AP Photo/David BeckerThe Las Vegas Aces announced Wednesday they re-signed 2020 MVP A'ja Wilson.
Las Vegas Aces @LVAcesπ °οΈ ππ¦ πππ₯π π§π’ π¦π§ππ¬! π₯·<a href="https://twitter.com/_ajawilson22?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_ajawilson22</a> is staying in Sin City! π°<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALLIN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ALLIN</a> β¦οΈβ οΈ <a href="https://t.co/1Es08QMGG8">pic.twitter.com/1Es08QMGG8</a>
Winsidr's Rachel Galligan reported Wilson will earn $196,267 for the 2022 season and $202,155 in 2023.
The 24-year-old averaged 18.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in 2021 as the Aces finished with the WNBA's second-best record (24-8).
Wilson was widely expected to stick around in Las Vegas. The forward was a restricted free agent, so the Aces had the opportunity to match any offer sheet she received from another team. Girls Talk Sports TV's Khristina Williams reported Jan. 27 that Wilson and the Aces were finalizing an agreement.
As the offseason approached, the drama was less around the franchise's best player and more about how Vegas would fill out the rest of its roster in Becky Hammon's first season as head coach.
The Aces also headed into free agency without the services of two-time WNBA Executive of the Year Dan Padover, who left last October to run the Atlanta Dream's front office.
Angel McCoughtry signed with the Minnesota Lynx, while it doesn't appear Liz Cambage will return at all in 2022:
Elizabeth Cambage @ecambageahhh yes the <a href="https://twitter.com/WNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WNBA</a>, where a head coach can get paid 4X the highest paid players super max contract. lmao and yβall think imma spend another season upgrading my seat on a flight to get to games out of my own pocket.
Losing the two veterans frees up some money for Hammon and the front office to make some potentially impactful changes.
Per Her Hoop Stats, the Aces were $724,968 under the salary cap before factoring in Wilson's new deal. Williams reported Jan. 24 the team is expected to retain Riquna Williams as well.
In Bill Laimbeer's final three seasons as head coach, Las Vegas had a .716 winning percentage but seemed to hit a wall in the playoffs. The Aces lost in the semifinals in 2019 and 2021 and suffered a lopsided sweep at the hands of the Seattle Storm in the 2020 WNBA Finals.
Wilson has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that she can be the cornerstone for a title contender, but Vegas didn't do a great job of assembling the right kind of supporting cast around her. The Wilson/Cambage partnership in particular might have backfired because their skill sets overlapped so much.
As much as Aces fans are happy to see Wilson back, they're probably still holding off judgment on the 2022 offseason until they see the rest of the team's business.
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