Fever's Aliyah Boston in elite company as WNBA rookies make strong debuts

Aliyah Boston is still a problem, only in a different place.

The No. 1 overall pick out of South Carolina hasn’t missed a step, beat or barely any buckets in her first games as a pro with the Indiana Fever. It has placed her amid the best in the game so far, and it hasn’t been against nobodies, either.

Boston is averaging 15.8 points per game, ranking fourth among centers behind Brittney Griner (21.3) and A’ja Wilson (19.0). She’s second in field-goal percentage behind Griner (74.2%) of players with at least double-digit attempts. And she’s the second-best passer at the position, averaging 2 assists a game behind only Stefanie Dolson for the New York Liberty, the league leader in assists.

The former NCAA national champion has been everything expected and is changing the trajectory of the Fever, which snapped a 20-game losing streak Sunday, every game out. She is leading the class in an admittedly way-early-it’s-laughable look at an all-rookie team.

Boston in elite company against strong competition

Through four games, the 6-foot-5 center has matched up with reigning Sixth Player of the Year Brionna Jones twice, 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones and Cheyenne Parker. And yet still she is eclipsing marks set by a few of the game’s best players.

She is the first player in WNBA history to score at least 10 points while shooting at least 60% in each of her first three games, and added a fourth Tuesday night. Her lines:

• vs. Connecticut: 15 points / 60 FG% / 9 rebounds

• at New York: 15 points / 71.4 FG% / 4 rebounds / 2 assists / 2 blocks

• at Atlanta: 13 points / 71.4 FG% / 7 rebounds

• at Connecticut: 20 points / 66.7 FG% / 4 rebounds / 4 assists / 2 blocks

Boston was able to impact the game in more ways the second time against the Sun, and the Fever nearly took one from a team expected to finish in the top four. The 3-pointer to tie it was short. Fever head coach Christie Sides said after losing so much in the past as many of the players on the team have, it’s about teaching them how to win again. Boston, part of the winningest class in South Carolina history, is leading the charge with that mentality and pro-ready game.

“Aliyah’s special, man,” Sides said. “She wants to learn. She’s asking questions. She’s asking great questions. She wants to know why things are happening. She’s watching a lot of video. She’s doing extra work without coaches. She’s just a great presence down there that never stops fighting. She never stops fighting and her basketball IQ is really high for a post player.

She joined elite company with her second stat line in Connecticut that included zero turnovers. She joined Swin Cash (7/23/2002), Elena Delle Donne (6/26/2013) and Wilson (6/27/2018) as the only rookies with a line of at least 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and no turnovers. Boston completed it the quickest in her career and even added a rare 3-pointer for good measure.

“She just has really really nice footwork,” Sides said. “She’s able to take her time, take what Bri [Jones] gives her and put the ball in the hole. She’s worked really hard at that part of her game.”

Delle Donne and Wilson each went on to win Rookie of the Year honors, which Boston is the favorite for, and each has two MVPs already. Cash finished third in ROY voting in a packed draft class that was led by Fever star Tamika Catchings and Storm standout Sue Bird.

Boston will have her first meeting with fellow South Carolina alumna Wilson on Sunday when the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces are in Indianapolis. Both won titles with the Gamecocks and Boston will look to avoid the “South Carolina on South Carolina” crime of Wilson blocking her shot as happened to Los Angeles Sparks’ guard Zia Cooke last weekend.

Cooke has been one of the most productive rookies behind Boston, and a welcome surprise for a Sparks team that looks better than initially expected as it assimilates to head coach Curt Miller’s system.

Superbly early all-rookie contenders

Diamond Miller (Lynx, No. 2 overall pick)

10.4 ppg, 36.6 FG%, 3.0 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.0 spg in 20.8 mpg (5 games)

Miller ranks second in rookie production behind Boston and is the only other one to be in the starting lineup. She and rookie teammate Dorka Juhász have played the most games of the class so far at five. But the Lynx (0-5) have tinkering and hoping to do.

Miller, a 6-3 wing out of Maryland, left the first half of a loss to Dallas on Tuesday night after twisting her right ankle. She fought through pain to shoot two free throws and was taken out immediately afterward. She was listed as questionable and did not return.

Head coach Cheryl Reeve said she was hopeful on Miller’s status, which will be further evaluated when the team gets back to Minnesota. The Lynx will host the Sun on Thursday and Miller is listed as out on the status report.

Zia Cooke (Sparks, No. 10, South Carolina)

8.3 ppg, 41.7 FG%, 2.3 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 turnovers per game in 17.5 mpg (3 games)

Cooke, a 5-9 guard, was the hot hand in the season-opening win against Phoenix with her collegiate head coach Dawn Staley in the stands and a strong crowd there to see Griner’s first game. She scored 14 points hitting 5-of-6 shots over 14:51 of court time. She hit both 3-pointers and added 2 rebounds and 2 assists. It was a 100 effective field-goal percentage.

“Ultimately, we just have to ask her to keep being fearless,” Miller said ahead of their two games against the Aces. “You know she’s played in big games, that’s what’s special about someone coming from a South Carolina program. She’s played in big games, she’s not going to be afraid of big moments.”

