Kayla Thornton

After spending the first six years of her career in Dallas, Thornton played a reserve veteran role for New York last season. Her stats fell across the board, but she appeared in all 40 games and was still a fantastic presence on the offensive glass, grabbing 2.8 offensive boards per 40 minutes. She did so while also still showing an ability to space the floor, drilling 1.4 threes on 31.3 percent per 40 minutes. Overall, in her 17.3 minutes per game, she racked up 4.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.3 blocks and 0.6 threes while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 76.7 percent from the charity stripe. The best days of her career are seemingly behind her, so fantasy managers should temper expectations in 2024.

Thornton saw considerable playing time with the Wings over the last several seasons and remained consistent in 2022, averaging 8.0 points and 5.9 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game while starting in 35 of her 36 appearances. Despite her prominent role in Dallas, she was traded to the Liberty in January as part of the deal that sent Jonquel Jones to New York. The Liberty remained active later in the offseason to form one of the two superteams in the WNBA, adding Courtney Vandersloot and Breanna Stewart. Betnijah Laney will also return, and she averaged 33.7 minutes per game during her first year in New York before missing most of the 2022 campaign. Thornton's fantasy value has been mainly derived from sizable playing time in past seasons, and that's hardly a given with the Liberty.

Thornton started 25 of 31 appearances in 2021 and averaged 7.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 27.6 minutes per game during the 2021 campaign. The 29-year-old forward figures to once again operate as the No. 2 forward behind Satou Sabally and should continue to be a consistent producer, though her lack of prolific performances limits her fantasy upside heading into 2022. It's possible that the addition of Teaira McCowan shifts Thornton to the bench, but regardless, she'll likely still be a key part of the Wings' rotation for a sixth consecutive season.