Not many Sparks’ options
Replacing Lisa Leslie won’t be easy for the Sparks.
This week’s surprising revelation by the three-time WNBA most valuable player that she was two months pregnant and would sit out the 2007 season has left the Sparks scrambling, General Manager Penny Toler acknowledged.
Toler declined further comment Friday, perhaps because she had nothing new to report after Thursday, when she admitted that it would be difficult to reconfigure a team that was built around Leslie.
“I’ll sit back and think and come up with something,” Toler said Thursday. “We will be competitive. I’m lucky that I have a good supporting cast already in place around her.”
Their highest-profile name is Chamique Holdsclaw, a six-time WNBA All-Star who is an unrestricted free agent.
The free-agent signing period starts next month, but WNBA league rules make it difficult to sign away great players because teams are allowed to designate two free agents as “core” players in order to take them off the market. And restricted free agents can be retained simply by matching another team’s offer.
Free agency will offer only “slim pickings,” Toler said.
Yolanda Griffith of the Sacramento Monarchs is an unrestricted free agent, but it’s unlikely the Monarchs would set her free. Post players that might be available include Tammy Sutton-Brown of the Charlotte Sting, Chasity Melvin of the Washington Mystics and Janell Burse of the Seattle Storm.
The 2007 draft class is not considered deep, and the Sparks will pick 13th of 14 teams.
“We’re picking low in not such a good draft,” Toler said.
As for making a trade to replace their most valuable player, who averaged career bests of 20 points and 3.2 assists, Toler said, “We were in the process of building for the future. You don’t want to give all that up.”
In short, nobody they bring in will fill Leslie’s shoes.
“When Lisa’s at her best, there’s nobody better,” Toler said. “Even an average Lisa is a great player. A great Lisa is a phenomenal player.”
And no Leslie is a problem.
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