Are the Storm capable of being title contenders in 2024?

Prettyyyy, prettyyyyy good. That’s an ode to Larry David and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which wrapped its final season last month. It’s also an accurate way to depict this year’s Seattle Storm. 

They have Jewell Loyd, the WNBA’s leading scorer last year. They added Nneka Ogwumike, the 2016 MVP and eight-time All Star. They signed Skylar Diggins-Smith, the point guard who has made six All-Star appearances herself. 

Consider last year’s 11-29 record an aberration, the first losing season the franchise has recorded since 2017. This season’s team is going to win. A lot. But …

In all likelihood, their ceiling is prettyyyy good. The Storm are still a piece or two shy of great. 

This is just real talk in the Seattle sports landscape, where championships are the expectation. Sports’ best feature is regularly defying predictions, and it’s certainly possible Seattle contends for a ring. But are the Storm at the Aces’ and Liberty’s super-team level? That’s questionable. 

First — the good news. Ogwumike isn’t some aging has-been chasing another ring. Her 19.1 points per game for the Sparks last season was the second-highest scoring average in her career and was part of the reason she finished sixth in the league’s MVP voting. Her best basketball isn’t necessarily behind her, especially when you account for her defensive prowess. Her signing was one of the biggest in the team’s history — maybe the biggest considering the Storm built their championships through the draft (See: Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Loyd.)

Plus there’s Jewell — the woman who scored 24.7 points per game last season, the second-highest average in WNBA history. She’s a five-time All-Star for a reason. Climate Pledge Arena is going to see an attendance boost for these games this year. Perhaps only the Indiana Fever — Caitlin Clark’s new team — will sell out more often. 

But what should realistic expectations be? Diggins-Smith, after all, didn’t play in 2023 after welcoming her second child. And she is 33 years old. Yes, she averaged 19.1 points and 5.5 assists in 2022 while making the WNBA first team, but will those numbers translate two years later? 

Maybe they will. We’ll see. As for Loyd — she put up monstrous numbers. But those 24.7 points came on 37.1% shooting — hands down the lowest percentage of her career. Loyd didn’t necessarily emerge last season after becoming the go-to player following Stewart and Bird’s departure. She simply had to handle an enormous load en route to her team finishing 18 games below .500.

So it’s going to be interesting. No doubt the Storm are much improved from last season. The problem is they are in a league where two legitimate super teams exist. ESPN ranked the top WNBA players for 2024, and Nos. 1 (A’ja Wilson), 6 (Chelsea Gray), 7 (Jackie Young) and 8 (Kelsey Plum) are all on the Aces. When the eighth-best player in the league (and Husky legend) is the fourth best player on your team, you’re a juggernaut. The New York Liberty, meanwhile, had the No. 2 ranked player (Stewart) along with Nos. 4 (Jonquel Jones), 12 (Sabrina Ionescu) and 21 (Courtey Vandersloot.)

To be fair, the Storm also had four of the top 25 players — including the yet-to-be-mentioned center Ezi Magbegor. But they didn’t have any in the top eight. Granted, it’s just rankings on one website, but there’s a reason sportsbooks have the Aces and Liberty as the head of the WNBA class in terms of futures betting. 

Quick tangent … this is probably the most anticipated WNBA season in league history. The reason behind that is one Caitlin Clark. Her Iowa Hawkeyes’ battle with South Carolina in the NCAA final was the most watched women’s college basketball game in history — and got over 3 million more views than the men’s final.

People want to know how she is going to fare in the best women’s basketball league in the world. That’s a boon for all 12 franchises. Eyes will be on everyone, Storm included.

So how will it go? Probably very well. Seattle has a relatively proud sports history, but the Storm might be the most successful of all its pro teams. They’ve got four titles and have been dominant in multiple eras.

This squad has the potential to rack up victories and spoil some nights for the best teams in the West. But are the Storm true title contenders? That seems dubious.

Who knows, though? This organization has proved doubters wrong for two decades plus. Feel free to do it again.