The WNBA’s Most Disappointing Players Of 2024

Intro WNBA teams have between 10 to 15 games remaining in their season so we're at a solid point to look back at my preseason top 50 player projections ranking for 2024 today I want to focus on some of the most disappointing players for me so far this season to start we have juwel Jewell Loyd Lloyd of the Seattle Storm heading into this season I thought she was a Darkhorse MVP pick if Seattle finished with a top record they were extremely good juul Lloyd is their leading SC I was like okay she could finish top three on MVP pallot it's certainly possible there but now having her nine preseason I wouldn't have her top 25 I don't even think I would have had her as an All-Star either she made in the All-Star team because of Team USA But if it wasn't for that I don't think she should have made it still fifth in the league in scoring at 20.3 points per game 4.5 rebounds 3.9 assist the counting numbers are good it's more so the efficiency and how the efficiency is just a very bad sign for the Seattle team in general so to start this is a look at the most inefficient three-point seasons ever among players with at least five three-point attempts per game juel Lloyd's is the second worst ever behind Kia nurse who shot 23.8% in 2020 Lloyd is at 25.6% Joel Lloyd is an incredibly good mid-range scorer I'm not saying that like she can score in the mid-range awesome on pullup twos but as far as pullup 3es it's been one of her career lows as well 21.3% in 2024 on pullup threes on 2.7 attempts that is down from 34.2% on 4.2 attempts last season if you believe Seattle can make a deep playoff run in 2024 you're putting a lot of trust in juw Lloyd improving her three-point shooting and just saying this is a slump she'll be good in the playoffs this will all go away I completely understand that Viewpoint juul Lloyd is an awesome shooter an awesome scorer in general she is someone that is a microwave score where some games she'll be good some some games she'll be bad she just needs a 5 to 10 game stretch and it doesn't matter what she did in the regular season but if you look at the numbers and historical precedent no three-point shooting team has been as bad as Seattle in won a championship in the same season it just hasn't happened it's not even close I understand it's not just juel Skyward Smith has also struggled from three as well but if those are your two main volume three-point Shooters and they aren't shooting three as well in 2024 you just can't win a championship being that bad from three I understand their defense is so good and I understand that they have size inside they have some awesome interior players but if you can't shoot threes you're just going to lose the math game nine out of 10 times but also for juel it's not even like she's been awesome at The Rim either she is shooting 43.1% at The Rim in 2024 that is the third worst among all high volume Rim finishers in the League this season she's just lost a step athletically in 2021 like I mentioned she didn't shoot that great on off dribble 3s but she created space as a downhill driver like none other has been one of the best space creators in the W interner Prime yeah I just don't think she's in her prime anymore but in her prime in 2021 which in my opinion was her best season in the W she created so much space as a driver the burst just such an elite athlete I just don't think she's that same player now the finishing has dropped by over 10% since then so for me overall you're hoping juel can just make shots in the playoffs that's what it have come down to for me they can be as good as they are defensively but if she can't make threes it might not even matter anyways moving to the next player went long talking about juw Lloyd this is NaLyssa Smith Nelissa Smith coming into the season I had her 40th in my preseason rankings the counting numbers for Smith are also pretty solid 11 points almost eight rebounds 51% from Two and 32% from three the disappointing part with Nelissa is I don't think she's made a ton of strides since she was drafted in 2022 then she was a 38% three-point shooter on three attempts now in 2024 she's taken less than 1 and a half per game at 31.6% also the free throw shooting has continued to drop as well 61.8% as a rookie 67.7% in her second season and now it's at 60% which is a career low the idea of Nelissa Smith as a player is a lot better than she has been in actuality because Nelissa Smith next to Aaliyah Boston and Caitlyn Clark who is the best outlet p in basketball Nelissa is an awesome athlete an exceptional transition player if you watch any Indiana Fever game you can see it immediately she runs the court super hard is an athletic finisher super strong there and statistically as well she is the best Rim finisher in basketball in transition at 78% at The Rim in transition which is absurd but beyond that you need half court basketball and if it was just a transition game I would be super thrilled that Nelissa Smith is the four next to Aaliyah and Caitlyn but with her drop in three-point volume nobody's guarding her from three and having that next to Aaliyah Boston who is a post Centric player I just don't think you think you could have two non-shooters on the court and maximize what Caitlyn does well as a guard yes the flashes are awesome with Nelissa as a pullup mid-range scorer doesn't take