Alanna Smith's strong season with Lynx should land her in WNBA award discussion

Dylan Grausz | Sep 13, 2024

Jun 25, 2024; Belmont Park, New York, USA; Minnesota Lynx forward Alanna Smith (8) drives past New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones (35)in the first quarter of the Commissioner’s Cup Championship game at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

2024 has been a very good year for former Stanford women's basketball star Alanna Smith. She helped the Australia Opals win their first Olympic medal in over a decade at this year’s Paris Olympics while also being a crucial piece to the Minnesota Lynx’s success this season, currently having the team as the No. 2 squad in the entire WNBA. And as she continues to improve her game and develop into a star, her performance this season could garner her serious consideration for the WNBA Most Improved Player Award.

Averaging 10.4 points per game, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists, Smith has taken yet another leap from last season, putting herself in serious consideration once again for the prestigious award as the sixth year pro broke out as a member of the Chicago Sky in 2023, where she averaged 9.2 PPG, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists, all career highs at the time, which led her to finishing in third place for the Most Improved Player Award last year, losing out to award winner Satou Sabally of the New York Liberty and runner-up Jordin Canada of the Los Angeles Sparks.

Having started every game that she has played, Smith has provided a major boost to Minnesota, who finished 19-21 last year and are looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021, and along with Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride, has formed a formidable trio that are all averaging double digit points and have turned the Lynx lineup into one of the league’s best.

As things currently stand, the main candidates for this year’s Most Improved Player are Smith, Connecticut Sun’s DiJonai Carrington and Smith’s Lynx teammate Bridget Carleton. But in addition to Smith’s big jump on offense, she has also been one of the league’s best defenders, evolving into an elite rim protector despite being somewhat undersized for her position, making her someone who could catapult into becoming the favorite for the award by the time the regular season ends.

Spending the first three seasons of her pro career with the Phoenix Mercury before joining the Indiana Fever in 2022, Smith started out as a reserve, starting only one game between 2019-2022 before signing with the Chicago Sky prior to the start of last year and becoming a full time starter there, starting 35 out of the team’s 38 games. 

At Stanford, Smith was a star for the Cardinal from 2015-2019, putting together her best season in her senior year in 2018-2019, where she averaged 19.4 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 1.9 APG in 36 games (out of 36) started and was named a second-team All-American by AP as well as being named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for her efforts that season. Helping the Cardinal finish the season 31-5, the team made it all the way to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight before falling to Notre Dame.

With four regular season games remaining before the playoffs, it could very well be likely that the Lynx opt to put Smith on a minutes restriction until the playoffs, given the extra playing time she received in Paris, in order to make sure she's fresh and ready to go for the postseason.