SEATTLE — As soon as the Storm drafted 6’4 center Awa Fam No. 3 overall in 2026, a primary question about the franchise’s future became how she would share time with her fellow centers. The Storm already had 6’6 Dominique Malonga, last year’s No. 2 overall pick, and 6’4 Ezi Magbegor, who signed a three-year contract worth $3,750,000 the day before. Fam and Malonga are both just 20 years old and projected to be generational talents. Magbegor is still only 27 and a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate who has spent her entire career in Seattle.
As the Storm look to return to the success they previously found with back-to-back lottery picks — center Lauren Jackson (2001) and point guard Sue Bird (2002), then shooting guard Jewell Loyd (2015) and forward Breanna Stewart (2016) ) — how could three natural centers all be key pieces of the franchise’s future?
To start the season, the answer was simple. Fam joined the team late, and Magbegor was sidelined for 20 games with an injury. While the Australian initially played limited minutes, Fam’s starting role was not disrupted. When Magbegor returned from suffering a broken nose in her fourth game back, Fam moved to the bench and saw more limited minutes. But Sunday against Chicago, fans saw the first extended run of the potential lineup of the future with all three on the floor at the same time. Pushing Fam to the three makes for one of the tallest and longest lineups in the WNBA.
On Sunday, head coach Sonia Raman said the team wanted to utilize that lineup in the first half because they had finally gotten some time to replicate it in practice with all three players healthy, but they ultimately didn’t because of foul trouble. Down by 18 with 5:49 left in the third quarter, the trio got their chance and were remarkably effective. They fueled a comeback that saw them lose by just two points.
Over roughly 11 minutes of playing time, the lineup caused massive defensive disruption with their length, took advantage of mismatches on offense and forced the Sky to bring in an extra big to try and match their size. The Storm outscored the Sky 34-18 with the trio sharing the court, including finishing out the final 6:54 of the game.
“I think they had some really good defensive possessions there, where they were shot-blocking, and they’re making stuff tough at the rim, and then they were just utilizing that to get out in transition and score, and they all kind of came to life,” Sky guard Rachel Banham said postgame. “Having Fam at the three is a tough matchup for any team. So we had to make an adjustment there in the second half, but that was one of the bigger reasons why they really went on that run.”
Raman praised her team after the game for doing a good job of understanding the superpower of that lineup: their length, quickness and activity on defense. The first-year head coach also thought they did well with their paint protection, multiple efforts, contests and rebounding.
Magbegor described the experience playing alongside Fam and Malonga as exciting.
“We’re so tall, and I think it shrinks the floor up for the offense as well,” Magbegor said at practice on Wednesday. “I think when we just realize how long and tall we are, and even the guards … there isn’t as much space that you have to cover necessarily. It’s something that’s really tough to play against.”
Offensively, Raman thought they did well trying to find the mismatches, particularly the smaller guard on one of them. She was particularly impressed because of how few reps the group has together.
“Huge credit to [point guard] Jade [Melbourne] quarterbacking that offense, and then all of the players just sort of naturally understanding who has what matchup and everybody getting on the same page really quickly. It gelled a little bit quicker than maybe I thought it might in the very first round of doing it,” Raman said postgame. “Really pleased with just how they played together and unselfishly, and each of them looking for each other in terms of wherever we can create the biggest advantage.”
The players agreed with Raman’s observation that they were quickly comfortable playing together. Magbegor said that comfortability is the luxury of their non-traditional offense, while Fam credited her teammates.
“They are two people that are gonna read the situation — they have high IQ. It’s just easy playing with Ezi and Dom,” Fam told The IX Sports at practice.
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Lots of room for growth
Despite how effective the lineup was on Sunday, and saying her team did well finding mismatches and solutions within the game, Raman thinks every aspect still needs work because they have still played such limited minutes of it — just 12 all season. Getting extended playing time together helped them know what they still need to learn.
