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When the New York Liberty beat the Dallas Wings 99-98 in overtime on Monday, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton received her second consecutive and fourth overall DNP-Coach’s Decision of the season.
It’s been an up-and-down season for Laney-Hamilton. She missed three games early in the season due to personal reasons and then two more later on due to knee management. She received her first DNP-Coach’s Decision after returning from the latter absence and put together a few rough showings afterwards.
Still, if Chris DeMarco doesn’t view Laney-Hamilton as a regular rotational player, the Atlanta Dream should find out what it would take to trade for her before the trade deadline on August 2. She could provide much-needed depth for a team that relies heavily on its starters. Atlanta is hoping to go on a deep playoff run, so overworking the starters in the regular season isn’t great.
Laney-Hamilton could help the Dream
With a 16-19 record, Atlanta is in a pretty good position going into the All-Star break. However, Karl Smesko has been asking a lot from his starters this season. Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, and Jordin Canada all average over 30 minutes per game. Angel Reese and Naz Hillmon average 30.4 and 29.9 minutes, respectively. There just isn’t a ton of depth he trusts on the team.
Brionna Jones’s return from injury will help with frontcourt depth and add another All-Star-level player to the rotation. Isobel Borlase has been earning more minutes in the guard rotation recently, but she is a rookie, and there’s no knowing whether she’s ready for her first WNBA playoffs. The same goes for Madina Okot, who has had some strong showings off the bench.
Trading for Laney-Hamilton would give the Dream a championship veteran who was very productive in her last two seasons. She averaged 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and almost 40% shooting from three just two seasons ago, helping the Liberty win their first title.
With a strong six-player rotation already in place, Smesko wouldn’t have to ask too much from Laney-Hamilton either, which makes her injury history and recent rough stretch a bit less concerning. All Atlanta needs is quality depth, some perimeter defense, and someone who can knock down a few shots off the bench, and a steadier role may be all Laney-Hamilton needs to bounce back.
The Dream already gave up two future first-round picks for Angel Reese this offseason, but they shouldn’t be afraid to move a few more picks to bolster the roster before the playoffs. There’s a lot of pressure to make it out of the first round after last year’s surprising loss to the short-handed Indiana Fever. Plus, Laney-Hamilton’s value isn’t exactly great right now.
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This article was originally published on highposthoops.com as Dream could solve dangerous rotation problem with Betnijah Laney-Hamilton trade.
