Patience, trades and 1 bold bet: How the Atlanta Dream finally broke through to the WNBA Finals

Atlanta general manager Dan Padover built the Dream into a title contender through shrewd trades, a little bit of luck and patience from the team’s ownership group.

All that has paid off as Atlanta is headed to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013 when the Dream play the Golden State Valkyries in the best-of-seven series that begins Saturday.

“I give the ownership group a lot of credit for having the patience to have this thing get where it is today,” Padover said in a phone interview. “A lot of times in sports, teams get broken up too early. Letting them grow together gives a continuity that is a huge competitive advantage. You’re seeing it now.”

Putting this team together started soon after Padover came to the franchise in 2021 from Las Vegas.

“We never got lottery luck or many free agents really, so we had to do it through trades,” said Padover, who was with the Aces when they drafted Jackie Young with the No. 1 pick. “That’s definitely the hardest way to build a franchise.”

ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo has been impressed with what Padover has done with the Dream.

“They put everything together. If they don’t have Angel (Reese) this year they aren’t in the finals. They got the gift of DeWanna Bonner at end of season. They picked her up for nothing. I think it’s twofold: a GM who has done an extraordinary job finding the right pieces and a team that’s come together at the right time.”

Getting started through the draft

The two-time WNBA Executive of the Year’s first big move was acquiring the No. 1 pick from Washington in 2022 to draft Rhyne Howard and then taking Naz Hillmon 15th that year through another traded draft pick.

“None of it gets off the ground without Rhyne and Naz,” he said. “They had a belief in each other and that we could try to build something here.”

Solidifying the core with trades

The next season Padover traded for Allisha Gray for two draft picks, giving the Dream a solid foundation with Gray, Howard and Hillmon.

“Got to give credit to Lish,” Padover said. “She was on trade market, but she circled this as a place she wanted to go to. It worked out for all parties involved.”

The team was lacking a true point guard though, so Padover went out and got Jordin Canada from Seattle in 2024.

The biggest move though came this past year. After being upset by Indiana in the first round of the playoffs last season, Padover knew they need Angel Reese to contend for a title. A few months later, Padover made the move.

“I think she was looking at a few different places, but given our group, given our organization, our market, we were a natural fit for her,” he said.

Adding the final piece in free agency

The final piece to the puzzle involved signing DeWanna Bonner right at the end of the regular season when the Phoenix Mercury let her go to make one more run at a championship.

“It happened that Phoenix and her worked out a deal to allow her to make a run in the postseason and that turned into a mini-free agency with a bunch of teams that went after her,” Padover said. “We were fortunate that we had made a run at her the last few free agencies. She has a great relationship with our players, which helped.”

Finding the right coach

Padover decided after the 2024 season that it was time to move on from coach Tanisha Wright after she had led the team to consecutive playoff appearances. The team hired a search firm and the biggest thing that the franchise wanted was a basketball purist who aligned with the core values of the organization. The answer was longtime Florida Gulf Coast coach Karl Smesko.

“Karl was born to be a basketball coach. He’s extremely humble and hard working and just a phenomenal basketball mind,” Padover said. “To be in his second year in this amazing league that is ultra competitive from a player and coaching standpoint. To have 30 wins his first two years and then make the WNBA Finals in year two, puts him up there in elite, elite company.”

Bringing them all back

With the condensed free agency period this offseason because of the new collective bargaining agreement, Padover had little time to re-sign Howard, Gray, Canada, Hillmon and the others.

In the span of two days he was able to get them to all want to come back.

“To lock up five players in 48 hours is crazy, usually you don’t lock up one that quickly,” Padover said. “It’s a two-week process in a normal year.”

Padover said the work began well before he was able to talk to them.

“It was so important to have done your work earlier and them knowing who you are and that you care,” he said. “We knew speed was important because people were out there making them good offers. We made them feel whole as quickly as possible and showed them how much we wanted them.”

___

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here