The Dallas Wings will host the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday afternoon. Upsetting the 8-0 Lynx was already going to be challenging enough for the 1-8 Wings, but Teaira McCowan’s departure for EuroBasket will make matters even more difficult.
McCowan is set to play for Turkey in EuroBasket. Dallas’ starting center has been 6’1″ Myisha Hines-Allen through the first nine games of the 2025 campaign. Having a 6’8″ backup such as McCowan gave the Wings pivotal depth, though. Now McCowan will miss the next few weeks of the WNBA season as she participates in EuroBasket.
The good news is that center Luisa Geiselsoder, who has displayed encouraging signs of potential, is still on the roster for now. However, she will depart for EuroBasket on June 14.
The Lynx were already expected to be the favorite heading into Sunday’s contest against the Wings. McCowan’s absence means there will be less defensive pressure against superstar Napheesa Collier. Hines-Allen will put up a fight, but the chances of her being able to contain the potential 2025 MVP are slim.
Collier, 28, is simply a lethal scorer. She is averaging 25.1 points per outing on 52.5 percent shooting from the field and 40.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Collier is also recording per game averages of 8.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per outing.
It could end up being a long game for Dallas in the post with Collier preparing to play a team without McCowan. McCowan wouldn’t have necessarily solved all of the Wings’ defensive concerns against Minnesota, but she would have at least given the team much-needed size.
Paige Bueckers could potentially return for the Lynx-Wings clash. The rookie, who has missed three consecutive games, has cleared concussion protocol but is still listed as probable due to an illness.
Having Bueckers available would help the situation, but the guard won’t make much of a defensive difference against Napheesa Collier.
The post Why Wings are in serious trouble vs. Lynx, Napheesa Collier appeared first on ClutchPoints.
