The 2020 WNBA season is set to be the most unique in the league’s 24-year history. Teams have arrived at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL to begin training camp for a 22-game season with all games played at a single site without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic. The bubble is set and the season is set to tip off on July 25. In the lead up to the season, WNBA.com will break down each team in the league, continuing with the Washington Mystics.

2019 Season Recap

• 26-8, 1^st in East, 1^st in League
• Won WNBA Finals over Connecticut (3-2)

Off-Season Moves

• Draft: No. 24 Jaylyn Agnew (waived); No. 36 Sug Sutton (waived)

• Trades: Acquired Tina Charles from New York in exchange for Washington’s 2020 1st round draft pick, Washington’s 2021 first, second and third round picks and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough.

• Players Added: Essence Carson, Leilani Mitchell, Alaina Coates and Shey Peddy via free agency; Charles via trade

• Players Lost: Kristi Toliver (via free agency, signed with LAS) Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (via trade to NYL), Kim Mestdagh (unsigned free agent); Tina Charles (medical), LaToya Sanders (personal) and Natasha Cloud (personal) will not play in 2020

• Returning Players: Emma Meesseman and Delle Donne re-signed; Ariel Atkins, Tianna Hawkins, Myisha Hines-Allen, Kiara Leslie and Aerial Powers remain under contract

Who’s at IMG Academy

Between free agency, trades, the draft and players choosing not to participate in the season due to health concerns, the teams that take the court in 2020 may look a lot different than they did in 2019. Here’s a look at some of the key players that will represent the Mystics in 2020.

Emma Meesseman

• 2019 Stats: 23 GP, 23.6 MPG, 13.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.2 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.7 3PG, 55.2 FG%, 42.2 3P%, 90.5 FT%
• After missing a third of last season with Belgian National Team commitments, Meesseman returned to make a huge impact off the bench, becoming the first reserve player to win Finals MVP. In the playoffs, Meeseeman averaged 19.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while shooting 58 percent from the field and beyond the arc over Washington’s nine-game run to the title.

Ariel Atkins

• 2019 Stats: 33 GP, 24.4 MPG, 10.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 41.6 FG%, 35.7 3P%
• Atkins has been a key contributor for the Mystics since she joined the team as a rookie in 2018. While contributing 10 points and 2 assists per game on offense, Atkins makes her mark on the defensive side of the court. She has been named to the All-Defensive Second Team in each of her two WNBA seasons, ranking in the top 10 in steals both seasons.

Aerial Powers

• 2019 Stats: 30 GP, 19.8 MPG, 11.4 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.8 SPG, 43.4 FG%, 36.2 3P%
• Since arriving in Washington midway through the 2018 seasons, Powers has served as an offensive spark off the bench thanks to her ability to create her own shot off the bounce and with shooting range that extends beyond the arc.

Leilani Mitchell

• 2019 Stats (Phoenix): 32 GP, 30.4 MPG, 12.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 4.0 APG, 0.9 SPG, 2.3 3PG, 44.1 FG%, 43.0 3P%
• Mitchell returns to Washington after spending the past three seasons in Phoenix. In 2019, she became the first player to earn the Most Improved Player award twice (she also won in 2010 with New York) after posting career highs in scoring, rebounding and assists in her 11^th WNBA season. 

Essence Carson

• 2019 Stats (Phoenix): 23 GP, 18.5 MPG, 5.8 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 35.2 FG%, 34.1 3P%
• The Mystics added the 12-year pro for her veteran leadership and ability to play multiple positions on the perimeter. Carson, who won a title with L.A. in 2016, brings career averages of 7.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 346 career games.

Alaina Coates

• 2019 Stats (Minnesota/Atlanta): 23 GP, 7.3 MPG, 2.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 0.5 BPG, 53.3 FG%
• The Mystics will look to unlock the potential that made Coates the No. 2 pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft. Her rookie season was delayed to 2018 due to an injury that also forced Coates to miss the NCAA Tournament as her South Carolina teammates won the national championship. In three seasons between Chicago, Minnesota and Atlanta, Coates has played 55 games with career averages of 2.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.4 blocks in 7.3 minutes per game.