Limited playing time also means they have yet to see how different teams will try to solve the lineup. It is the same thing they went through at the start of the season — seeing different defensive coverages and all the ways teams will try to take things away. Raman thinks some teams will lean into their activity and double teams, but feels they have a good inside-outside game to counter that. While the coaching staff tries to give them different looks in practice to simulate those potential solutions, Raman thinks they have to take one day at a time.
“It just takes those reps of, we’re going to get to the first thing we want to get to, but if we can’t get to it because they take it away, what’s the next thing that we want to do and kind of work our way through it on both ends,” Raman said. “What are our best coverages? How do we lean into the length and activity that we have on the defensive end? How can we get on the glass a little bit more is probably the biggest thing to improve on based on what I saw from that group.”
Fam pointed to the spacing as specifically needing work. Because all three are bigs, they are most often thinking of going inside the paint and crashing the boards. The big three lineup requires one or two of them to play more outside to open the space.
Magbegor thinks they are simply still learning each other in a system that relies on them making reads. They are working to understand how each other plays a little bit more, as injuries and late arrivals limited them even as post duos.
Shifting roles?
Playing with two other bigs at the same time is both a big change and not that different for each of the individual players.
Malonga thinks the biggest difference for her is the mindset she has to have. Usually, she is thinking first of getting in the paint. As the big three, the French international has to think twice about it because that space may already be occupied.
“I can’t dive whenever I want. I can’t rim run whenever I want. I need to read who’s got the mismatch,” Malonga said. “Because of course, if Awa’s guarded by a guard, it’s more effective if she goes in the paint than me. So just being mindful of if somebody’s already in the paint because I’m pretty much living my life there.”
Magbegor also has to change her mindset, but finds it most helpful to treat the trio as guards.
“I think that in my mind that makes it a little bit easier,” Magbegor said. “So if I see Awa or Dom on the corner, I’m not being like, ‘oh I can’t be in an action with them.’ So I think it’s making that switch that everyone on the court is mobile and versatile to kind of play in any position.”
Fam, on the other hand, explicitly doesn’t think moving to the three means playing like a guard. And just because it’s a little bit different, especially defensively, doesn’t mean it’s difficult.
“If I’m playing like a four, I’m just in the zone, but I’m outside more than inside, so it’s not like super super different,” Fam said. “[As a three] it’s more like, I’m going to be more outside. Maybe I need to take more 3-point shots. Maybe I need to take more dribbles and go to the rim … It’s just another thing that I need to figure out and need to work for, for my job.”
The future
The bigger question is, is this lineup a glimpse at part of the long-term starting lineup of the future? Raman would not confirm one way or the other if she envisions the trio consistently starting together in years to come or just as a unique lineup to break out in certain situations.
“I think we just have to take it game to game right now,” Raman said. “We see how they do, and then we go from there.”
Raman did acknowledge the big benefit of getting all three franchise star bigs on the floor and giving them the minutes they want each to get. At the same time, she doesn’t want to lose sight of the strengths they bring as fours and fives, and keep “the main thing, the main thing when it comes to their natural positions.”
“They’re so open and bought in to be able to do different things with these lineups, and that’s really a huge benefit that we have as coaches, that they are open to that, and so we can experiment with these different lineups,” Raman said. “And not only are they open, but they are versatile, right? So they have the skill set that lends itself to the question you’re asking, the question that others have asked.
“Wondering, how are we going to get to this? When are we going to get to this? And of course, this was always something we were going to get to. So it’s kind of cool to see, and it’ll be fun to go through it and just keep figuring it out and getting better with it.”
Citing their range of skill and talent, Magbegor thinks the lineup can definitely be something special, ideally for a long time.
“It’s like we’re the same, same but different, so I think it’s just exciting to be able to grow with those two players and the rest of the team as well,” Magbegor said. “I just think there’s been glimpses this season, and so it’s just incredible what it’s going to look like when we have a bit more time to work on it.
“I think it’s just nice that we’ve been able to kind of trial it now and kind of get into it now,” she continued. “But obviously, Awa and Dom are players that I want to play with for a long time.”
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