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WNBA Injury Watch: Who's Out and Why It Matters

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WNBA injuries are dramatically reshaping playoff races and championship odds as the 2025 season heads into its final stretch. Key players across multiple teams face critical return timelines that could determine their postseason fates.

• Atlanta Dream missing Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada, both expected back August 1st
• Chicago Sky struggling without Courtney Vandersloot (ACL, out for season)
• Caitlin Clark (groin) projected to return August 12th, potentially missing final matchup with Paige Bueckers
• Kayla Thornton's season-ending knee surgery leaves Golden State Valkyries at a crossroads
• Both Samuelson sisters (Karlie with Lynx, Katie Lou with Storm) out for the season
• Liberty battling through multiple injuries while maintaining second place
• Sparks just got Cameron Brink back, critical for playoff push
• Washington Mystics vs Sparks upcoming games could determine final playoff spot

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Speaker 1:

What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, trey, and, as usual, I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about the WNBA injury updates, but before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment tell anyone who's anyone about the show, trying to get the ratings up a little bit. You know just a little bit, but, like I said, today we're going to talk WNBA injury updates for the 2025 season.

Speaker 1:

It's been some decent ones and they do affect not only their teams but the WNBA, so let's talk about them, shall we? So just to give you a quick little shout out, right, as we can see, here are the WNBA oops, here are the WNBA standings. My bad, ladies and gentlemen. Now we have the Lynx at number one, liberty at number two, mercury at number three, storm at number four, dream at number five, fever at number six, ace at number seven, mystics number eight, valkyrie number nine, sparks number 10, wings at number 11, sky at 12, and number 13, unluckily is the Sun. Now, with that, let's go ahead and take a quick little gander at the injuries, because you see the listing, so you see how the teams stack up right now, point in time just a little bit after the All-Star break, right, cool. So let's look at the injuries and see just how they're plaguing their teams. So, as y'all can see, we got here the Atlanta Dream to talk about first and we're not going to pick on them. It's not like these injuries are the most significant. Atlanta comes first in the alphabet, like I don't know what to tell y'all. So we got here the Atlanta Dream. They're missing Jordan Canada and Ryan Howard. Ladies and gentlemen, this is big for me, because these are two of their starters. All right, but Ryan Howard is absolutely, like, is absolutely their best player. I'm sorry, like, like, she, she, she is, and that's that's big. All right, losing your best player. Now she's coming back August 1st. Same thing with Jordan Canada, so that's literally right around the corner. Like, like, so they'll be back. So it's not like they're missing a lot of time.

Speaker 1:

But the cohesion piece, ah, I do want the Atlanta Dream to be able to get a little bit more chemistry on the court. Let's not forget Jordan Canada was out at the beginning of the season too, and then Ryan Howard was out during the All-Star break. So there was time where you know people aren't playing together. You need that time to mesh well. So if you can get your star back on track before the all-star I mean before the playoff start along with your starting point guard, I think you might be able to work out something. And again, the dream have a lot of talent. They just need the cohesion to be able to get over that hump, and that's what I got a question mark about.

Speaker 1:

Now let's go ahead and shift on down to this chicago sky, because again, ladies and gentlemen, y'all saw where the well. Do y'all remember the dream? Where they was right here? They was right here right now. The chicago sky yeah, I was about to scroll down. Damn, they don't know. They right here. They had the bottom, they had the bottom. There it goes.

Speaker 1:

Now, when we go back to the injury list, you see they got a couple of people now, courtney vander sloot was a big injury, and here's what I got to say before I get to the Chicago Sky ESPN, y'all got to do a better job of this. This estimated return date. It is now almost August and y'all talking about some May 1st liars, like just put TBD, like you can easily code TBD in any situation like this. You see, an ACL TBD, like ask any coder or tell any coder about a regular expression. I promise you you can easily do that for this part. Anyways, back to the story, though that's just my little quick IT thing in there.

Speaker 1:

Courtney Vandersloot, I'm not saying she's like the star player, but she's pretty notable for the Chicago Scots history and being out I think that did hurt, slash, cripple the Skies' chances just a little bit Because again, she's their best playmaker. She's one of the best playmakers in the history of the game and she can still score just a little bit, not a lot, but enough. She can shoot the ball well. Pairing that with Ariel Atkins, who you just traded for and she had like an all-star caliber season not too long ago for the Mystics, that's tough, that's tough. She had a little injury. Now, granted, ariel's coming back okay, very soon, like right around the corner. But again that youth you're going to have to rely upon and I think a player like Ariel does give you a little help. And again, they've had injuries throughout the season too. So I hate the fact that Chicago Sky are dealing with what they're dealing with, but Courtney Vandersloot being out really crippled them because they also it also affects Haley Van Lith, ladies and gentlemen. So again, when I see the Chicago Sky at the bottom of the barrel, almost it makes sense Now. I did think they had the talent to just miss the playoffs. But again, that was incorporating Courtney Vandersloot. She could help Asia or Angel Reese, like, feed her the ball, same with Camila Cardoza, and also teach Haley Van Lith how to play the game, her being out because of ACL tear. That does hurt. So again, chicago Sky.