Kiara Leslie

• 2018 Stats (NC State; DNP 2019, Injury): 34 GP, 33.4 MPG, 15.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 2.0 3PG, 41.6 FG%, 38.1 3P%
• Washington did not keep either of their two draft picks from 2020 (Nos. 24 and 36), but they will have a rookie on the squad as 2019 first round pick Kiara Leslie makes her WNBA debut after missing all of 2019 due to injury.

Three Questions

1. Is this the strangest title defense in league history?

After winning the title in 2018, the Seattle Storm had to try to defend the title without two star players – regular season and Finals MVP Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird. After winning their fourth straight title in 2000, the Houston Comets had to defend their title without Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes.

Defending the title is difficult; there is a reason only two teams have accomplished the feat in league history – the 1997-2000 Houston Comets and the 2001-2002 Los Angeles Sparks. No team has successfully defended the WNBA title in 18 years. And if the Washington Mystics want to snap that streak, they will have to overcome incredible odds to do it.

When the Mystics open the 2020 season on Saturday, they will do so with only one member of the starting five from last year’s championship team on the court – Ariel Atkins. There will be no MVP Elena Delle Donne, no Natasha Cloud, no LaToya Sanders and no Kristi Toliver. Even Washington’s prize acquisition of the offseason, Tina Charles, will not be available in 2020.

The Mystics will have Finals MVP Emma Meesseman, Atkins, Aerial Powers, Tianna Hawkins and Myisha Hines-Allen from last year’s squad; they will have newcomers Leilani Mitchell, Essence Carson and Alaina Coates as well as rookie Kiara Leslie. And they will have coach Mike Thibault on the sidelines. Thibault is a three-time Coach of the Year winner and owns the most wins in league history.

2. Which players step up to fill in for the missing talent?

With so many key players from last year’s title team out for the season, there will be plenty of opportunities for players to step up and play an expanded role.

Adding veterans like Mitchell and Carson in the offseason should help as they are true professionals with 10-plus years of experience in this league, and ready to play whatever role Thibault calls upon them to play. And returning role players like Tianna Hawkins and Aerial Powers should see a bump in minutes, giving them a chance to play an even bigger role than they did a year ago.

What will be most interesting to see is how the young players respond. The Mystics knew that Kiara Leslie would miss all of 2019 when they made her a first round pick in that same year’s draft. Now as a rookie in 2020, she has a chance to prove that Washington’s patience was worthwhile.

Alaina Coates was another player that had a redshirt rookie season after being selected second overall in 2017 by Chicago. Now she is one her fourth team, still looking to show what she can do in this league. With huge holes to fill on the Mystics frontline, the 6-4 center should get the minutes she had yet to consistently see in her first two seasons.

3. Is Playoff Emma ready for the spotlight and the attention she’ll draw this season?

Since she was going to miss 10-plus games in the middle of the season due to national team commitments, Thibault made the decision to bring Emma Meesseman off the bench for the entire season as to not disrupt the rotations in the starting lineup.

The plan worked perfectly as Meesseman, who was a full-time starter the previous four seasons, thrived in the reserve role. In less than 24 minutes per game, she averaged 13.1 points., 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists during the regular season. While Delle Donne became the first WNBA player to enter the vaunted 50-40-90 club last season, Meesseman was on track to join her had she played enough games to qualify for each statistical category. She shot 55.2% from the field, 42.2% from three and 90.5% from the free throw line.

But it was the playoffs where Meesseman truly shined. With Delle Donne slowed by injury, Meesseman took on a larger role in the offense, leading the Mystics in scoring at 19.3 points per game, bumping her rebounds up to 5.6 and shooting the lights out – 58.2% from the field and 58.1% from beyond the arc. The end result was the Finals MVP award for Meesseman and the first championship in franchise history for the Mystics.

Last year’s championship run truly showed Meesseman’s full potential as she played some of the best ball of her career in that nine-game stretch. What we’ll find out in 2020 is whether or not she can sustain that level of play, especially while not being surrounded by an MVP in Delle Donne, an All-Star in Toliver and key contributors like Cloud and Sanders from a season ago.