Mystics fans are unhappy with the offseason moves so far

This offseason has been a dark time for many Mystics fans, but a return of the Belgian superstar could make up for a lot of things.

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Oh … wait. Wrong languages since our site is in the USA. But still, welcome back, Belgian readers, because we will chat a bit about an old friend later in this post!

So to our readers in the DMV and the USA:

Hi everyone! Thanks for your responses to our Washington Mystics SB Nation Reacts survey. Today, we’ll go over the results.

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Mystics fans give the team a median grade of “D” for this offseason’s moves so far

We had over 100 respondents to this survey. Thank you and we expect to see even more responses in future surveys!

When a playoff team loses its franchise player and longest-tenured player in a week, that will be a blow to fans. The only way to make up for this is by acquiring similar types of players, typically by trade.

However, the Mystics suffered the worst of both worlds.

Let’s first discuss the players who departed. They let Natasha Cloud go to the Phoenix Mercury in free agency. And despite coring Elena Delle Donne in an attempt to recoup value for her in a possible trade (since she wanted to leave), Delle Donne is sitting out rather than signing a supermax contract with the Mystics. All in the first week of February!

Second, Washington signed many players, but most of them are on training camp contracts, though Belgian guard Julie Vanloo appears to be a lock for the opening day roster. The two players who are signed: Karlie Samuelson and Stefanie Dolson, don’t have the same combined clout that Delle Donne and Cloud had while on the Mystics.

Therefore, I’m not surprised that the Mystics have a “D” median grade for their offseason moves. In fact, a combined 59 percent gave the Mystics a D or F. Only a combined 5 percent gave the Mystics an A or B for the offseason so far.

Most Mystics fans think Elena Delle Donne will return to the WNBA

Sixty-five percent of Mystics fans believe that despite her current impasse with the Mystics, Delle Donne will eventually play in the WNBA again. Perhaps this impasse is because she is cored.

Delle Donne could sign for a contract up to the supermax. But it isn’t likely that other teams will want to take Delle Donne’s potential salary of over $241,984 in a trade and/or give up much in return for a 34-year-old veteran player who has been sitting out many games, especially since the 2019 championship season.

I think Delle Donne sitting out is just a strategy for her to get what she wants: a chance to play on a contending team and win one more championship. The Mystics, as constructed, aren’t.

Most Mystics fans want the front office to try to re-sign Emma Meesseman

If you read many of the comments of our pieces on Meesseman since 2021 or so, they have been quite negative about her as a WNBA player. But it’s not about or because of her talent.

The reservation most of our site’s commenters, even myself, have on Meesseman is this: her availability is likely limited due to FIBA Women’s EuroBasket in odd-numbered years. AND depending on who the Belgium women’s national basketball team head coach is, her availability in even-numbered years may be suspect.

That said, commenters only provide a small snapshot of the entire fanbase’s thoughts. Based on the responses to this survey, most Mystics fans (68 percent) would like to pull out those “Welkom terug, Emma!,” “Bon retour, Emma !” or plain old “Welcome back, Emma!” signs. They want the front office to try to get her back if possible. Even General Manager Mike Thibault acknowledged that he would like to see Meesseman back in an interview on Belgian television.

Since then, even I have started to reminisce about her great years with the Mystics and seeing Belgian fans respond to our pieces on her. Let’s pretend that Meesseman returns to the Mystics this season and pledges to be here for all of 2024. It would be a home run signing, to say the least.

Meesseman would be the clear franchise player on this Mystics team, where she can fully showcase her scoring and passing talents. A Meesseman-Ariel Atkins-Brittney Sykes-Shakira Austin core looks pretty damn good to me with the right point guard. Vanloo, given her familiarity with Meesseman, could be that right fit. And Dolson could be a strong sixth woman and still play over 20 minutes a game.

But again, this is hypothetical. It doesn’t seem likely that Meesseman will play in the WNBA this year. And even if Meesseman wants to return to the WNBA, she may want to go “ring chasing” too. It’s a hard sell to make to Meesseman that the current Mystics roster will be a contender with her.

That said, I think Meesseman, who is just 30, is now better than Delle Donne was at her peak. I could see a Meesseman-led Mystics team being a contender with the right pieces around her. At least some of them are already in D.C., but now I’m starting to reminisce too much.

Let’s close with this. It’s one thing for Mystics fans and Thibault to want her to return. But it takes two to tango.

Does Meesseman want to return to the WNBA? If so, where? Only Emma herself can answer those questions.

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