WNBA co-Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith signs with Dallas Wings
· Yahoo Sports
The Dallas Wings have found their new center.
A person directly involved with the negotiations told USA TODAY Sports on Saturday night that the Wings are signing Alanna Smith to a multi-year deal. The person requested anonymity because the deal hasn't been officially announced.
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Smith was the WNBA’s co-Defensive Player of the Year last season with the Minnesota Lynx, sharing the award with A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces.
The addition of Smith rounds out a busy week for the Wings in free agency.
Dallas signed free agent forward Jessica Shepard, re-signed four-time All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale, and traded Diamond Miller to the Connecticut Sun for forward Rayah Marshall. Awak Kuier, who the Wings drafted second overall in 2021, has signed her contract with Dallas and will return to the WNBA after spending the last two seasons in Italy and Turkey.
Dallas will, of course, make one more high-profile addition on Monday night with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft.
A 6-foot-4 center from Australia, Smith played collegiately at Stanford where she was an All-American and two-time All-Pac-12 selection before the Phoenix Mercury drafted her eighth overall in 2019.
After bouncing around from Phoenix to the Indiana Fever and then to the Chicago Sky, Smith found a consistent role over the past two seasons with the Minnesota Lynx, starting in all 81 games she appeared in for Cheryl Reeve’s squad. Across two seasons in Minnesota, Smith averaged 9.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per game, helping the Lynx make back-to-back playoff appearances — including a trip to the Finals in 2024.
Smith made the WNBA’s All-Defense team in each of the past two seasons. She’s also improved as a 3-point shooter, making 39% of her looks from behind the arc in 2024 and 33% last season.
Smith and Shepard played together in Minnesota last season, and their established chemistry could be a boost for the Wings’ revamped front court.
The Wings' new center also played with Ogunbowale in Unrivaled this winter and the duo helped Mist BC win a championship. Smith has also featured for her native country on the international stage, helping Australia win the bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics by notching a double-double in the third-place game.
On paper, with the additions they’ve made in the past week combined with their young core of WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers, Aziaha James, Maddy Siegrist and JJ Quinerly, the Wings have the makings of a team that could contend for a playoff spot under first-year head coach Jose Fernandez.
Whoever the Wings draft on Monday night will be another instrument in Fernandez’s expanding toolbox.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dallas Wings add defensive anchor Alanna Smith in WNBA free agency