Nika in Seattle

[Dugway]

So his contention is that in the WNBA the league is very strict on the total team salary cap. That the types of creative payroll shenanigans that are prevalent in other professional sports is not tolerated in the W. Any truth to that?

I didn’t write down the salary figures but apparently Nika would be slated to make about $3000 more than Jade Melbourne if they were both to make the team. That somehow the addition of Jade however, being paid just slightly less, keeps the total salary under the limit, and Nika would just barely break the budget given the inclusion of a third player that the team would surely want. In essence it is the slight difference in salary that makes all of the world of difference.

Wouldn’t Nika be making the league minimum? And if it were a ‘minimum’ how is it possible that Jade would not be compensated the exact same amount?

 

[azfan]

Regarding the Storm keeping two backup guards — Skyler is a scorer and can play shooting guard. She might pout about it, but she can do it. I dunno about Melbourne, but Nika has demonstrated that she can play with another point guard on the floor, and very well at that.

She will.... and she has more than pouting in her repertoire.

 

[WBBTakeover]

So his contention is that in the WNBA the league is very strict on the total team salary cap. That the types of creative payroll shenanigans that are prevalent in other professional sports is not tolerated in the W. Any truth to that?

I didn’t write down the salary figures but apparently Nika would be slated to make about $3000 more than Jade Melbourne if they were both to make the team. That somehow the addition of Jade however, being paid just slightly less, keeps the total salary under the limit, and Nika would just barely break the budget given the inclusion of a third player that the team would surely want. In essence it is the slight difference in salary that makes all of the world of difference.

Wouldn’t Nika be making the league minimum? And if it were a ‘minimum’ how is it possible that Jade would not be compensated the exact same amount?

The WNBA has a hard cap, so that's true. Most notable professional leagues have soft salary caps, so those teams can go above the salary cap if need be (can pay a tax penalty). The WNBA isn't there yet.

The league minimum for a player with 0-2 years of service is $64,154. Nika's slated to make almost $3,000 more than that as a drafted player.

Richard Cohen of HerHoopsStats does a good job of bringing to light the complications that Seattle faces:

2024 WNBA Training Camp Previews and Roster Breakdowns

 

[Cuango]

She will.... and she has more than pouting in her repertoire.

Yeah, not to mention she’s from Notre Dame!

 

[FormerCTrez]

I have been a Lynx fan since Maya entered the league. Admittedly my enthusiasm waned with Maya’s departure. Love Pheesa and was thrilled when Crystal and later Dorka were drafted, so I have continued to follow them.

But have been all in on moving on to the Storm with Nika being drafted, to be clear they were always my second favorite, with Sue, Stewie snd honorary Huskie- Jewel ( not to mention stints by Kia and Gabby) on the roster it was a no brainer.

If Nka gets cut for purely monetary reasons, rather than being among the 11 best players (as Quinn has said will be the criteria) I’m pretty sure wbb will have to wait until next fall for me when our Huskies take rhe court.

This season is a critical time for the W, the explosion of interest in wcbb can be a catalyst for the same for the WNBA but its critical that they capitalize on that.

If the Storm can’t /won’t sign their primary draft choice for purely financial reasons, irregardless of her potential value to the team - that does it for me.

IMO It would be both unfair to Nika, in bringing her in to compete for a spot that wasn’t realistically an option and detrimental to the league’s real opportunity to explode.

I’m still hopeful that Nika gets a real chance to make the roster basd on her body of work. ( as stared by Quinn in quote beliw) If so I think she will be a Storm player this season We’ll know within a couple weeks

Quinn confirmed that Nika Mühl will miss tonight's game due to Visa issues. But stated that one game does not erase her body of work throughout her college career and from the practices in camp. And that she'll be back with the team when they return to Seattle

I share your sentiments!

 

[Gus Mahler]

They should also trade with the Mercury for Rebecca Allen.

Nika to Nneka to Becca, back to Nneka, over to Nika, cross court to Becca…….

On a tangential note, I wonder if SoCal has a Coco on their team. Then they would have a Juju, a Kiki, and a Coco.

 

[BRS24]

 

[Huskee11]

Seattle defeated Phoenix pretty easily 85-59.

Nika had 6 points (including a three pointer), 3 rebounds, two assists. Significantly, she played 20 minutes, most by far of any reserve and tied for most on the team. Also had three fouls, that's my girl.

Melbourne didn't play, don't know if it was injury related or just wanting to look at other players.

Christyn Williams had 5 points in 17 minutes for Phoenix, most minutes of any Phoenix reserve.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Nika's other basket was from 20 feet!

