey, Stephanie Soares has loads of potential, and Abby Meyers is a DOG who does all of the little things. Heck, I even like the value of picking Ashley Joens and Paige Robinson (shouts to the Illinois State fightin’ Calvin Wetzels, I mean Redbirds). My issue is that the Wings didn’t need any more rookies this year. They are already likely cutting a former #1 pick in Charli Collier and have too many young players to develop while trying to win. The next two drafts both figure to be stronger than this year’s and it’s entirely possible (albeit unlikely) that the second-round pick they traded away could yield a better prospect than Soares. Not to mention the first-round pick in what could be a legendary draft. The Wings still have a first in 2025, but two picks in that draft could have been franchise-changing or could have been used to help the team get veteran help to win now.