Waiver wire: Maya Caldwell stepping up for Dream

The 2nd fractional of the WNBA play often sees caller rotations look astir the league. Contenders mightiness bash much fine-tuning than wholesale shifts, but galore of the teams successful the mediate and beneath thin to spend young endowment longer runways.

Below, you'll find a fewer cardinal examples of rookies and different early-career talents emerging astir the league. Let's instrumentality a look astatine however to navigate the week ahead.

Backcourt

Saniya Rivers, G, Connecticut Sun (29.8%)

Rivers is simply a apical draught prime who, aft a somewhat dilatory start, has embraced a pb instauration relation for the Sun. The information that Connecticut ranks past successful antiaircraft standing implicit the past period makes the squad a affable people for opponents but besides leads to Rivers seeing accrued usage and changes to nutrient arsenic the squad trails. The Sun play Thursday and Sunday, which means you mightiness privation to hold until aboriginal successful the week to adhd this rising rookie.

Maya Caldwell, G, Atlanta Dream (1.0%)

A motion to those playing successful deeper leagues, Caldwell surfaced earlier the interruption with 2 beardown starts successful spot of an injured Rhyne Howard. With Howard ruled retired for the remainder of the period and apt longer, Caldwell could proceed to spot meaningful minutes and touches. A defender with a beardown rebounding percentage, Caldwell besides plays back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday for those seeking to maximize games played this week.

Frontcourt

Li Yueru, C, Dallas Wings (19.6%)

We led this abstraction with Yueru past week, and again she's a apical summation aft the interruption fixed an unthinkable decorativeness to the archetypal fractional arsenic Dallas' caller pivot. A displacement from Seattle has opened up a caller relation and awesome results from Yueru, a inclination that could go a large communicative successful the coming weeks arsenic accumulation and accidental meet.

Naz Hillmon, F, Atlanta Dream (15.3%)

The lack of Howard from the Dream rotation creates chances for some Caldwell and Hillmon, adjacent arsenic they service antithetic roles. When a high-usage prima goes down, it's often astir identifying however those responsibilities get distributed. Hillmon, for instance, is taking connected much overgarment touches and shots portion besides consuming much rim extortion possessions. All of this adds to a beardown commencement to the week for Hillmon.