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Jackie Young question will dominate more than just the Aces' offseason
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- Jackie Young question will dominate more than just the Aces' offseason
Jackie Young question will dominate more than just the Aces' offseason originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Las Vegas Aces have to re-sign Jackie Young this offseason.
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That's not an opinion. It's a fact.
Otherwise, the Aces -- despite employing the WNBA's first five-time MVP in A'ja Wilson -- will struggle to reach the heights they have reached consistently in the 2020s.
MORE: Angel Reese gets surprising WNBA Finals opponent after A'ja Wilson's Aces suffer stunning exit
The Aces' semifinal sweep at the hands of the Golden State Valkyries will prove instructive. The Valkyries -- coached by Natalie Nakase, a former Aces assistant -- swarmed Wilson, Young and the Aces with athletic help defenders who made every Las Vegas possession a chore.
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As the best-of-five series progressed, the Aces found a little more offense beyond Wilson. Young scored 14 points in Game 2, which ended in a last-second loss, before she dropped 18 points in Game 3 -- a season-ending defeat in overtime.
It's possible that 87-77 to Golden State is Young's final game with the Aces. The three-time WNBA champion is a pending free agent -- potentially the best on the market when her one-year max deal expires.
Young re-signed in Las Vegas last spring to maintain this option: to leave Las Vegas and become the No. 1 option for another franchise. The five-time All-Star has routinely flirted with 50-40-90 seasons, and this kind of productivity doesn't become available every year.
Wilson and the Aces understand Young's value, and asked what her pitch might be to her longtime teammate, Wilson pointed to their close relationship that has produced three WNBA titles since 2022.
"I'm never not gonna be in her ear, but I know when she needs that big sister or when she needs that space," Wilson said after the Aces were swept out of the playoffs. "I feel she just needs someone that's going to be constant and I hope that I can do that."
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Las Vegas better hope she can, too.
Without Young, the Aces' reliance on Wilson and Chelsea Gray will grow even larger. With more than $1 million in newly-created cap space, the Aces would have to jump into the Kelsey Mitchell sweepstakes in a bid to replace Young -- and the competition for Mitchell will be fierce, as the Indiana Fever will push hard to retain her .
Young's decision could well shape WNBA basketball for the rest of the decade. It could begin the sunset of the Aces' dynasty -- or prolong it, right as the Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream emerge as two new powerhouses.
Alongside Mitchell's free-agency choice, Young has in her hands one of the biggest decisions of the offseason.
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