Dream Update: All-Star Allisha

Allisha Gray’s an All-Star for the second-straight season, Jordin Canada suffers another injury setback and Maya Caldwell is (for now) back in an Atlanta Dream uniform.

In a season marred by injury and inconsistency, the Atlanta Dream (7-11) enjoyed some uplifting news on Tuesday. Allisha Gray was named a 2024 WNBA All-Star; it’s her second-straight, and second overall, honor.

The announcement came after she scored 19 points in Atlanta’s 87-77 home loss to the Chicago Sky. Before that, Gray turned in a strong offensive effort against the New York Liberty on Sunday, although her 24 points came in another loss as the Dream let what was once a 16-point lead wither away into a 81-75 defeat.

Those performances, however, are outliers. For much of the season, a good game from Gray has resulted a win for Atlanta. While most players are better in wins than losses, Gray’s differential has been rather pronounced through the first half of the 2024 season. In the Dream’s seven victories, she’s averaged 18.9 points per game on 50 percent shooting, including 59.0 percent from 3. In the team’s 11 losses, she’s managing just 13.8 points per game on 38.2 percent shooting overall and 26.4 percent from 3. In total, she’s scoring 15.8 points per game on 42.8 percent shooting, along with 3.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and a steal per game. For Atlanta to escape their near-perpetual malaise, they need Gray to post surefire All-Star numbers more frequently.

Oh, Canada!

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After missing her first 14 games as a member of the Dream due to a hand injury, Jordin Canada finally made her debut on June 23 against the Liberty. Three games later, Canada again is sidelined, having suffered a broken finger in Sunday’s loss to New York. She is expected to be out until after the Olympic break.

The injury stalls the slivers of positive momentum Atlanta had begun to generate with Canada on the court, especially on the offensive end. While she struggled through rust and a lack rhythm in her first game, she had begun to look more like herself in the subsequent three contests, bringing zest, zip and organization to the Atlanta offense. Canada’s on-court presence coincided with a team-wide emphasis on pushing the pace. As scoring in the halfcourt has been a challenge for Atlanta, creating, and then cashing in on, semi-transition opportunities is a must. Canada’s eagerness to fire hit-ahead passes helped Atlanta put more pressure on opposing defenses. In halfcourt situations, she also injected the Dream offense with more juice, highlighted by her ability to break the paint to get to the bucket or kick out to shooters. Those traits gave the Dream offense an intentionality it had lacked in her absence, and with Rhyne Howard still out with an ankle injury, it’s hard to imagine offense consistently coming easy for Atlanta anytime soon.

Welcome back, Maya?

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A little over a week ago, Atlanta made their first in-season roster move, waiving Crystal Dangerfield and signing Maya Caldwell. Canada’s return obviated the need for Dangerfield; however, with Canada again set to miss a significant chunk of time, the Dream may decide to move on from Caldwell to add another primary ball handler.

While understandable, that’d be unfortunate, for, as she first proved in 2022 when playing nine games for the Dream, Caldwell is a viable, valuable WNBA player. An athletic wing, she is an eager, attentive defender who also has some on the ball pop. Her 3-point shooting is her swing skill. In 2022, she shot an outstanding, yet unsustainable, 56.3 percent from deep on 3.6 attempts per game. Last season with the Indiana Fever, her 3-point percentage sunk to the other extreme, as she converted only 13.8 percent of her triples. Thus far, in 49 minutes across three games, Caldwell is 3-for-8 from downtown, good for 37.5 percent. If she can maintain that accuracy, all while firing away frequently and fearlessly, she can help a Dream team that currently is short on aggressive, efficient perimeter scoring.

What’s next for Atlanta?

On Friday, July 5, the Dream head to Texas to take on the Dallas Wings (7:30 p.m. ET, ION). It will be the second meeting between the two teams; Atlanta defeated Dallas 83-78 on May 21. From there, it’s on to the northeast, with the Dream visiting the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, July 7 (1 p.m. ET, League Pass). Last Friday, the Dream took advantage of a Sun team on the second night of a back-to-back, getting the 78-74 win in Atlanta. In addition to the absences of Canada and Howard, the Dream also remain without Aerial Powers, who has been out since exiting last Friday’s victory with a calf injury.