In the months leading up to the 2019 campaign, Las Vegas Aces fans had plenty of hope to hold onto as the season approached. 2018 Rookie of the Year and All-Star A’ja Wilson proved to be a true franchise-player in the team’s first year in Las Vegas. 2017 No. 1 pick Kelsey Plum began to emerge as the lead guard her pedigree suggests, and Kayla McBride kept building on her “McBuckets” moniker. A real playoff push was a fair expectation.

Then a trade happened, and that trade brought in MVP runner-up Liz Cambage, and with her, a correlating rise in expectations and hopefulness. Throw that into their mix of young talent, and you can begin to smell a breakout year with deep-playoff aspirations in a wide-open title chase.

Summary

2018 Record: 14-20; 9th in standings

Missed Playoffs for 4th straight year

Statistical Leaders:

Points: A’ja Wilson (20.7)

Rebounds: Wilson (8.0)

Assists: Kelsey Plum (4.0)

Steals: Kayla McBride (1.1)

Blocks: Wilson (1.7)

3FG %: Plum (43.9%)

Roster Additions: Liz Cambage (trade), Sydney Colson (free agency), Jackie Young (draft), Sugar Rogers (trade)

Losses: Lindsay Allen (injury), Moriah Jefferson (trade), Isabelle Harrison (trade)

#TLDR: Despite missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year and acquiring their third straight No. 1 pick, the Las Vegas Aces are one of the most intriguing teams in the title race – as long as Laimbeer can put it together – thanks to Liz Cambage, A’ja Wilson and a sneaky talented backcourt.

Big Changes, Big Results for Laimbeer’s Squad

An abundance of talent is always better than a lack of it. In Wilson and Cambage, the Aces have two of the top frontcourt threats in the entire league. The obvious question is: Can they fit together?

Balancing their involvement is key, and Cambage and Wilson were Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in usage rate last season, so what each player is willing to give and take in their game is intriguing. Where things get tricky is the amount of space available when both players decide to attack. Cambage can bang down low with the best, and it’s hard to find defenders able to keep her 6-foot-8 frame away from the basket. Her footwork is quick, decisive and fluid. What she and Wilson do surprisingly well is attack off the dribble, blowing by defenders before finishing at the rim.

Wilson’s best moments came from these faceup opportunities. Time and again, she’s able to beat her defender on a closeout before slithering her way to the rim. She has a slick spin move going left, and she has little problem finishing in traffic.

Neither is a spectacular playmaker, however. Cambage averaged more turnovers per game (2.8) than assists (2.3), but that assist total did rank fourth among centers. Wilson was ranked right behind her new teammate by just a hair, dropping 2.2 assists per game.

Free throws make for easy offense, and the Aces were second in free throws attempted last season (22.8), trailing only to Dallas (23.9). Unsurprisingly, Wilson and Cambage came one and two in free throws attempted per game, shooting 7.5 and 7.2 times from the charity stripe per game, respectively, and both hitting about 75 percent each.

It’s safe to bet two basketball players of their caliber are intelligent enough to figure it out. Though neither player has a ton of experience being anything besides the No. 1 option in the WNBA, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of ideas they create to enhance each other rather than fall into a Your Turn My Turn offense. Neither player shot the three-ball well nor frequently, but their mid-range shooting is respectable. Watching how they choose to operate together is one of the biggest question marks, but the answer to those questions could rake in wins as opposing teams pick their poison when guarding Vegas’ skyline inside.

Wilson and Cambage are likely the best post players either will have played with in their respective careers, so they might find some extra space and common ground in playing with another high-caliber big. Laimbeer also has the luxury of staggering them so there is always a dominant force on the inside at all times.

Don’t get it twisted: Cambage’s arrival is a capital-G Good Thing. Adding an MVP runner-up should improve results, no matter what kind of season the team had a year ago. The only question marks come from the reality that she takes up similar real estate on offense as Wilson. Sprinkle in the fact that they are both big personalities – which, again, is not a bad thing and has proven to be a good thing – whose games might clash is something for Laimbeer to manage and the players to figure out.

