Candace Parker shook the WNBA world on Sunday with her announcement that she is joining the Las Vegas Aces. The former MVP spent two seasons with the Chicago Sky where she helped the franchise win the title in 2021.
"After evaluating the landscape together with my family, we've decided the Las Vegas Aces are the right organization for us at this point in our lives," she said in her post.
The signing was met around the league with surprise, shock, and levels of holy-moly-this-is-crazy.
Snajajsodmfmdoskanexirmsnwkandickrlfowaknwziendoeke yea.
— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) January 28, 2023
A’ja Wilson’s reaction pretty much sums up the initial general feeling of the news. You have the Aces, fresh off a championship, headlined by the league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in Wilson. You have spitfire guards and All-Stars in Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. Then you have the recent Finals MVP and scoring assassin Chelsea Grey.
Now you add Parker, whose accolades are as long as her 6-foot-4 frame. Some resume highlights include two MVP awards, two championships, DPOY, seven All-Star selections, and seven All-WNBA First Team nods. She’s also part of the WNBA’s 25th Anniversary Team. At age 36, she’s a future Hall of Famer who still has a lot of fire left in her.
And we haven’t even mentioned Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon. She unlocked the Aces’ potential last year and morphed them into a high-powered offensive machine that shot the lights out. Think of all the sets and schemes Hammon and her staff can run with Parker as one of her key pieces.
Assuming Parker will be in the starting lineup, you’re looking at an incredibly strong five alongside Wilson, Plum, Young, and Grey. Offensively, the Aces have enough firepower to go around. Parker can still obviously get her numbers (13.2 points on 45.8 percent shooting last season) but her passing will be a key weapon for her new team. She averaged 4.5 assists a season ago and has been known to be an elite playmaker throughout her career. Imagine her feeding Wilson in the post, setting up Grey in the perimeter, or finding a cutting Plum in the baseline.
Defensively, she’ll also relieve some of the pressure from Wilson guarding the opposition’s centers and forwards. She won the DPOY award just three years ago and her presence in the paint made the Sky a championship-level defensive team. This also means she doesn’t need the ball in her hands to make an impact.
The Aces relatively had a short rotation last season that included the likes of Kiah Stokes, Riquna Williams, and Dearica Hamby when she returned in the playoffs. That meant extended minutes on the starters. Wilson barely sat in the Finals against the Connecticut Sun but it hardly mattered because she was in top condition. However, that’s not a sustainable model for Wilson’s health and for the team as a whole. Parker’s inclusion will allow Hammon to explore different rotations that won’t require Wilson to play the whole game. She can stagger the minutes of Wilson and company with a reliable do-it-all forward like Parker. Basketball-wise, it’s hard to see any road bumps in adding a future Hall of Famer to a championship team.
Parker’s signing is an impactful move for the Aces’ bid for back-to-back titles but it also signifies a dramatic power shift in the WNBA.
It all started with the Jonquel Jones trade that definitely tilted the dynamics of the league. Jones joining Betnijah Laney and Sabrina Ionescu – that’s a powerhouse in New York. But Parker going to Las Vegas is a little bit different. The Aces, who are already the best team in the league as the defending champions, just got exponentially better. And even though Parker is on the tail-end of her career, she’s a proven winner who was recently on a championship team with the Sky. The Aces, already one of the favorites for the 2023 title, just got more favored.
It’s a new era in the WNBA and it might just get crazier. Breanna Stewart, arguably the most prominent free agent, has yet to make her decision. Will she stay in Seattle? Will she join Jones and form a superteam in New York? Is she waiting on Courtney Vandersloot’s decision as well? Wherever she goes, she carries her championship aspirations and veteran experience.
Parker shook the league in 2021 with her homecoming move to play for the Sky. Two years later, she did it again. When she first arrived in Chicago, she won a title. Will her arrival in Las Vegas signify another championship?
