Superstar free agent addition Satou Sabally hopes to keep the New York Liberty in championship contention

While letting go of Brondello might not seem like the greatest idea, some sort of change seemed needed this offseason in order for New York to keep up with the Las Vegas Aces, who overcame a slow start to rise to their third title in four years behind the best player in the world in A’ja Wilson and a stellar supporting cast. They, too, are a superteam. The Minnesota Lynx, Atlanta Dream and Mercury also finished ahead of the Liberty in last year’s standings. Well, NY swiped Sabally away from Phoenix, likely preventing the desert dwellers from making a run at the chip. But the Lynx, despite losing some key pieces, are always formidable as long as they’ve got Napheesa Collier and Cheryl Reeve, and the Dream have only gotten better with the addition of Angel Reese. You also have to factor in the Indiana Fever, who pushed Vegas to overtime of Game 5 in the semis despite not having Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham, who are now ready to return. The addition of Sabally is good change, and will give the Liberty the opportunity to conquer these foes.

The soon-to-be 28-year-old has always had incredible upside. She entered the 2020 WNBA Draft after her junior year in Eugene and went No. 2 overall after Ionescu went No. 1. Back then, she was considered the most pro-ready prospect in her class, and went on to finish third in Rookie of the Year voting with 13.9 points and 7.8 boards per game for the Dallas Wings. She has continued to live up to high expectations. Though injuries have limited her to just two full seasons, they’ve been good ones. In 2023, she finished fifth in MVP voting and was named All-WNBA First Team and Most Improved Player after averaging 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals. Last year, in her other full season, she was selected to the All-Star Game and averaged 16.3 points. After the Mercury acquired Sabally in a trade prior to last season, many felt they would be a pretty good team. That those sentiments came before the team’s largely unknown role players started stepping up speaks to just how highly-regarded Sabally was. She, Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper, surrounded by very little proven talent, were considered formidable. Similar optimism should surround the Liberty now. Neither Stewart nor Ionescu tested the waters in free agency, and Jones, Laney-Hamilton and Leonie Fiebich will be back as well. (Laney-Hamilton missed all of last year with a meniscus injury.) It is unlikely that Natasha Cloud and Emma Meesseman will return, but, with Sabally, the Liberty have a phenomenal top six.

However, Sabally has to stay healthy. The last time we saw her on a WNBA court, she suffered a nasty concussion that ended her season in the Finals and kept her out for all of Unrivaled. Hopefully she will be able to perform at her best this year. She also has to become a consistently elite 3-point shooter. She’s been above 40 percent at times (45.2 on 84 attempts in 2024 and 41.1 on 197 as a sophomore at Oregon), but well below 30 other times (23.3 on 43 in 2022 and 19.7 on 66 in 2020).