Don’t Forget About The Guards

With so much attention focused on Wilson and Cambage, Vegas’ guards will likely have plenty of opportunities against defenses twisting themselves toward Cambage and Wilson.

Kayla McBride was the Aces’ backcourt engine last season, especially as Moriah Jefferson recovered from injury for much of the season. “McBuckets” put up 18.2 points and 3.5 assists per game, dropping at least 20 points in nine contests. She kept defenses more than honest as she earned her second All-Star appearance alongside Wilson, and most importantly, she shot almost 40 percent from beyond the arc.

Speaking of shooting, 2017 No.1 overall pick Kelsey Plum is primed to break out. After a weirdly slow start to her WNBA career, Plum made the most of Laimbeer’s decision to insert her in the starting lineup in June of 2018, raising her scoring average from 7.2 in June to 16 per contest in August. She also assured her coaches that she could run an offense cleanly, and her 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio came second only to Seattle’s Sue Bird.

Plum was the Aces’ most dangerous three-point threat, knocking down 43.9 percent from three last season (good for fourth in the league). The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer had another prolific stint with Fenerbahce in Turkey, and if she carries that momentum into the Aces’ 2019 campaign, she and McBride should make it rain from the backcourt. Vegas was dead last in threes attempted in 2018, so if that trend continues, it needs to make the most of the few long-range shots it does take.

The Young Kid From South Bend

Despite falling just short of the playoffs, the Aces won yet another No. 1 pick, which they used on Notre Dame prospect Jackie Young. The Indiana-bred product comes in with an impressive pedigree. Young scored 3,268 career points in high school, more than any player – boy or girl – in Indiana state history. HISTORY. In her junior – and final – season at Notre Dame, she garnered AP All-America Third-Team credentials. At 6-feet tall, Young is versatile enough to play multiple positions, which is why she played forward as a freshman in South Bend before moving to point guard as a sophomore.

She is the first Notre Dame player to record multiple triple-doubles in a single season, and given that the Aces played faster than any other team in the league, her ability to grab rebounds and initiate the offense fits in pretty well and provides some lineup flexibility.

Young didn’t take many threes at Notre Dame, but she did hit them at a 36.4 percent clip. Overall, she projects as a perfect plug-and-play rookie in a talent-laden team and crowded backcourt. How much of a rope Laimbeer gives will flow as it does for any rookie, but if she can progress well throughout the season, she’s a valuable talent on the roster.

The West is Wild… Aces Wild

One of the best parts of the WNBA is how wide-open the league seems year-to-year, but as the 2019 campaign approaches, that statement rings even louder. Unfortunately, that mostly holds due to injuries. Last year’s MVP, Breanna Stewart, is out for the season after tearing her Achilles overseas. Minnesota’s Maya Moore is sitting out the season. Diana *screams “THE GOAT” from a mountaintop* Taurasi had offseason back surgery. Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry is still dealing with a knee injury. Candace Parker will miss the start of the season with a hamstring issue.

Take a deep breath.

So the Las Vegas Aces, in their second year in Sin City, with the 2018 Rookie of the Year and MVP runner-up in tow, have as good of a chance to make some noise near the top of the league as any other team. Yes, the Sparks now feature the Ogwumike twins, and anyone who spent a lick of time paying attention to Pac-12 basketball knows how terrifying that duo can be. The Washington Mystics, led by Elle Delle Donne, fell prey to a dominant Storm team in the WNBA finals, but they return with the least amount of question marks around a highly competitive team.

Expecting the Aces to compete for a title despite missing the playoffs for four straight years seems like a wild prospect, but it’s the reality. When you stack talent on the roster the way the Aces have, sooner or later, expectations follow. Last year was a transition for everyone involved, from a new city to a new name to a new coach to new roles and a new, dominant player to the WNBA.

This season is about establishing something, and Aces fans hope to establish their place as one of the top teams in the WNBA.