any pullup threes at all has has taken one this season The Rim finishing is super fun but I just think for Indiana you are looking at Nelsa Smith as the third piece on your team your third tertiary score and if she's not taking threes if she doesn't provide much off the ball in terms of shooting and also just defense as well I just don't think her defense has been that great either it's hit or miss some games she's active she's making plays on defense other times she's just disengaged it's super weird for a player that is as athletic as her as physically gifted and this explains the discrepancy between Indiana's efficiency with Nelissa off the court verse their efficiency or the lack thereof whenever she is on the court when she is on the court they have a negative 7.8 net rating compared to a plus. n with her on the bench take that as what you will I'm not saying she doesn't have the upside but there are some concerning signs that Nelissa Smith is just not the four you want next to Aaliyah and then Caitlin Clark is your ball hander and Kelsey Mitchell but she has time she's still super young I hope she gets there next let's move to Cheyenne Parker-Tyus Cheyenne Parker tus of the Atlanta Dream she was number 42 for me in the preseason this season 9.2 points 4.8 rebounds 46% from two 21% from three compared to last season she was an All-Star averaging 15 points almost seven rebounds on 51% shooting from two 28% from three Atlanta brought in Tina Charles this off season at the start of the season they were playing cheyen Parker at the four next to Tina Charles Parker tus likes playing the four but it was quickly evident that having her at the four was just not that effective of a strategy for on both ends offensively the spacing was terrible on defense she can't compete athletically to to defend like athletic fours like someone like Nelissa Smith for example but anyways Parker tus this season has moved to a bench roll she's injured now will be out a couple weeks at least for Atlanta just hasn't been great um I mean the defensive impact is so little she has moments but there's so many games where Atlanta will play her a couple minutes she'll just get cooked on defense and then Tanisha pser she either won't play the rest of the game get benched or she'll play and come back again a quarter or two later her minutes are super inconsistent because of her effort and her energy on both ends in theory she can be a starting five in the league but I think to have her Azure starting five you need a spacing four and for Atlanta they just don't have that besides Nia coffee and Nia coffee hasn't been playing that well this season we'll talk about her in a minute so for Parker tius having her at the five you need a spacing four so you can give her more space to operate in the post if you don't have that you're diminishing her offensive value she can bring and then also on defense I just don't think she's a rim protector for a really high level defense either just because both like the athleticism the vertical pop that's just not really her game at all but like I said moving to Nia Cofe Nia cofi has Nia Coffey been it's been it's been it's been rough for her this season 42 for me in the preseason yeah if I redid this she would be nowhere close to number 43 3.2 points 2.2 rebounds 32% from two 26% from three last season she was one of the best role players in the league an awesome spot up three-point shooter could defend three through five can communicate all of it was there whenever she was on the court Atlanta had a top defense whenever she was on the bench it was a disaster to say the least this season I don't really understand what's been going on but she's really fallen out of the rotation she plays like 5 to 10 minutes some games other games should play 15 to 20 super inconsistent nowhere near as impactful as last season moving to Zia Zia Cooke cook the final player I want to talk about today I didn't have high expectations for Zia heading into the season but as a number 10 overall draft pick on a team like La that has had a ton of injuries has a lot of young players as well it's concerning that La doesn't even trust her to play many minutes now with all of their injuries having these hardship players they brought in Odyssey Sims they brought in Crystal Dangerfield and all these players I played over Z Cook instead of like giving her the Reps on a young team they just don't feel that confident in her last season 4.8 points on 38% true shooting this season that is down to 3.2 points on 37.7% true shooting for me shenise SW their second round pick in 2023 is just the better Prospect Swain from Australia is 20 21 years old at this point hopefully she comes over next season and if she does I'm curious to see what that means for Z maybe she gets more reps in this season she finishes the season strong like that's that's what I hope for because Z Cook whenever she's no pun intended whenever Z Cook is cooking I mean she is one of the most fun players to watch in basketball with what she can do as a mid-range scorer as Outro a driver anyways if you miss point in the video let me know what you agree and disagree with in the comments below I'll be back with more WBA content covering basketball at all levels on this channel if you have any ideas what you want to see more of let me know in the comments below anyways I'll see yall next time