Former WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike Signs Storm Contract After Skylar Diggins-Smith Deal

The Seattle Storm announced Monday they signed 2016 WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike.

"Nneka is one of the most impactful players in the history of our league, not only her achievements on the court but also as an agent of positive change across the WNBA," general manager Talisa Rhea said. "I know Seattle and our community share our enthusiasm that Nneka is coming to the Storm."

This is Seattle's second major addition of the offseason after signing six-time All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith.

The last time Seattle entered a rebuilding phase, the organization adopted a moderate approach.

Winning the WNBA draft lottery in back-to-back seasons allowed the Storm to add Jewell Loyd and then Breanna Stewart. Between Stewart's arrival in 2016 and their 2018 championship, a sign-and-trade for Minnesota Lynx reserve forward Natasha Howard was the biggest outside acquisition.

This time around, the front office is acting much more aggressively.

Seattle had the WNBA's second-worst record (10-29) in 2023, which was to be expected after veteran guards Sue Bird and Briann January retired and Breanna Stewart left to sign with the New York Liberty. Now, the team is adding two of the top free agents on the board.

In the case of Ogwumike, the Storm are getting a player who remained an elite scorer and rebounder last year. She averaged 19.1 points on 51.2 percent shooting along with 8.8 rebounds.

The 33-year-old is a great offensive complement to Ezi Magbegor. The Storm center was an All-Star for the first time in 2023 and earned her second successive All-Defensive nod. With the arrival of Ogwumike, Magbegor can continue to operate at the 5 while Seattle gets much more scoring punch out of the power forward position.

And Ogwumike clearly believes she has a lot left in the tank. The Liberty were among the finalists to sign her, but ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported she "she decided on the Storm because they presented her with a clear role and an opportunity to contend for a title."

New York would've been a much better fit if Ogwumike was prepared to take on a lesser burden at this stage of her career, much like Candace Parker did when she signed with the Las Vegas Aces last offseason. Instead, she's poised to be the second or third scoring option in Seattle.

Because they're both running it back for the most part, the Liberty and Aces are shaping up to remain the two strongest squads in the league. With Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike in the mix, the Storm might be able to at least challenge for a top-four seed, which is a significant improvement over where they stood this time last winter.