The Minnesota Lynx head into the 2025 WNBA season with a number of confidence and momentum having reached the 2024 WNBA Finals. With a celebrity participant in Napheesa Collier and a strong core round her, the Lynx seem poised to be a contender once more within the upcoming season. With the beginning of the season solely a few weeks away, the Lynx continued to bolster their roster with the re-signing of veteran ahead Jessica Shepard, the staff introduced.
The re-signing of Jessica Shepard brings the Lynx’s present roster to 21 gamers together with the gamers they chose within the WNBA Draft. The Lynx are solely permitted to convey 18 gamers to coaching camp in order that they might want to transfer no less than three gamers by way of commerce or slicing them. The Lynx simply added veteran wing Karlie Samuelson by way of commerce on draft day. WNBA coaching camps open on April 27.
Shepard rejoins the Lynx after sitting out the 2024 WNBA season. Shepard had been taking part in together with her abroad staff, Umana Reyer Venezia in Italy when 2024 coaching camp started. As per the WNBA’s CBA, the prioritization rule states that gamers should report back to their WNBA staff by a sure deadline, or else they can not play in that individual season.
The prioritization rule solely impacts gamers with two or extra years of expertise, they usually needed to have ended the earlier season on a WNBA roster. Shepard match each these barometers as she was nonetheless a member of the Lynx and she or he had 4 years of expertise to that time.
Associated Minnesota Lynx InformationArticle continues beneath
Shepard was initially chosen by the Lynx with the No. 16 total choose within the 2019 WNBA Draft, and she or he has performed for the Lynx her whole WNBA profession thus far. After a strong begin to her rookie season in 2019, she suffered an ACL tear that minimize her 12 months quick. She ended up sitting out the complete 2020 season because of an ACL damage. 2023 was the final 12 months that Shepard was within the league, showing in 21 video games, together with 17 begins, at slightly over 26 minutes per sport.
She averaged 8.1 factors, 7.1 rebounds and three.2 assists with splits of 51.6 p.c capturing from the sphere and 77.4 p.c capturing from the free-throw line. Her factors per sport tied a career-high. Coming into her fifth season within the WNBA, she provides the Lynx further depth within the frontcourt. She mechanically turns into one of many staff’s greatest rebounders with a profession common of 6.1, virtually as a lot as her factors per sport profession common (6.3).
With Shepard again within the fold, the Lynx have a possible logjam with strong ahead depth. Collier is the beginning energy ahead with Bridget Carleton because the beginning small ahead. Shepard can play each energy ahead and heart and would give the Lynx a extra skilled possibility at reserve energy ahead.