Angel Reese turns her offseason trade into a breakout campaign emerging as a favorite for a major WNBA honor
Reese finished as the leading rebounder for the third consecutive season, the same number of seasons she has spent in the WNBA
Weeks before the 30th WNBA season began, the Atlanta Dream shocked the basketball world by acquiring Angel Reese from the Chicago Sky in exchange for their 2027 and 2028 first-round draft picks .
Fast forward to the postseason, and that blockbuster gamble has paid massive dividends: Atlanta secured the fourth seed in the standings to set up a first-round series against the Washington Mystics , while Chicago languished with a losing record for the fourth straight year.
For Reese, this marks her maiden playoff appearance, though her regular-season dominance entirely justified Atlanta's aggressive trade.
She captured the league's rebound title (12.2 RPG) for the third consecutive year , matching the exact length of her professional career, and cemented her readiness for playoff intensity by earning Player of the Week honors for three consecutive weeks after closing out the campaign averaging 19.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in the last week of action
Angel Reese Chases DPOY Crown Behind Record-Breaking Campaing
With the 30th regular-season schedule officially in the books, the major individual awards are coming into sharp focus: Olivia Miles is locked in as the runaway Rookie of the Year , A'ja Wilson is poised to secure her fifth career MVP award , and the most fiercely contested race centers on the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), where Reese stands as the betting favorite across major sportsbooks.
Reese faces stiff competition from Golden State Valkyries star Gabby Williams and multi-time MVP Wilson, but her resume is undeniably robust.
Alongside leading the association in rebounding ( 12.1 RPG ), she finished third in steals ( 1.8 SPG ) while anchoring advanced metrics by ranking first in defensive win shares and fourth in defensive rating, earning her recognition as The Athletic’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Reese concluded the campaign averaging 16.4 points and 12.1 rebounds , appearing in 43 of Atlanta's 44 games, and permanently etching her name into the WNBA history books by shattering the single-season record with 32 double-doubles . She officially surpassed Alyssa Thomas' previous benchmark of 28 double-doubles set across 40 games in 2023.
Furthermore, the former LSU national champion broke additional league records this year by hauling in the most total rebounds in a single season (521) and grabbing a jaw-dropping 26 rebounds in a single game .
The Dream will now open their playoff run with Game 1 at home tomorrow at 7:00 PM ET, followed by Game 2 on Wednesday in Washington, and a decisive Game 3, if necessary, back in Atlanta next Friday.
