Before the Atlanta Dream head to Chicago to play the Sky in a preseason game, they underwent their first full week of training camp at a facility outside of Atlanta.
After attending three of the five open practices to the media and chatting with those in and around the team, here are five early takeaways from the Dream’s camp as they take to the floor for their first game since losing to the Indiana Fever to end their playoff run prematurely last year.
An idea of the 12 players making the team
In the new CBA, we know that teams must carry 12 active players and may no longer use the 11-player loophole that they’ve been able to get away with in the past. In addition to these spots, there are two developmental spots for each team, as well.
During Saturday’s practice, the Dream were running five-on-five groups for an internal scrimmage with four different groups – including practice players.
While Head Coach Karl Smesko said that there were “no real special plans” with the groups, the eyes told a different story.
One group was Jordin Canada, Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Naz Hillmon, and Angel Reese, which are the five players who are going to start for the Dream on opening night barring the unforeseen.
The second group gave a clear look of the pecking order for what the bench could – and likely will – look like. Te-Hina Paopao, Indya Nivar, Isobel Borlase, Sika Koné, and Madina Okot. Koné arrived to camp Saturday and immediately slotted in with this group.
That leaves two other players to make the roster for the Dream. One of them will be Bri Jones, of course, who is recovering from an offseason meniscus injury suffered overseas which required surgery. The other spot is up in the air, but it looks like Taylor Thierry is the frontrunner.
Thierry was getting run with the first team during stretches of Friday’s practices, and the second-year player seemed more assertive on the offensive side of the ball than she did in practices last year.
It could be a sink-or-swim moment for Thierry to see what she has, but right now, she looks to have a hold of that final roster spot over Holly Winterburn or Maite Cazorla, the latter of which is a latecomer to camp.
The Dream are high on Cazorla, and there’s a chance that they could use a developmental spot on Thierry instead, but Smesko seemed pleased with Thierry’s play so far during camp.
“We wanted to see her with the first group to see what it looked like and give her a chance,” Smesko said of Thierry running with the starters. “I thought she had a really good day.”
Who has stood out at camp?
Naz Hillmon spoke to two of us after practice on Saturday. When she was asked by The IX’s Wilton Jackson who stood out to her during training camp, she said two names: Indya Nivar and Rhyne Howard.
“Indya has done a great job of picking up on what coach is pointing out to her, and I think everyone is noticing that,” Hillmon said. “I feel like it’s funny to say this, but I think that Rhy is taking some big steps from what coach is asking her to do specifically. She’s doing those things well. If you were out here, you’d think it’s just Rhy, but there are specific things that coach is asking of her and she’s picking those up well.”
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I’ll add a third name: Madina Okot.
As much as Nivar is shining, Okot is, too, giving General Manager Dan Padover early returns on his first two picks in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
The Dream aren’t shy about having second- and third-round picks make their team and contribute – look at Paopao and Thierry last year – and both Nivar and Okot should be expected to contribute based on the way that players, coaches, and other members of the Dream organization are raving about them.
Nivar has stood out in practice on the defensive side of the ball along the perimeter and cutting off passing lanes. The Dream will look for Nivar and Borlase to replace the contributions of Maya Caldwell last year. Caldwell started the season behind Shatori Walker-Kimbrough in the pecking order, but became a player that Smesko trusted due to her defense and ability to make push in transition defensively and not make mistakes offensively.
That could be the difference between roles for Nivar and Borlase.
As for Okot, she’s shined in every way so far. Her and Angel Reese have had battles on the block, which is something Smesko has enjoyed seeing.
“I think the more competitive the environment, the more game-like it is, the easier it is to grow. We all know how competitive Angel [Reese] is. Madina [Okot] doesn’t back down,” Smesko said. “She’s not afraid of these situations. She’s come in and she knows she belongs, and she knows she still has stuff to learn, but she knows she can do things at this level already. She has quite a bit of confidence.”
