2020 Atlanta Dream season

The 2020 WNBA season was the 13th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began its season on July 26, 2020 against the Dallas Wings.[1]

2020 Atlanta Dream season
Coach	Nicki Collen
Arena	Originally: Gateway Center Arena Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance	0 per game
Results
Record	7–15 (.318)
Place	4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did Not Qualify
Team Leaders
Points	Chennedy Carter – 17.4 ppg
Rebounds	Monique Billings – 8.5 rpg
Assists	Betnijah Laney – 4.0 apg
← 2019 season 2021 season →

The Dream was originally scheduled to start play its home games at the new Gateway Center Arena at College Park, electing to move from State Farm Arena in the 2019 off-season.[2] The WNBA season was to have a 36-game schedule, which would have been the most games in a season in league history.[3] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24.[5][6]

The Dream started the season promisingly, winning two of their first three games. That promise was short lived, as the team lost their next ten games in a row. After the ten game losing streak was broken, the Dream lost their next two games to finish August with a 3–13 record, and a slim hope at making the playoffs. September proved to be a turn in fortunes for the Dream. They recorded four wins in five games to go into their final game against the Washington Mystics, with a chance to make the playoffs. However, Washington prevailed and the Dream missed the playoffs. Their overall winning percentage of .318 was the third worst in team history.

Transactions

WNBA Draft

The Dream made the following selections in the 2020 WNBA Draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	4	Chennedy Carter	United States	Texas A&M
2	17	Brittany Brewer	United States	Texas Tech
3	25	Mikayla Pivec	United States	Oregon State
3	27	Kobi Thornton	United States	Clemson

Trades and roster changes

Date	Details
February 10, 2020	G Angel McCoughtry left the team to sign with the Las Vegas Aces in free agency.[7]
February 10, 2020	Dream acquire C Kalani Brown from the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for G Brittney Sykes and C Marie Gülich[8]
February 13, 2020	Signed F Glory Johnson[9]
February 16, 2020	Signed F Shekinna Stricklen[10]
February 18, 2020	Claimed G Alexis Jones off waivers[11]
February 19, 2020	Acquired G Courtney Williams and the 17th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft in exchange for F Jessica Breland and F Nia Coffey.[12]
April 11, 2020	Acquired F Nia Coffey in a three team deal that saw Atlanta send the 13th pick in the 2020 draft to New York.[13]
June 18, 2020	G Renee Montgomery announces that she will sit out of the 2020 season to focus on social justice reform.[14]
June 23, 2020	G Tiffany Hayes announces she has opted out of the 2020 season.[15]
June 24, 2020	Signed G Betnijah Laney and F Jaylyn Agnew[16]
July 12, 2020	Signed F Erica McCall via emergency medical hardship.[17]

Roster

Atlanta Dream roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F 5 Agnew, Jaylyn 5' 11" (1.8m) 149 lb (68kg) 07-21-1997 Creighton R F 25 Billings, Monique 6' 4" (1.93m) 192 lb (87kg) 05-02-1996 UCLA 2 F 20 Brewer, Brittany 6' 5" (1.96m) 182 lb (83kg) 11-06-1997 Texas Tech R C 22 Brown, Kalani 6' 7" (2.01m) 245 lb (111kg) 03-21-1997 Baylor 1 G 3 Carter, Chennedy 5' 9" (1.75m) 143 lb (65kg) 11-14-1998 Texas A&M R F 33 Davis, Kaela 6' 2" (1.88m) 170 lb (77kg) 03-15-1995 South Carolina 3 G 11 Dietrick, Blake 5' 10" (1.78m) 169 lb (77kg) 07-19-1993 Princeton 3 F 0 Johnson, Glory 6' 3" (1.91m) 170 lb (77kg) 07-27-1990 Tennessee 7 G/F 44 Laney, Betnijah 6' 0" (1.83m) 166 lb (75kg) 10-29-1993 Rutgers 4 F 40 Stricklen, Shekinna 6' 2" (1.88m) 230 lb (104kg) 07-30-1990 Tennessee 8 G 10 Williams, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m) 133 lb (60kg) 05-11-1994 South Florida 4 F/C 1 Williams, Elizabeth 6' 3" (1.91m) 200 lb (91kg) 06-23-1993 Duke 5 East: ATL • CHI • CON • IND • NY • WAS | West: DAL • LV • LA • MIN • PHO • SEA

Head coach Nicki Collen (Marquette) Assistant coaches Mike Peterson (Northwest Christian College) Darius Taylor (Michigan) Athletic trainer Natalie Trotter Strength and conditioning coach Jamal Baptiste Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured WNBA roster page