Speaker 1:

Second, I do get it. Now, when you see the dallas wings, you see the dallas wings are third, ladies and gentlemen. And when you, when you, when, when, when you come back over here, you see the dallas wings, they missing a couple people, but I think it's not because of injuries as to why they out. They just don't have enough talent. Yet, end of day, they got some good pieces, they got some good role players and they have arguably two stars in Enrique and Paige Beckers.

Speaker 1:

Maddie Seagrees, I am curious what role she could be. Would she be a third option? I don't know. She sometimes makes me feel like she could. Then sometimes I feel like, ah, maybe just a third option. I don't know, she sometimes makes me feel like she could. Then sometimes I feel like, ah, maybe just a fourth option. So her being out and she coming back relatively soon, all right, I'll rock with that. Because again, that tells me they're not dealing with too many injuries. So, again, from a Wings perspective, the injury report ain't really saying that's the reason why y'all at the bottom, it's more so a talent thing. Uh, tyasha harris, or tyasha harris out for the whole season. I do feel it again right here.

Speaker 1:

May 1st they got to change that tbd it. Come on now, get your regular expressions out there. Coders, come on now. Espn, I expect better from you because it's past may 1st, past May 1st. But again, though, dallas Wings, y'all at the bottom of the barrel.

Speaker 1:

Now y'all see the Golden State Valkyries are the next team. They right here and, if y'all noticing, they right above my sparts. I do expect that to change relatively soon. And the reason why, ladies and gentlemen, is this they do not have Kayla Thornton, no more. Matter of fact, kayla Thornton's injury happened after May 1st, so why are we back at it again? Come on now. But right knee surgery. She had a successful right knee surgery. I hate this for Kayla Thornton, the Valkyries' first All-Star, her first All-Star season and she had a wonderful two years WNBA champion and then All-Star season. Come on now, bro, like I hate the fact she's missing the rest of the season, man, because she was playing well.

Speaker 1:

But this now does help me think. Well, are the Valkyries going to tank and try to get that top draft pick for next season? Because I thought they were going to and they've been playing really well this season. So does this allow them to officially tank like, are y'all gonna make it to the playoffs? No one expected you to win, but then again, not a lot of people expect them to be in the playoff hunt to begin with. So now that you lost your star player, I think you have the ability to now tank for another player who could eventually become a star in the WNBA, like a Lauren Betts, maybe an Olivia Miles, maybe AZ Foley, who knows who they're going to try to choose. But again, you could try to lower your draft stock and potentially make something shake. But we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. But yeah, losing Kayla Thornton is tough. Monique Billings, she come back. Good player, coming back very soon. See what happens. But again, ladies and gentlemen, golden State Valkyries, they have an opportunity now to finally tank.

Speaker 1:

Y'all see the Indiana Fever, because they were the next team that we were going to talk about. Commissioner Cup champs, right, y'all see where they stacked up. What is that? One, two, three, four, five, six, right now. All right, that's cool. Well, here's the thing. I know everybody's been waiting for this, kaitlyn Clark. Y'all see the name highlighted right there. I've been waiting for this, kaitlyn Clark. Y'all see the name highlighted right there, right, there, right.

Speaker 1:

Estimated return date. Ladies and gentlemen, august 12th. She did something to her groin, like her left groin, I know. When I hear that about the NBA, I think you know what I'm saying. So when I think WNBA, that was my first thought. Left groin, I don't know about that champ, but she's been out for a minute with it though. So we got to take it seriously.

Speaker 1:

And again, august 12th is the supposed date that they're going to be, that she's going to be back. Now, when, when, when. I'm looking at that, at, at, at, at, at, at that timeline. Look at this we got Dallas wings coming up, then we got the Seattle Storm. Okay, so that's three for the Sparks, my Sparks. We get to play them without Kalen Clark, aw. Then you got Phoenix, mercury, chicago Sky back at the Dallas Wings.

