Satou Sabally passes from Dallas Wings after five seasons. The fifth-year forward revealed her plans to play elsewhere during her media availability for Unrivaled on Thursday.
Sabally, 26, played all five of her WNBA seasons with the Wings, who drafted her. No. 2 overall in 2020 of Oregon. In 2023, she won the Most Improved Player award, averaging 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists. She was also named first team All-WNBA.
Last season, she averaged 17.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and five assists while shooting 45% from 3-point range. Sabally was limited to 15 games due to a shoulder injury suffered during Olympic qualifying for Germany. She underwent surgery and returned to Wings after participating in the Paris Olympics.
However, Dallas finished with the second-worst record in the league at 9-31. The Wings only finished above .500 once in Sabally’s five seasons.
“I have already expressed my gratitude to Dallas as they have made this place my home for the past few years, and I am working with them to find a next home for me,” Sabally told reporters. via Alexa Phillipou of ESPN. “I’ve already played my last game in Dallas.”
Although there probably wasn’t a perfect time for the Wings to find out they were losing their second-leading scorer, Sabally made his announcement the same day Dallas officially introduced its team. new head coach Chris Koclanes. The team also overhauled its front officenaming veteran WNBA head coach Curt Miller as executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager.
As Sabally alluded to, Miller will now likely work to get something in return for Sabally. The likely decision is for the team to use its Basic designation on Sabally and trade him to another club. This will prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent, but will guarantee at least a one-year supermax offer.
Sabally’s sister, Nyaraplays for the WNBA champion Freedom of New York. When asked if she would like to play with her sister on the best team in the league, Sabally said she would “love it.”
Sabally will play for Phantom BC when the women’s 3×3 basketball league begins on January 17. One of her teammates will be Sabrina Ionescuwho she played with at Oregon, which could add to speculation about Liberty making a move for Sabally.