Nyara Sabally (Liberty, 2022 No. 5 pick, Oregon)

6.5 ppg, 50 FG%, 1.5 rpg, 1.0 tpg in 10.5 mpg (2 games)

Sabally was ruled out for the Liberty last year while rehabbing a knee injury and was heavily used off the bench in Tuesday night’s win against Seattle. She scored 7 points in seven minutes on the floor, adding to her 6 points and 3 rebounds over 13:50 of a win against Connecticut.

“She’s really quick, she’s very explosive, she has good poise, too,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said after Sabally’s first pro minutes.

Nyara, the younger sister of Wings star and former all-rookie player Satou Sabally, is playing behind a stacked group of starters and bench players. The 6-5 forward moved well around the court defensively in her very first game and Brondello said given how little basketball she’s played, the franchise is excited about “how we can keep developing her.”

Sika Koné (Sky, 2022 No. 29 pick by New York)

8 ppg, 41.7 FG%, 7 rpg, 1 apg, 4 tpg in 189.5 mpg (2 games)

Koné was part of New York’s never-ending list of draft picks the last couple of years and did not play for the Liberty in 2022, instead focusing on overseas play. Days before the 2023 season, she was waived and quickly claimed by the Sky. The 6-3 forward from Mali stepped into big minutes in Chicago while Isabelle Harrison and rookie Morgan Bertsch, the No. 29 overall pick in the 2019 draft, are out with injury and Ruthy Hebard comes back from maternity leave.

She ranks fourth in scoring among rookies and first in rebounds. The glaring issue is her four turnovers a game, more than twice as many as any other rookie.

Jordan Horston (Storm), Haley Jones (Dream), Bertsch (Sky) and Jade Melbourne (Storm) are all early candidates to slide into the all-rookie team.

How many rookies made rosters?

Nine of the 12 first-round picks are currently rostered. Two who are not both landed with the Wings on draft night. No. 4 pick Stephanie Soares is rehabbing an ACL injury and No. 11 pick Abby Meyers was waived. No. 12 pick Maïa Hirsch (France) is not playing in the WNBA this year and did not show up for Lynx camp.

Four of the second-round picks are actively rostered and all but two of those not playing were waived ahead of opening night. Only No. 25 pick Victaria Saxton (Fever) and No. 29 pick Kadi Sissoko (Mercury) are actively rostered out of the third round.

Every year there is an uproar about how many draft picks are waived before games begin. There are fewer than 144 roster spots in the WNBA as many teams carry the minimum of 11 to fit within the salary cap. Answers have been thrown out about expanding roster sizes, which are currently between 11-12, and expanding the league to more cities, which has been a moving data point on which the league won’t stay on message.

“This year I think was a little different, which was why there’s a little more noise around the roster cuts, is [because of] prioritization,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters at halftime of the Sparks’ season opener. “I think [it’s] a lot more veterans — and less players playing overseas — a lot more veterans in training camp and as I’ve been talking to some of the coaches this week, they’re like, we loved having all our veterans in training camp.

“The last few years people probably didn’t notice that maybe there were 15 to 18 players who weren’t here for training camp until the first couple two weeks of the season and this year they’re here, so think about that. And maybe what happened is those players who got waived in training camp got waived two or three weeks into the season and maybe people didn’t notice as much.”

The prioritization clause kicked in this season and required players to arrive for training camp or else be fined. In the past, players would stay with their overseas teams through postseasons that sometimes ran into June. Players might stay on the opening night roster, but be waived when the veteran stars returned.

In 2022, one first-round player was waived ahead of the regular season tipoff and everyone else except Sabally stayed for the full season. Three of those first-round picks who played last year were waived ahead of the 2023 season’s start, including Fever wing and No. 4 overall pick Emily Engstler.

She was waived by the Fever and picked by the Mystics for the second part of camp, but eventually left off that roster stacked with talent. Washington has one rookie, Li Meng, from China and a second-year star Shakira Austin, the No. 3 overall pick.

Teams often turn toward experience over developing a rookie, though there is precedent for rookies who don’t play to make long careers in the league. Others have fought their way back onto rosters after developing their games overseas.

With Lou Lopez Sénéchal currently unavailable while rehabbing an injury, there are 14 players of the 36 drafted who are rostered and available to play. Four of them have played seven minutes or fewer and four have played between 16 and 19 minutes. Both Sides and Dream head coach Tanisha Wright have been asked this week about playing their rookies limited minutes.

Grace Berger (No. 7) has played 16 minutes (7 points, 3-of-7) for the Fever and Sides credited the local Indiana star’s work before, during and after practices.

“I’ve said it, I’m going to keep saying it, she’s going to be a good player,” Sides said after the loss on Tuesday. “It’s just for rookies, it takes them some time. I have all the confidence in Grace when she goes in and she’s just going to keep getting better and getting more minutes.”

The Fever have nine players with less than two years of experience and No. 25 pick Saxton of South Carolina has played only two minutes. Laeticia Amihere, the Gamecocks’ reserve, has played five minutes for the Dream. Wright said it was no fault of Amihere’s, it’s “just the nature of the business.”

“I’m not sure where we’ve gotten to the point where we just expect that kids are going to come in and automatically play,” Wright said after the loss to the Fever.

“It’s no knock to L.A. [Amihere], it’s just that she has people ahead of her that have the experience and are playing and they’re also doing what we’re asking,” she said. “It could just be a ‘wait your turn.’ I didn't play that much my rookie year, either, and I had a great 14-year career after that.”