Wings poised for return of Sabally and Siegrist but might have trouble keeping key fill-in Sims
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Wings are expecting the return of Satou Sabally and Maddy Siegrist soon after the Olympic break but might have trouble keeping Odyssey Sims, who has been the second-leading scorer filling in for the injury-plagued team.
Sabally, a 2023 All-Star who missed all 25 games before the break with a shoulder injury, just finished competing for Germany at the Paris Games. A timeline for her rejoining the Wings should be settled this weekend, team president and CEO Greg Bibb said Thursday.
Dallas returns from the break Aug. 16 at home against Connecticut. The Wings are 6-19 a year after winning a playoff series for the first time since moving from Tulsa in 2016.
Bibb said Sabally should be ready to return “early in the second half,” while Siegrist could be back for the second game after the break, the first of two at the New York Liberty on Aug. 20. Siegrist missed the last 12 games before the break because of a broken left index finger that required surgery.
Sims and Monique Billings signed hardship contracts as injury replacements.
Each time an injured player returns, one of the players on a hardship deal has to be released. That means both Sims and Billings could be gone when Sabally and Siegrist are activated. The Wings would have to wait 10 days to re-sign either player, but salary cap issues could complicate those returns.
Sims, a 10-year veteran who went through the same situation with the Wings last year before finishing the season with them, is averaging 17.2 points in nine games.
Arike Ogunbowale, who set an All-Star Game record with 34 points and was the MVP, leads the Wings at 22.3 points per game. The four-time All-Star scored a WNBA-high 40 points at Phoenix in May.
Sabally, who averaged 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists last season, injured her shoulder helping Germany qualify for the Olympics for the first time in February.
The 26-year-old scored 33 points in a group play victory over Japan as Germany advanced to the elimination rebound before losing to France in the quarterfinals.
Before her injury, Siegrist was averaging 14.6 points in 34 minutes per game, way up from the averages of 3.7 points and eight minutes from her rookie season.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
