Season in Review: Atlanta Dream

As a part of a WNBA.com offseason series, we’ll be taking a look at the seasons of all 12 teams in the league and touching on some of the top reasons to look forward to their 2016 WNBA campaigns.

Rewind the tape on the 2015 WNBA season and the vibe at the beginning of the year was positive in Atlanta. Why not? Fresh off another postseason appearance, the Dream seemed to be the team to beat in the Eastern Conference outside of the Chicago Sky.

Angel McCoughtry was back. Shoni Schimmel was back. There were ample reasons to be high on the Dream’s chances in the East.

Early on, it seemed like Atlanta was ready to keep the high hopes in order. Angel McCoughtry surged out of the gates and took home the first game-winning buzzer beater of the year on June 19 vs. Chicago.  The first-team All-WNBA selection added another later in the season

Soon, though, things began to worsen for head coach Michael Cooper’s squad. They shot 40.1% from the field prior to the All-Star Break (11th in the league) and gave up the second highest opponent field goal percentage (43.9%).

Schimmel had a difficult time finding consistent minutes pre-All Star break, but a second consecutive spot in the WNBA All-Star may have been what she needed to get going in the second half of the season. As the season progressed, the fan-favorite regained Cooper’s trust and returned to form.

McCoughtry was the same dynamic scorer she’s been since she entered the league out of Louisville. She often found her name on WNBA.com’s Race to MVP rankings, and her play during the year earned her a third consecutive (and fourth overall) WNBA All-Star nod.

She finished the season averaging 20.1 points per contest – up from 18.5 points per game in 2014. But that scoring wasn’t enough for Atlanta.

After the All-Star break, the Dream sent longtime Dream center Erika de Souza to Chicago in the trade that sent WNBA Finals MVP Sylvia Fowles to Minnesota. In return, the Dream welcomed Damiris Dantas and rookie forward Reshanda Gray.

Gray was highly touted coming out of college, but she fell on draft night and ultimately struggled to find minutes on a loaded Lynx team. As it turned out, Atlanta was the perfect destination for her. Gray showed off a variety of skills down the stretch of the season, including a bit of a mid-range game.

In the end, Atlanta was still in the playoff hunt during the final month of the season. If a few chips had fallen their way, they’d have had the same shot the Washington Mystics had with the New York Liberty in the first round. Alas, that was not the case, and the Dream finished the season fifth in the Eastern Conference.

Now, they have their sights set on the 2016 WNBA Draft, where they’ll select fourth.