Aces’ top 5 best reserve performances since 2018

The Aces have been in contention for the WNBA championship almost every season since arriving in Las Vegas ahead of the 2018 campaign.

A large part of their success came from drafting franchise cornerstone A’ja Wilson No. 1 overall in the 2018 WNBA draft. However, the Aces also have benefited from some of the best depth in the league during their time in Las Vegas.

Here is the Review-Journal’s list of the five best seasons by reserves the Aces have experienced since moving to Las Vegas.

5. Riquna Williams (2022)

Williams only played 21 of possible 36 games, all off the bench, during the 2022 season. She averaged 6.7 points, shot 36 percent from 3 and averaged a career-low 0.4 steals per game. However, Williams emerged as the only trusted reserve on coach Becky Hammon’s bench during the playoffs.

She scored 11 points to help the Aces close out the Phoenix Mercury in the first round. She added 14 points including several late 3s in Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals against the Seattle Storm to set up Jackie Young’s buzzer beater and the eventual overtime win, Then she scored a season-high 17 points to clinch the championship for the Aces against the Connecticut Sun in Game 4 of the WNBA finals.

4. Danielle Robinson (2020)

Robinson was a three-time All-Star with the San Antonio Silver Stars before the franchise moved to Las Vegas. Her 6.7 assists per game during the 2013 season still stands as the organization’s single-season record.

By the time Robinson made her way back to the franchise which drafted her in 2011, however, the organization was in a different city and she was at a different point in her career. At 31 years old, she came off the bench in every game except one for coach Bill Laimbeer during the 2020 season.

Despite her limited minutes behind Lindsay Allen, Robinson averaged 7.4 points on 51.2 percent shooting and led the team with 3.1 assists while averaging 22.4 minutes.

3. Dearica Hamby (2019)

The Aces have had three sixth player of the year award winners since moving to Las Vegas, starting with Hamby in 2019.

She averaged 11 points, 7.6 rebounds and one steal in 24 minutes per game off the bench for Laimbeer during the 2019 season, starting just nine of the 34 games she played. Her five double-doubles tied the WNBA record for a reserve, and she received 41 of a potential 43 votes for the award.

She also made the Hamby Heave, a running game-winning shot from just inside the halfcourt line, during the 2019 playoffs against the Chicago Sky.

2. Kelsey Plum (2021)

Laimbeer tasked Plum with coming off the bench during the 2021 season. The former Washington guard was coming off an Achilles injury which cost her the entire 2020 season, and she returned in a reserve capacity for her first full season back.

She provided instant offense, averaging 14.8 points — the first time in her career she’d averaged double figures in scoring — and 3.6 assists on her way to winning the 2021 Sixth Player of the Year award. It was just the beginning for Plum, who helped guide the Aces to a championship the next season and was named a first-team All-WNBA guard after returning to the starting lineup.

1. Dearica Hamby (2020)

This list probably could have been made up of just Hamby’s season as a reserve, but her 2020 performance was her best off the bench. She was crucial to the Aces’ playoff run that season, and her absence during the WNBA finals because of a knee injury was part of the reason they were swept by the Seattle Storm.

Part of a lethal second unit with Robinson and a second-year Jackie Young, Hamby averaged 13 points — second only to A’ja Wilson — 7.1 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in 28.3 minutes per game. Her 53.9 percent shooting ranked sixth in the league, and her 47.4 percent 3-point shooting ranked third.

Honorable mentions: Dearica Hamby (2018), Moriah Jefferson (2018), Jackie Young (2020), Dearica Hamby (2021), Kiah Stokes (2021).

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.