Through her first two WNBA seasons, Angel Reese quickly established herself as a rising star, earning All-Star selections in each of her first two years in the league. But in her first pair of preseason appearances with the Atlanta Dream, she’s had a tough time finding her rhythm.
Back in April, the Chicago Sky dealt Reese to the Dream in exchange for two first-round picks, a move that brought the league’s top rebounder to Atlanta.
Reese has led the WNBA in rebounding in both of her first two seasons, including an average of 12.6 boards per game last year. She made history by becoming the only player in league history to average at least 12.0 rebounds in a season, accomplishing the feat in both 2024 and 2025. She also led the league with 23 double-doubles last season.
Beyond her work on the glass, Reese has also been a steady scoring presence, putting up 14.1 points per game across her first two seasons. That said, she hasn’t quite resembled that version of herself in her first two preseason outings with Atlanta.
In her preseason debut with the Dream, which came against her former team, the Chicago Sky, Reese finished with 8 points and 7 rebounds in a win, though she was not exactly efficient. She went just 2-for-7 from the field and 4-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Things didn’t improve much on Sunday when Reese made her home preseason debut against the Washington Mystics. In the loss, she recorded 10 points and 4 rebounds while adding 2 turnovers and 3 personal fouls, shooting 3-for-7 from the field.
These performances aren’t disastrous by any means, but they fall short of what Atlanta likely envisioned when it gave up two first-round picks to land the young star, with general manager Dan Padover calling her a “perfect fit” back in April.
“Angel is a dynamic talent and a perfect fit for what we are building in Atlanta,” Dream general manager Dan Padover said in a statement. “She has already proven herself as one of the most impactful players in the league, and her competitiveness, production and drive to win align seamlessly with our vision. This is an exciting moment for our organization and our fans.”
Needless to say, her struggles led to a lot of reactions from fans on social media.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day. Reese will get her timing down and will start finding the hoop more often,” one fan wrote in a post on X.
“This has ALWAYS been the knock against Angel Reese! Her offensive skills have never improved since her days in high school!! She’s ALWAYS been a rebounder, and a very average offensive threat. Nothing has changed!!” someone else added.
“AR is a good player she just has to work on her game some more, like really tighten up those dribbles and work on some speed drills. Workout with a NBA center and get some foot work going and polished, she will be just fine,” someone else wrote.
“So no improvement in her game at all she hasn’t changed her shooting form. Still takes the craziest layups gets a lot of foul calls some how but can’t make 80%of her free throws. It’s gonna be very interesting in Atlanta if they cut her minutes if she continues to play like this,” another fan wrote.
“Remember Atlanta fans you all wanted this and had to tell everyone how great she was. No take backs,” someone else wrote.
The silver lining for Atlanta is that these were only preseason contests, giving Reese time to get back on track before the games start to count.
About Dave Kelsey
Contributing author to The Comeback.