After a disappointing 2025 season, the New York Liberty is largely running it back with its core of Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones. But
Oct 16, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart reacts to her shot against the Minnesota Lynx during the second half of game three of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Target Center.
Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images After a disappointing 2025 season, the New York Liberty is largely running it back with its core of Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones. But the team also retooled with star forward Satou Sabally and new head coach Chris DeMarco. As has been true for the last few seasons at Barclays Center, it’s championship or bust for the New York Liberty.
The organization is trusting that the trio that won the championship in 2024 can do so again, even with Ionescu set to miss the first two weeks of the season with a foot injury.
“This is a championship organization,” DeMarco said in his introductory press conference. “ won a championship two seasons ago, obviously there’s injuries last season. But the foundation’s there. And when you have players who have already won, it’s such a competitive advantage in any league.
” DeMarco, who spent 14 years as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, is installing a new Liberty offense that emphasizes off-ball movement. Early returns show the team’s still working through it: in its first preseason game , it had 24 turnovers. New York cut that number in half with only 12 turnovers in its next and last preseason game against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.
Last season, the Liberty finished as the No. 5 seed and ranked fifth in the WNBA in scoring offense. The team lost to the Phoenix Mercury, 2-1, in the first round of the playoffs. That ultimately led the organization to part ways with Sandy Brondello, who coached the team for four seasons. Last year’s team was plagued by injuries – Stewart and Jones both missed 13 games, and guard Betnijah-Laney Hamilton missed the entire year after knee surgery.
This year isn’t off to an incredibly healthy start either: Ionescu injured her left foot in Sunday’s preseason game. Additionally, Sabally hasn’t suited up for the Liberty yet through two preseason games. After suffering a concussion during the WNBA finals last year, she is still getting back into game shape, officially listed as “reconditioning” per the injury report.
Laney-Hamilton and new addition Rebecca Allen are both limited due to injuries, and Leonie Fiebich, who started 37 games for the Liberty last year, hasn’t joined the team because of an international commitment. When Sabally makes her debut in the Liberty lineup, she should be able to provide additional playmaking at the forward spot.
The Oregon alum, and former college teammate of Ionescu, was one of the most coveted free agents this offseason and averaged 16.3 points and 5.9 rebounds with the Mercury last season. A bright spot in preseason play has been 6-foot-11 Chinese center Han Xu, who had 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting against the Fever. Xu was drafted by the Liberty in 2019, but fell out of the team’s rotation in 2023 and went to play overseas.
With Xu, the team can deploy some pretty large lineups: a quartet of Xu, Stewart , Jones , and Sabally is massive, but still has enough playmaking and shooting to make it work. Despite the Liberty returning many of its key players, Ionescu told reporters last month that because of the new coaching staff, there is a completely new feel in the building.
“We all deserve to put our best foot forward and go out to win a championship together because it hasn’t been done before with this group,” she said. Stewart, fresh off an Unrivaled championship and Finals MVP, called this season a “reset” offensively and defensively.
“We want to be best when it matters most, and that’s the playoffs, end of the season,” she told reporters last week. “There’s still pressure because this is New York, because we are the Liberty, and people still want to beat us because of what we have and who we have here. ” The Liberty’s season opener is Friday at Barclays Center against the Connecticut Sun. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
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