Caitlin Clark and the 2024 WNBA draft class have arrived but the next part is the toughest

Making it in the WNBA is one of the hardest things in sports.

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you taking the time.

Hopefully, you watched the WNBA draft last night! That felt like a real watershed moment for the league. I don’t know how the ratings will turn out, but everyone on my social feeds was tapped into it.

Caitlin Clark was the night’s big draw, but folks were also there to see where Kamilla Cardoso, Angel Reese, Rickea Jackson and more would go. The names we know all now have homes in the WNBA.

READ MORE: Grades for every first-round pick in the WNBA draft

But I’ve got to be honest, folks. I know some of us are new to the league. And I’m so glad you’re still watching. But for some of those names? I wouldn’t get too attached.

There’s a solid chance some players you heard getting their names called on Monday night might not be on those same teams by the end of the season.

Making it in the WNBA is hard. Just look at the 2021 draft class — four of the top five picks from that class were cut by the teams that drafted them within two seasons. That’s how it goes.

It’s a numbers game. There are only 12 teams in the league and 12 available roster spots per team. That’s 144 players without a ton of churn. Making room for 36 more players yearly is a tough proposition — especially when there’s no developmental space like the G League to place them.

This is why expansion matters so much for this league. More teams mean more roster spots. More roster spots mean more space for talent. The W is working on it — Cathy Engelbert said she expects the league to have 16 teams by 2028.

In the meantime, though, rookies remain at a disadvantage. It’s not that they’re not good — they just don’t know the tricks of the trade like the W’s vets do. They’ve been there already. They’ve done the work. The rookies still have a lot of heavy lifting to do.

This is why folks like Diana Taurasi scoff at the idea of a rookie dominating the league. The truth is, if Indiana wanted to (and this will absolutely never happen), it could cut Caitlin Clark in a month with no repercussions.

Best of luck to every single one of those ladies who heard their names called last night. They’ll need every bit of it over these next few years.

A wild finish on the ice

Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

We’re just a few days away from the start of the NHL playoffs and almost everything is settled…except the Eastern Conference race for the wild card. The landscape has changed a bit from a week ago.

You’ve got two spots available for four teams: The Washington Capitals (89 points), Detroit Red Wings (89 points), Pittsburgh Penguins (88 points) and Philadelphia Flyers (87 points).

• The Capitals are in a “win and you’re in” situation on Tuesday night with the Flyers on schedule for their season’s final game.
• A Washington win would give the Caps 91 points on the year and the top wild-card spot in the East since the team owns the tiebreaker over the Red Wings.
• A Flyers win would give the Flyers, Caps and Red Wings 89 points on the year with the Flyers in pole position through tiebreakers.
• Pittsburgh would have to beat the Islanders on Wednesday to get 90 points and become the conference’s top wild-card team.

It’s chaotic. It’s a mess. It’s playoff hockey. You love to see it.

One way the NBA In-Season tournament worked

Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

Debates on whether the NBA should’ve considered the NBA In-Season Tournament a success or failure raged on in the middle of December when we had nothing else to talk about.

It was the classic NBA ratings talk. Were people watching the games more because of the tournament? Sure. But was the impact large enough for the NBA to tout it as a huge win? Probably not.

However, the league did make some gains in another area because of the tournament: in-person attendance. The NBA released numbers on game attendance this year and set sellout records for the second consecutive year.

“The total attendance of 22,538,518 in the 2023-24 regular season surpasses the previous record of 22,234,502 set last season.  The other records include 873 sellouts (up from the previous record 791 in 2022-23), 71% of games sold out (up from 63% in 2022-23) and an average attendance of 18,324 (up from 18,077 in 2022-23). Additionally, NBA arenas were filled to an all-time-high 98% capacity.”

It’s hard to get people to come to games between the improving at-home experience and expensive ticket prices. The NBA getting these numbers is impressive.

Does it mean the In-Season Tournament is a no-brainer win? No. But it is a good sign that shows people are still interested in NBA basketball.

Quick hits: Nikola GOAT-ic …  The Knicks made The Sopranos wack … and more

— Robert Zeglinksi has Nikola Jokic at the top of his MVP ladder again. A third MVP would put him in some pretty rare air.

— The Knicks making The Sopranos uncool is such a Knicks thing. Here’s Christian D’Andrea with more.

— What a fun Caitlin Clark photobomb. Charles Curtis has more.

— Here’s Cory Woodroof on the 11-man roster of Team USA’s men’s hoops squad. We’ve got one roster spot left to give.

— Mitchell Northam has you covered on everything you need to know about the Indiana Fever. 

— And here’s Tyler Netunno with the best outfits from the draft.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate it. Let’s do this again tomorrow! Until then. We out. Peace.

-Sykes