BREAKING NEWS: Lynne Roberts Verdict Highlights LA Sparks’ WNBA Playoff Aspirations .giang

Lynne Roberts is very confident in the Los Angeles Sparks’ chances to compete for a playoff spot next season.

The Sparks finished the 2024 WNBA season with the worst record in the league, winning only eight games. Only Los Angeles and Dallas had single-digit wins last season, with the Wings winning one more game than the three-time champion Sparks. Curt Miller was fired after season, with Roberts taking his place.

As a result of their poor play last season, the Wings were awarded the No. 1 overall pick while the Sparks settled for the second pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. With a high draft pick and a relatively young core alongside veteran pieces in Los Angeles, Roberts believes the Sparks have what it takes to contend for a playoff spot, if all the pieces fall into place.

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“I mean, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we had a really strong roster in place and the opportunity to bring in a couple of pieces where that’s realistic,” Roberts told reporters in her introductory press conference. “Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to be challenging? Absolutely. Is it possible? For sure. That’s the goal.

“That’s the goal every year. And in L.A. and with this organization, that’s going to be our goal. Now, you have to say that’s our goal and then you have to back up and say, ‘How are we going to get there?’ And what are the steps in the process? What’s that going to look like? And that’s my job. That’s [Sparks General Manager Reagan Pebley’s] job.”

And while the Sparks are in the midst of a rebuild, Roberts expressed confidence in the roster that is in place. Specifically, the 49-year-old shared that the veterans on the team along with the young core of Rae Burrell, Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson could morph into an effective unit.

“But I think we’ve got an incredible core group,” she continued. “We’ve got kind of a cool combination of some veteran leadership. [Dearica Hamby’s] one. [Azura Stevens’] one. Lexie [Brown]. And then we’ve got a really dynamic young group with Rickea and Cam and Rae and Zia [Cooke].

“That’s a good roster right there, and then we can keep working with it, but I believe in the guys we have now and we’ll add to it. But heck yeah, I want to make the playoffs.”

It must be noted that while Roberts might have a vision of the roster in place, the Sparks roster could look very different when the new year rolls around. On Dec. 6, the WNBA will have an expansion draft for the Golden State Valkyries, the newest team in the league.

Each team will be required to submit a list, outlining which six players are “protected” and if Golden State selects a specific unprotected player, the franchise will acquire the contact or negotiating rights for them. There are other rules that come into play during the expansion drafts, but those are the most pressing for Los Angeles.

With the expansion draft just weeks away, Roberts will quickly be thrust into a situation where she and Pebley will have to discuss which players to protect. It stands to reason that Hamby, Brink, Burrell, and Jackson are players the Sparks will want to protect from the Valkyries.

Whom the other two players Los Angeles chooses to protect remains to be seen. Regardless of what happens, Roberts is confident in the Sparks’ chances to push for the playoffs next season.