 

[maccca3232]

Preseason game for player who hasn't even made the team yet.

 

[ShmiCO]

Let's go Nika!

 

[ShmiCO]

 

[RoadMaster]

 

[RoadMaster]

It's not all that I see, but she's not wrong..

 

[Bald Husky]

Thought the same thing. The rest of the team huddled while Nika was still on the floor.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

Trending on Twitter

 

[oldude]

It has to be nerve racking for Nika and all the other players on the bubble with 5 days left until WNBA teams have to be down to their final rosters. Fingers crossed for Nika to stick in the League. I have a feeling that if Nika makes the Storm roster this season, she’ll be in the W for a very long time.

 

[Dogdude]

The WNBA is in a weird space right now. The current growth in women's basketball is almost entirely made up of college players, who have grown up knowing all about the use of social media, NIL deals, etc. As they're the ones getting the publicity, and then also raising the profile of the WNBA, do some of the teams start releasing older, more experienced and very good players (who are also relatively expensive) but who have no buzz, for younger and also very good players who can generate fans in the seats? If I was an owner, I'd start thinking about this...who is going to both put fans in the seats and provide a quality, entertaining product?

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[oldude]

The WNBA is in a weird space right now. The current growth in women's basketball is almost entirely made up of college players, who have grown up knowing all about the use of social media, NIL deals, etc. As they're the ones getting the publicity, and then also raising the profile of the WNBA, do some of the teams start releasing older, more experienced and very good players (who are also relatively expensive) but who have no buzz, for younger and also very good players who can generate fans in the seats? If I was an owner, I'd start thinking about this...who is going to both put fans in the seats and provide a quality, entertaining product?

I think established older players who can still play like DT are going nowhere. The hard choices will be made when it comes to veteran “bench players” who may be better than the rookies, but probably earn significantly more in salary. So for someone like Nika who’s competing for a roster spot on a “salary constrained” team, it may come down to which veteran can the Storm afford to cut.

The one thing that others have commented on which certainly helps Nika’s case is that she is embracing the “Rockstar status” in Seattle. At UConn, Nika was the 2nd most popular player to Paige. She signed autographs and took selfies endlessly with fans, and she was always available for interviews. That’s carried over to the W, where the Storm have to realize that Nika will generate interest and help sell tickets.

 

[CajunHusky]

The WNBA has a hard cap, so that's true. Most notable professional leagues have soft salary caps, so those teams can go above the salary cap if need be (can pay a tax penalty). The WNBA isn't there yet.

The league minimum for a player with 0-2 years of service is $64,154. Nika's slated to make almost $3,000 more than that as a drafted player.

Richard Cohen of HerHoopsStats does a good job of bringing to light the complications that Seattle faces:

2024 WNBA Training Camp Previews and Roster Breakdowns

Reading your link, it would suggest Nika is not likely to make the Seattle roster due to cap space BUT there is plenty of opportunity elsewhere, particularly the Mystics

 

[WiseWillie]

Would have been nice to see some of the Storm reach over and give a hand up to the rook who made the great assist instead of slapping hands.

 

[WiseWillie]

The WNBA is in a weird space right now. The current growth in women's basketball is almost entirely made up of college players, who have grown up knowing all about the use of social media, NIL deals, etc. As they're the ones getting the publicity, and then also raising the profile of the WNBA, do some of the teams start releasing older, more experienced and very good players (who are also relatively expensive) but who have no buzz, for younger and also very good players who can generate fans in the seats? If I was an owner, I'd start thinking about this...who is going to both put fans in the seats and provide a quality, entertaining product?

DogDude looks like you can still wield a hammer pretty darn accurately because you hit the nail head square, man.

You have identified an issue that the W is faced with and will not be getting any better any time soon unless owners realize that the W like all professional sports is overall an entertainment business and people want to see the ones who are garnering public attention which flows over to the W. The league has a way to go yet and here's hoping they deal with this and the other issues, like salary caps, expansion and more before too long because while we want recognize the many amazing contributions of the veteran players these young women are the future.

 

[Huskee11]

I think that Nika will make the Seattle roster. If there are cap space issues, Seattle will deal with them one way or the other.

First of all, she is good enough and will make their team better.

Second, they would look ridiculous if they cut her. They have been marketing her since the moment they drafted her.

And not just Seattle - if you go on the WNBA Twitter feed now (May 8), it looks like the Nika Muhl show.

The Caitlin Clark phenomenon has created a great opportunity to expand the popularity of the WNBA game and cutting Nika would be an incredible buzzkill move.