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log Total: 7–15
July Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 July 26 Dallas Wings W 105–95 Billings (30) Billings (13) Carter (8) IMG Academy 1–0 2 July 29 Las Vegas Aces L 70–100 E. Williams (16) Billings (7) Tied (4) IMG Academy 1–1 3 July 31 New York Liberty W 84–78 Laney (30) Billings (15) Carter (3) IMG Academy 2–1
August Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 August 2 Indiana Fever L 77–93 C. Williams (18) Billings (8) Laney (6) IMG Academy 2–2 5 August 4 Phoenix Mercury L 74–81 Carter (26) C. Williams (9) Laney (5) IMG Academy 2–3 6 August 6 Seattle Storm L 92–93 Carter (35) C. Williams (10) Carter (7) IMG Academy 2–4 7 August 8 Dallas Wings L 75–85 Laney (16) Tied (7) 3 tied (3) IMG Academy 2–5 8 August 10 Connecticut Sun L 82–93 Stricklen (18) C. Williams (7) Dietrick (6) IMG Academy 2–6 9 August 12 Seattle Storm L 63–100 Laney (17) Tied (7) Dietrick (4) IMG Academy 2–7 10 August 14 Phoenix Mercury L 80–96 Laney (16) C. Williams (14) Dietrick (7) IMG Academy 2–8 11 August 16 Chicago Sky L 67–92 C. Williams (15) Billings (8) Tied (4) IMG Academy 2–9 12 August 19 Washington Mystics L 91–98 Laney (35) Billings (12) C. Williams (7) IMG Academy 2–10 13 August 21 Los Angeles Sparks L 85–93 (OT) Johnson (23) Billings (9) Laney (11) IMG Academy 2–11 14 August 23 Minnesota Lynx W 78–75 Tied (16) Billings (13) Laney (10) IMG Academy 3–11 15 August 28 Minnesota Lynx L 79–88 Laney (22) C. Williams (10) Tied (5) IMG Academy 3–12 16 August 30 Los Angeles Sparks L 79–84 Carter (26) Billings (14) Dietrick (5) IMG Academy 3–13
September Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 17 September 1 Indiana Fever W 102–90 Tied (22) Johnson (8) Carter (6) IMG Academy 4–13 18 September 3 New York Liberty W 62–56 C. Williams (15) C. Williams (13) Laney (3) IMG Academy 5–13 19 September 5 Las Vegas Aces L 79–89 Laney (21) 3 tied (7) Carter (6) IMG Academy 5–14 20 September 9 Chicago Sky W 97–89 Laney (24) 3 tied (10) Tied (5) IMG Academy 6–14 21 September 11 Connecticut Sun W 82–75 Carter (22) Laney (10) Tied (4) IMG Academy 7–14 22 September 13 Washington Mystics L 78–85 Laney (27) C. Williams (11) Dietrick (4) IMG Academy 7–15
2020 season schedule

Standings

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.
1	x – Las Vegas Aces	18	4	.818	–	8–2
2	x – Seattle Storm	18	4	.818	–	8–2
3	x – Los Angeles Sparks	15	7	.682	3	5–5
4	x – Minnesota Lynx	14	8	.636	4	4–6
5	x – Phoenix Mercury	13	9	.591	5	4–6
6	x – Chicago Sky	12	10	.545	6	6–4
7	x – Connecticut Sun	10	12	.455	8	7–3
8	x – Washington Mystics	9	13	.409	9	6–4
9	e – Dallas Wings	8	14	.364	10	1–9
10	e – Atlanta Dream	7	15	.318	11	5–5
11	e – Indiana Fever	6	16	.273	12	4–6
12	e – New York Liberty	2	20	.091	16	2–8

Notes

x – Clinched playoff berth

e – Eliminated from playoffs

Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.

Updated to include results from September 13, 2020

Source

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Source:[18]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chennedy Carter	16	16	25.4	47.3	37.5	82.1	2.3	3.4	0.9	0.3	17.4
Betnijah Laney	22	22	33.3	48.1	40.5	82.7	4.9	4.0	1.6	0.1	17.2
Courtney Williams	20	14	30.5	43.6	23.5	69.6	7.2	3.2	0.7	0.1	14.6
Elizabeth Williams	22	22	29.2	48.9	0	74.2	5.7	1.4	0.8	1.4	10.1
Monique Billings	22	16	27.1	40.0	0	76.1	8.5	1.2	1.1	0.8	8.5
Shekinna Stricklen	22	15	21.7	34.1	33.3	100	1.9	0.6	0.3	0	6.1
Blake Dietrick	22	4	21.0	47.1	44.8	62.5	1.6	3.4	0.8	0.1	5.9
Glory Johnson	18	1	15.1	37.3	26.2	50.0	3.7	0.6	0.8	0.4	4.7
Kalani Brown	10	0	6.1	52.2	0	60.0	1.2	0	0.1	0.1	3.0
Jaylyn Agnew	12	0	5.9	26.7	23.1	80.0	0.4	0.3	0	0	1.3
Brittany Brewer	5	0	6.6	66.7	0	0	1.0	0	0.6	0.8	0.8
Kaela Davis	2	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Betnijah Laney	Most Improved Player	September 24, 2020	[19]
Chennedy Carter	All-Rookie Team	September 27, 2020	[20]
Betnijah Laney	1st Team All-Defense	September 29, 2020	[21]
Elizabeth Williams

References

1. "Atlanta Dream 2020 Season Schedule". WNBA.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
2. "Atlanta Dream Announces New Home Court at Gateway Center in College Park" (Press release). Atlanta Dream. October 18, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
3. "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
4. "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
5. "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
6. "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
7. "Angel McCoughtry signs with the Las Vegas Aces". winsidr.com. Winsidr. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
8. "Dream Acquire Kalani Brown From Los Angeles". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
9. "Atlanta Dream Sign Free-Agent Forward Glory Johnson". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
10. "Shekinna Stricklen Signs Multi-Year Deal with Dream". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
11. "Atlanta Dream Claim Alexis Jones Off Waivers". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
12. "Dream Acquire Courtney Williams In Three-Team Trade". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
13. "Atlanta Dream Acquire Nia Coffey in Trade". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. April 11, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
14. "Montgomery to Miss 2020 Atlanta Dream Season". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
15. "Hayes Opts Out for 2020 Season". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
16. "Dream Add Free Agents Laney, Agnew". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. June 24, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
17. "Atlanta Signs Free Agent Forward Erica McCall". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
18. "Team Stats". wnba.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
19. "Atlanta Dream's Betnijah Laney Named 2020 Most Improved Player". wnba.com. WNBA. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
20. "Rookie Of The Year Crystal Dangerfield Headlines 2020 WNBA All-Rookie Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
21. "Two Atlanta Dream Players And Seattle Storm's Alysha Clark Headline 2020 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.

External links

• The Official Site of the Atlanta Dream