WNBA season preview: What should be the expectation for the Washington Mystics and all their rookies?

Dugalić was moved to the bench as Kiki Iriafen returned to play in their second preseason outing. Rori Harmon, Cassandre Prosper and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs all played double-digit minutes off the bench in each game, but Littlepage-Buggs has already been designated as a developmental player, so she will be eligible to be active in only 12 games this season (unless she is converted to a standard contract).

Let’s be very clear: starting is not a concept that is inherently tied to production or volume.

Starters are often chosen through a combination of merit and fit, rather than just collective skill. Despite being the fourth overall pick and the biggest new name on the Mystics, it seems like Betts could draw the short end of the stick when it comes to starting. Shakira Austin didn’t participate in preseason after coming back from a stint in the WCBA with Shanxi. Assuming that the longest-tenured and highest-paid Mystic will reclaim her spot on the opening tip, and inferring that All-Star Kiki Iriafen’s role is rooted in place after her historic freshman campaign, its reasonably hard to see Betts running with the first five.

Through preseason, the rookie with the best case to be a starter, not counting Georgia Amoore, may actually be McMahon, who was the last first-round pick for the Mystics in this past draft.

McMahon started both preseason games and recorded over 20 minutes of playing time in each. She’s a more comfortable perimeter player in comparison to Dugalić, who runs into a couple of the same redundancies that will likely hold Betts out of the starting lineup. Next to the on-ball juice of Sonia Citron and Georgia Amoore, McMahon offers some catch-and-drive aggression, secondary ball-handling and decent positional size. She leaves much to be desired as a shooter, but that’s a topic that I’ve covered at length in regards to all of the Mystics draft picks. Come opening night, I would expect the Mystics to deploy a lineup of Amoore, Citron, McMahon, Iriafen, and Austin.

Which Washington rookie could emerge as an under-the-radar contributor?

Besides the trio of Betts, Dugalić and McMahon, who all carry the burden of expectation as first-round picks when it comes to the Mystics upcoming season, Rori Harmon and Cassandre Prosper look like they may be afforded a chance to play rotational minutes for Sydney Johnson.

Harmon was a dominant collegiate player at Texas, but fell to the third round of the draft because of her subpar size and underwhelming scoring volume as a fifth-year senior. She’s never projected to be a WNBA-level offensive outlet, but the Mystics drafted her for a reason: They need ball-handlers.

Washington lost Jade Melbourne and Sug Sutton to free agency and the expansion draft. Melbourne and Sutton took on nearly all of the Mystics ball-handling responsibilities after Brittney Sykes was traded last year, and both proved to be passable ball-screen players within Johnson’s offense. If Harmon is able to process advantages at WNBA speed, she has the passing chops to carve out a role as a bench facilitator. She was also one of the better defensive point guards in the draft, which will help her case as a rotational piece in her first pro season.

Prosper is the other non-first round rookie who seems to be leaning towards rotational. She didn’t always look like a surefire WNBA player in her career at Notre Dame. She only averaged 5.8 points through her first three years, and was rarely a respectable offensive option while playing behind Citron, Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles and Maddy Westbeld. Last season, sans Miles, Westbeld and Citron, Prosper took over as Hidalgo’s second option and elevated her nightly output to 14 points per game.

Much of her candidacy as a prospective professional has always been based on her height. At 6-foot-3, she has upper-percentile size for a perimeter player, and she’s able to navigate her taller frame well when she moves. She’s also only 20-years-old, making her the youngest collegiate prospect in the draft. As the Mystics lean on their future, it would make sense to explore Prosper’s development. She averaged six points and four rebounds through the team’s two preseason games.

What’s an optimistic outlook for how DC’s rookies will develop?

While a handful of Mystics rookies will hear their names called on a game-to-game basis, it’s clear that the most pressure will be on Georgia Amoore and Lauren Betts.

Amoore came in with the star-studded cast of Citron and Iriafen, and has had a year on the sidelines to digest Johnson’s system and the WNBA speed of play. The Mystics need guard play, and Amoore will have no choice but to play big minutes in her first season.

Betts was universally regarded as a Tier 1 talent in the draft, and should rightfully have a chip on her shoulder after falling to No. 4 overall on draft night. While she isn’t in a position of need for Washington, her talent is undeniable and she will be a focal point for the team offensively and defensively whenever in the game, which was evidenced by her game-high 17 points against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday.

McMahon and Dugalić will be asked to produce on a consistent basis, but neither of their reputations suggest that they are guaranteed to be successful amongst pros. They sit at an interesting crossroads of optimistic development and current needs. Their future upside may have influenced the Mystics to pick them, but Washington’s lack of veteran players will force them into contributing roles faster than they likely would have imagined.

As scary as that seems from an external lens, being thrown into the fire is often beneficial to players with a certain level of job security, as they get to learn through failure without worrying about being cut. If the Mystics attack their development plans with an empathetic yet demanding approach, they could see more than a few of their first-year players becoming solid professionals.