This was difficult to convey during the off-season so I wonder if it's easier to see now. We tend to get caught up in semantics like rebuilding and lose track of the actual process and milestones.
This team was already rebuilt before the draft and before free agency began. They had two young all stars, and Shakira and Georgia. I'm not sure why so many couldn't see it then. How do you define a rebuilding team? A team without at least one all star? A team with glaring holes in at least two positions? The Mystics didn't fit any definition of a rebuilding team, plus they had 3 first round picks, plus they had more cap space than anyone in the league.
The draft hadn't occurred yet but the chronology simply didn't matter. The draft wasn't going anywhere, they were guaranteed to add more talent to the rebuilt roster they already had. We just didn't know exactly who. The team was not still rebuilding.
Take away Onyenwere's roster spot and the team would have $2.5 million in cap space. Imagine if they went hard at Gabby Williams, who took so long to sign with a team that she clearly was waiting for the best offer. Her defense probably would've made a difference against the Liberty.
And the final rub is that it wouldn't have impacted the teams ability to make more moves this year, next year or the year after. Even if they had signed Gabby to a max instead of Onyenwere for 700k, they would still be sitting on $1.5 million in cap space now.
The team is rebuilt and is a playoff contender. If I had the foresight to see this team could already be a title contender with Sonia and Kiki in just the second year of cheap rookie contracts, there's no excuse for management to not have seen it.
Maybe some if you still aren't getting this. But for those of you who were rude as puck and do get it now, I hope you learn to consider that maybe sometimes you're the ones not getting the concept. it was a mistake to not be active in free agency.
