2023 New York Liberty preview
By Lee Manhattan
The right chemistry, pieces of a puzzle, a good fit, call it what you want; The New York Liberty stepped it up in the 2022 season and this Swish Team member was there in person to see it.
Like in any aspect of life, sometimes changes need to be made. In 2021, those changes came with the replacement of Head Coach, Walt Hopkins for Sandy Brondello.
Brondello, who in eight seasons coached the Mercury to eight playoff appearances, including a championship and a separate finals appearance* The Liberty also added Stefanie Dolson, who just ended her 2021 season with a championship title with the Chicago Sky and a Gold medal in the 2021 Tokyo Games at the 3x3. Adjustments did not come quickly as those pieces need to start to learn to operate together. Marine Johannes, who joined the team in June, had finished her overseas commitments and came back to NY to show her flash-passing abilities as well as her shooting range. Also, with the addition of Crystal Dangerfield in May. Dangerfield brought with her the ability to assist the team and make plays for her teammates and has been a valuable asset to the team.
As we can all see the Liberty really stepped up their game and finished an up-and-down season, they went 5–2 in August and secured the seventh seed in the 2022 WNBA Playoffs with a 16–20 overall record**. Their sixteen regular season wins were the franchise's most since they won twenty-two games in 2017**.
Now we talk about the 2023 season!
New York will open the season on the road against the Washington Mystics on Friday, May 19, 2023, followed by its home opener on Sunday, May 21, 2023, against the Indiana Fever.
According to liberty.wnba.com names on the roster include (in alphabetical order)
Rebecca Allen
Crystal Dangerfield (she is back! )
Stefanie Dolson,
Han Xu - Free Agent *** According to Spotra.com
Natasha Howard,
Sabrina Ionescu,
Marina Johannas,
Betnijah Laney,
Michaela Onyenwere
DiDi Richards,
Sami Whitcomb - Free Agent ***According to Spotra.com
Jocelyn Willoughby
Along with talks, possible moves, and rumors, the talk around the WNBA world is where Breanna Stewart will go if she decides to move on from the Seattle Storm. Will she decide to come play for her home state of NY? Will she stay in Seattle and lead the team after the retirement of Sue Bird? The wonder also extends to others on the list such as Candance Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and others. In conclusion, we all know contracts end, life happens for these players and sometimes our jobs take us to new and interesting places. Whatever these players decide the 2023 season will be exciting. We here at Swish wish all the players a great 2023 season!
Now let’s talk figures, below is the 2023 NY Liberty Salary Cap tool:
** 2023 New York Liberty Salary Cap Totals
Active Roster Cap. $1,037,585
Total Cap Allocation $1,037,585
Cap Floor Space $151,405
2023 WNBA Salary Cap Max $1,420,500
Cap Max Space $382,915
**Notations: https://www.spotrac.com/wnba/new-york-liberty/cap/