The Las Vegas Aces are finalizing a deal to sign Becky Hammon, former Spurs Assistant, to a record breaking deal.
Hammon’s deal will allow her 5 years to lead the Aces into a new direction starting next season. Hammon was once a 6 time All-star in the WNBA before going to the NBA to be an assistant to Coach Gregg Popovich. In December of 2020, she made history when Coach Popovich was ejected and she was put into the position to serve as the first woman to coach in the NBA.
The timing of the report was surprising since Las Vegas hadn’t announced the ouster of head coach Bill Laimbeer.
Laimbeer guided the franchise to the WNBA finals in 2020 and helped the team finish with the second-most wins (24) in 2021. However, some began to wonder whether his strategy was setting Vegas up for success in the playoffs.
The Las Vegas Aces released General Manager Padover. This is a surprising amount of turnovers for an organization with so much recent success. In addition, the roster could look a lot different since both Wilson and Cambage are free agents.
The front office, coaching staff and lineup could be significantly reshuffled, but the “sky-high” expectations are likely to remain the same for Hammon in 2022.
