Becky Hammon Alludes to Major Aces Roster Changes This Offseason
The two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces have been eliminated from the 2024 WNBA playoffs by the New York Liberty.
It was always going to be an extremely tough task for Aces head coach Becky Hammon's team to produce a three-peat this season; if only because sustaining that dynastic degree of greatness is so difficult.
But if any roster was talented enough to do so, it was Las Vegas this season. They boasted five Paris Olympians (four players on Team USA and one player on Team Spain) and had numerous solid role players available off the bench.
Alas, the Aces came up short. And if Hammon's postgame quotes on Sunday are any indication, the Aces' roster will look a lot different next season.
"We have to really take a sharp look at ourselves, look ourselves in the mirror, see our shortcomings, and then... make the moves necessary, whatever that means, to put the best product that we possibly can," Hammon said of the Aces' looming offseason roster decisions, per X user @IsabelleMM2.
"It's not going to be the same group probably next year, it just won't. And I'm sad about that because I really liked that group," she added. "They're a pain in my a**, but I was a pain in their a** too. But I liked that group. I loved that group."
Becky Hammon was asked about potential offseason moves:
— Isabelle (@IsabelleMM2) October 6, 2024
"It's not going to be the same group probably next year, it just won't. And I'm sad about that because I really liked that group [...]"#AllInLV #WNBA | 🎥: @LVAces pic.twitter.com/8rltl7ehwZ
Aces veterans Kelsey Plum (who had some interesting interactions with Hammon this postseason), Alysha Clark, Tiffany Hayes, and Sydney Colson are all going to be unrestricted free agents.
This, combined with the Golden State Valkyries Expansion Draft in December, means that Las Vegas will be missing some familiar faces in 2025.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.