The confidence has been apparent all week at practice, but especially Sunday. On three straight possessions, here’s what Okot did:
- Operate from the high-post, fake a pass to Paopao and hit her with a perfect backdoor bounce pass for an easy layup
- Catch the ball on the low block, fake an inside move, reverse pivot and hit a soft turnaround
- Had a block at the rim on what looked to be a wide-open layup
There have been times where you can see how green Okot is, but that’s part of the growth that’s happening in real time. For instance, on Friday, Okot finished strong down low on back-to-back possessions after setting a down-screen on a side-out-of-bounds play before gaining position on the block.
The next possession, though, Okot grabbed a rebound off of a missed shot and had a wide open layup on the opposite block but instead of looking to score – there wasn’t a defender within five feet of her – she dribbled it out and kicked it out to the perimeter to reset.
Both rookies have stood out early and are two players to watch closely in the Dream’s game against the Sky.
Angel Reese’s side work with the shot whisperer
After practice was over Friday, Reese stayed to get some extra work in. It’s not a surprise, as nearly every player stays for extra shooting and walkthroughs. But it’s not what Reese was doing, but who she was doing it with.
Pictured in the Atlanta Dream hoodie is assistant coach Chelsea Lyles, who worked closely with Hillmon and Gray last year in their breakout seasons.
Before last season, Hillmon attempted six total three-pointers in her career. Last year, she shot 165 and made 53 of them.
That’s thanks to Lyles, who Hillmon praised up and down last year.
So when you see Reese working with her, too, you have to raise an eyebrow.
She has shown the ability and willingness to shoot the three – she attempted 38 across her first two seasons – and made it an element of her game in Unrivaled, too.
But working with Lyles can unlock a smoother release for Reese than her slower form she has now.
She was letting them fly Saturday in practice. During a media session, Reese attempted three different three-pointers after being left open at the top of the arc, on the wing, and in the corner. She didn’t make any of them, but the focus was on Reese implementing that part of her game in practice as opposed to being worried about the results.
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The main area where Bri Jones will be missed
Smesko was an advocate for Jones making the All-Star Game last year initially before she eventually made the roster.
While her offensive impact is known thanks to her elite-level footwork in the paint, her defense is just as valuable – if not more.
The Dream held the opposition to a league-best 55.2 field goal percentage from inside of five feet last year. Those are elite numbers.
Jones averaged 1.2 blocks per game last year (Brittney Griner led the team with 2.3 blocks per game), and she had a team-high 2.1 defensive wins shares last year.
While Jones will miss an unknown amount of time – the team does expect her back this year, they confirmed to me – and with Griner in Connecticut, the Dream are suddenly down their top two interior defensive presences.
“I think the biggest thing is defense is a team thing. You have to make sure that everyone is locked in,” Hillmon said. “That probably means that we have to be better on the perimeter so that teams aren’t getting to the inside. We have some shot blockers on our team who can get down there and protect the paint.”
Those players are, of course, Reese, Okot, and Koné. Smesko mentioned Koné, specifically, when I asked him about their interior defense with Jones out.
“We’re going to spend a lot of time working on it. Bri is working with our players in camp giving them every tip that she knows, and we know how great Bri is,” Smesko said. “We’re going to have to go without her for a little bit. It was nice to have Sika back today. Sika is someone who moves her feet really well. She’s long and tall. Having her energy was a big lift.”
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Karl Smesko’s early focus
Ball screens. Getting around ball screens and setting legal screens offensively.
There has been no combination of words spoken by Smesko to his players more than those two words.
“Ball screens,” second-year guard said with a smile when she asked what she is working on the most defensively.
Offensively, we saw that, too, when Smesko would chirp out “we have to make sure that we set legal screens” multiple times.
Last year, when we asked Paopao the same question, she said the same thing: she has to work on defending ball screens.
Last year, when the Dream excited the playoffs to the Fever, Indiana shot 47.3% (18-of-38) off of ball screens via my tracking.
It’s an emphasis for Smesko and his staff.
Don’t be surprised this year if you see players subbed out if they give up an easy bucket off of a ball screen, set illegal screens, or don’t push the pace in transition off of a miss.