​Thursday night features a pair of high-profile WNBA games. The Atlanta Dream will try to snap a five-game slide as they host the Seattle Storm, a team that handed them one of those losses earlier in the streak (8 p.m. ET, Prime Video). Later, the Phoenix Mercury welcome the Indiana Fever, a matchup packed with all the fanfare that tends to accompany such visits (10 p.m. ET, Prime Video).
But the more intriguing, lower-profile showdown pits the Las Vegas Aces against the Portland Trail Blazers in the Rose City. The defending champions are making their second trip of the season to Portland (10 p.m. ET, WNBA League Pass), and this game could offer clearer insight into how Las Vegas is approaching its title defense, especially with A’ja Wilson back in the lineup.
My central curiosity centers on the Aces, particularly their more controversial decisions, including the recent move to waive Chennedy Carter. It’s easy to treat a single game as a referendum on a franchise’s strategy, but the upcoming clash against a feisty expansion squad will yield additional data—either supporting or undermining the direction Vegas has pursued since last season’s championship run.
I view four Aces decisions as potentially undermining their repeat bid, and I’d like to hear your take in the comments about whether you agree with my assessment and how you weigh Vegas’s moves, both made and not made.
Beckett Harrison has already dissected multiple angles surrounding the surprise Carter release. From an external perspective, assigning blame is hardly productive—even if Carter’s track record invites certain assumptions. Still, it’s hard not to acknowledge that Carter’s absence is lamentable. Talent-wise, she’s arguably a top-five guard in the league: a true hooper who can fill it up from all over the floor. At 5-foot-9, her efficiency and versatility were remarkable, and she seemed to be a unicorn—a high-impact scoring sixth man who didn’t cost the team much in terms of cash flow or roster space. Vegas appeared to have pulled off a masterful, low-cost upgrade by adding Carter, a move that could have unlocked even more for a team that had already stretched its resources.
So why not keep pushing to make it work? I’d rather have kept Carter, with all the upside she offered, even if it meant risking a roster spot or guaranteed money, than parting ways to introduce a newer piece like Justine Pissott, who probably won’t make a playoff difference or even see the court in those critical moments.
Before the season, Vegas bet on Carter, and the early results looked promising. Now, it feels like they’re cashing out too soon, perhaps chasing a larger long-term payoff or, conversely, trying to avert a bigger setback. The name most people would have guessed as the likely Aces waivers candidate before Carter’s name might have been Kierstan Bell, yet Bell presents a different calculus inside the organization. Bell’s on-court value isn’t obvious, but she fits the “vibes” narrative more cleanly, which is not insignificant for team chemistry and branding.