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The Dallas Wings featured a new-look starting lineup during their June 17 home game against the Golden State Valkyries. The Wings' starting five featured star rookie Paige Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, NaLyssa Smith, Myisha Hines-Allen, and rookie Aziaha James.
This marked the first time all season that guard DiJonai Carrington wasn't in the Wings' starting lineup, which came as a surprise to many.
Carrington has a breakout year for the Connecticut Sun in 2024, which was shown by her being named WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year and WNBA All-Defensive First Team after that 2024 season ended.
However, Carrington has struggled since joining the Wings. While her scoring stats are similar, she's turning the ball over, is shooting the ball less efficiently, and perhaps most telling of all is that her -7.7 +/- when she's on versus off the floor is the worst on her team. Not to mention that the 2-11 Wings beat the Valkyries on Tuesday with her coming off the bench.
Wings coach Chris Koclanes was asked about the lineup change when speaking with the media postgame.
"Yeah. Decided to make a change to the lineup, as we continue to search for the right combinations, and the right start," Koclanes said, per Grant Afseth's YouTube channel.
When asked about Carrington not starting specifically, Koclanes added, "Just conversations throughout with DiJonai, with our team. And just felt it was the right time to make a change and give Aziaha [James] a look."
Wings' Chris Koclanes on the decision to not start DiJonai Carrington tonight: "Conversations throughout with DiJonai, with our team... Felt it was the right time to make a change and give Aziaha (James) a look."#WingsUp
— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) June 18, 2025
It will be interesting to see whether Koclanes keeps Carrington coming off the bench, given Tuesday night's success.
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Las Vegas Raiders finally find a solution to a problem that has emerged since the beginning of training camp
When training camp started for the Las Vegas Raiders, they had a ton of depth all around the roster. But, after one week, they did a scrimmage, and that depth instantly went down. During the scrimmage, backup safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. got hurt and suffered an injury that is bound to keep him out for a while. Now, he will be back at some point, because, as head coach Pete Carroll said, the Raiders want and need him. So, they finally made a move in replacing him. The Raiders signed a guy who can give them some experience in a pretty young position group. Raiders sign safety Terrell Edmunds Terrell Edmunds played college football at Virginia Tech from 2015 to 2017, leading to his selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Edmunds spent five seasons with the Steelers from 2018–2022, playing 79 games, starting 75, and racking up 410 tackles, 5 sacks, five interceptions, and 26 passes defended. His best year was 2019 with 105 tackles. After the Steelers declined his fifth-year option, he re-signed for 2022 but moved on in 2023, playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans. In 2024, he briefly joined the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now, he’s been jumping from practice squad to practice squad, but is looking to be a depth piece on the Raiders. Edmunds adds a veteran pretense to a room that has Chris Smith and Trey Taylor, two young guys who have never really played a full-time role in the defensive backfield. If Isaiah Pola-Mao and Jeremy Chinn went down, those two would be next in line, with little to no experience. So, the Raiders quickly got on the phone with Lonnie Johnson Jr. went down, but are finally making a change to the roster, bringing depth and experience. This is a very solid signing for the new regime.
Standout performances from Week 1 of NFL preseason: Rookie, backup QBs shine
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