Speaker 1:

So this is the estimated return date, again to play Paige Beckers, and I want to say this is the final time too, and we're getting pretty daggone close to playoffs, ladies and gentlemen. So I'm very curious if Paige Beck, if Caitlyn Clark, is going to come back by the time she gets to play Paige Beckers for potentially that final time her rookie season. I would love to see that, because y'all know I've been saying that's going to be the narrative, the storyline, and I genuinely believe it would have been if Caitlyn were actually healthy this season. No, paige Beckham stands, which that might be me. Caitlyn won't duck and smoke, because we have seen them go up head-to-head at least once. I would love to see at least twice.

Speaker 1:

Now, though, and that August 12th deadline that's six games from now. So how does she return and how does she play for the playoffs? I'm going to be monitoring that for the latter part of the WNBA season, but I hope Kaitlyn Clark is able to return healthy, because she does help the WNBA out in viewership. We can't be, we can't be. We got to be fair about this, can't lie, but again, I want to see how the fever do with her because she won the commissioner. They won the commissioner cup champ without caitlyn clark. So, tackling on the expectations that the stands and fans of caitlyn clark have thrown upon her, I'm very curious what she do, but let's see what happens though. Let's see what happens. But again, y'all know where, where the fever are now the aces. Y'all saw the aces were the next team and they're seventh.

Speaker 1:

This is kind of disappointing. This is very disappointing, but hear me out, it's not the reason why. But I do understand part of the slippage. Okay, the depth won't add, won't bear the way I thought it was going to be. That also includes a second options Like. Jewel Loy is not the second option. I thought she could be, and I thought Jackie Young was second option, caliber too. So maybe Jewel could even be third option. I'm questioning if Jewel Loy could, should even be the third option on the team.

Speaker 1:

But Cheyenne Parker ties, ladies and gentlemen, that was a big drop for me. For me because again, I thought she had six woman of the year, caliber talent, but she's out, and not because of injury, because of maternity leave. So my one of my question marks is actually how is she going to return when she comes back? And could we get this to be like a fred van fleet situation when he was on the raptors, because fred was snapping that season, that playoffs like he could not miss. So again, maybe what happens if we get cheyenne parker tight to have that fred van fleet-esque sort of playoff run, if she returns and I think that could help the Aces out, I still view them as a contender. They got the possibility.

Speaker 1:

So again, ms Parker, tyus, I guess we can't say Parker, no more. I expect you to return pretty well and help out this A squad because maybe you could be the ace in the hole Because, yeah, they've been playing piss poor this year. I ain't gonna lie to you, but you know aces, yeah, y'all gonna have to tighten up. Now. Y'all saw the links as the next team that we got. They doing pretty well and they, yeah, um, everything's going pretty well for the, for the links I got. I can't, I can't, I can't lie to you, and that does make me wonder, okay, are they really gonna win? Because, again, everything is going right for the links.

Speaker 1:

Now, when we look at injuries, every team that I've talked about have had like not substantial injuries, but like pretty notable injuries. Don't get me wrong. Carly Samuelson is a notable injury, but they clearly can get by without her. So again, it's not like they're losing a lot and that's not a slight at Carly, because they were doing well without Kayla McBride too for a second. So it's not like Carly is going to make or break the bank, but she is a wonderful shooter and it does suck that they were not able to get her Because again, she's out for the whole season, whole season. That is very unfortunate. Like that is so tough. Matter of fact. Yeah, but again, the Lynx are doing quite well and I got to bring this up because you see the storm right here and y'all see where the storm are. They're fourth.

Speaker 1:

I hate the perception of this because the Samuelson family is really going through it right now because look, katie Lou Samuelson, she's out whole season. Y'all see the May 1st, so y'all know it's a TBD for me. But again, the Samuelson family, carly and Katie Liu I hate it for you guys because they were on my sparks at one point in time and I do appreciate the ability that they have. They can score, they can shoot a little bit. I appreciate them as players, good, solid role players. Hated that they're out of the season too. So wish the Samuelsons sisters a speedy recovery. Come back strong. Y'all want to come back to the Sparks. I ain't mad at you. Maybe you don't want to, because I just said y'all were irrelevant, damn near. Let's move on.

Speaker 1:

Before I get cussed out, let's talk about here the league or the Liberty, because y'all saw they were the next team. Well, they were the team in between the Lynx and the Storm and ironically, they're in between the Lynx and the Storm right here too, fun fact. So when we're talking about the Liberty, it's very interesting that they've dealt with a little bit of injuries, like if y'all peep for starters, they've lost additional players outside of these ladies, like Emma Miesman just got to the team and she out Like she ain't returning. Come on now. Brianna Stewart is the star now she coming back. But still, though, you know we got injury history. We got injuries throughout. John Quayle Jones just got back.

Speaker 1:

They missing Benadji Laney because of maternity leave I think was maternity leave, I think so or maybe a knee injury. I gotta double to double check that one, dag, I'm getting old. Then they lost Leone Feebush to overseas play. So this Liberty squad is really dealing with injuries. Then we got Kennedy Burke here coming back August 16th. Nayara Sabadi, who played really well for the Liberty in the playoffs in the finals last season Tough. Now they're coming back, luckily.

Speaker 1:

But this does mess up the cohesion of the Liberty. So as long as they're getting back on track, they don't have no rust. Entering playoffs should be fine. But stuff like this I do note Injury's a part of the game, but they're going to have to shake off this rust. But again, ladies and gentlemen, day number two in the league, even with all that, that's pretty damn good. Like that's, that's pretty good. So if y'all sports, if y'all sports betting folk, I get it. If you want to, if you want to put some money on the Liberty, repeat, because they did look repeat-esque, I will say that.

Speaker 1:

But the final team that we got to talk about Well, two more, two more before we close up shop. We got to talk about the Mystics Because, as y'all see, they right here, they right here at eight. Now, this is another playoff team. Apparently, if the season were to end right now, they this is another playoff team, apparently a point. If the season were to end right now, they would be a playoff team.

Speaker 1:

Well, they've had decent success, but a little bit injury history too, because, keep in mind, shaquiri Austin was injured as well during the season. Aaliyah Edwards injured, currently coming back, but still this affects cohesion. Ladies and gentlemen, for the team, georgia Moore, she was out for the whole season because she tore her ACL. So again that one actually is going to affect them because of the future. I think she lost a lot of reps that she could have got with this squad. So now next season I'm curious how she returns. Does she return confidently? But this season they have been dealing with some injuries, but even still they've at least been in the playoff hunt. So because of that, I do appreciate the Washington Mystics and what they've done Again in the playoff hunt still got some injuries. That does affect their squad and they're a young team relatively. Tip of the cap to the Washington Mystics. But, ladies and gentlemen, again they're in the playoff hunt, as y'all can see.

Speaker 1:

Now my final team, though I got to talk about my sparks because I'm not biased when I say this yes, we highlighted right now. We weren't like. We were supposed to be in the playoff hunt. A lot earlier than this. I was wholeheartedly expecting us to be in the playoffs like at least an eight seed 17 something. We just lost Cameron Brink off, like off the injury report list. So she's now playing with us and remember, ladies and gentlemen, that was our number two pick last season. So if she can shake off her rust and add some value, keep in mind too, she got injured early last season, so there's a learning curve for her right now.

Speaker 1:

But there's a world where we could run a lineup of Kelsey Plum, rekia Jackson, cameron Brink, de'erica Hamby and Azaree Stevens. That's a team that could space the floor out and be a defensive juggernaut, minus Kelsey Plum. So for me, I do like that squad. The only thing that pisses me off the most about it is I'm thinking if we had had, if we had gotten the number one draft pick last year, we probably could have had Paige Beckers, and then we would have had Paige Beckers, rekia Jackson, cameron Brink, azrae Stephens and De'Arica Hamby and that would have been a decent, that would have been a quality starting five for me for the future and we would have been in the playoff hunt today. But I'm happy that Cameron brings off the injury reserve list and we get to see what we're about, because there is pressure on my sparks Because if we don't make the playoffs. Kelsey Plum got some question marks about you. Rekia Jackson, you were traded and we got to see some production. We have seen production, but it's got to equate to playoffs. Same with Azrae and D'Erica.

Speaker 1:

Y'all been in the league for a couple seasons now. We need to get to the playoffs, ladies. So again, we don't have no injuries, no more, no notable injuries, no more excuses. We have to get to the playoffs this season. And y'all currently see we close. And again, this is sixth, seventh. You mean to tell me we can't get to eighth Word? All right, that's a bet. And keep in mind, we just beat the Mystics recently. So if we beat the Mystics again, that means if we tie with the Mystics, we get the tiebreaker. That means we go to the playoffs. So the Sparks and the Mystics, that's going to be a critical game come August. So be on the lookout for that game, ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker 1:

But again, that's the injury report so far. So y'all have heard how everybody's being affected. Y'all have heard how I feel about my team at least. But I'm curious Is there an injury that I did not list, that I did not talk about, that y'all want to hear about? Let me know. Or how do y'all think these injuries actually affect the team? Do y'all think the injuries are really affecting the team that much, especially if they're coming back pretty soon? I think it does. I think it can, because it does affect the cohesion of some players or some teams. So, again, that's my thoughts about that. But, ladies and gentlemen, I want to hear your thoughts. So please definitely make sure to continue to one, support the WNBA, but two, also continue to support my show. I greatly appreciate it. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. As y'all can see, this is the ending of it, but my name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. Hope you all are having a good one. Take care.