Dream proclaim Angel Reese is the missing piece. And maybe they’re right.

The arrival of the superstar to be the final piece of the puzzle. The unabashed proclamation of championship aspirations. The raging optimism and confidence.

It was enough to make an Atlanta sports fan, long accustomed to heartbreak and slipping on banana peels, break out in hives.

The occasion was a news conference to introduce two-time All-Star Angel Reese and present five members of the Dream’s re-signed core. What was essentially a media event felt more like a launch party, as sponsors and VIPs gathered in a hip space with panoramic views of downtown and Midtown to nibble on fancy hors d’oeuvres and feast on the declarations of impending glory.

“Bringing in somebody like Angel I think is special for us because she could be exactly what we were missing,” three-time All-Star Rhyne Howard said.

“I feel like with the addition of Angel being here, like Rhyne said, I feel like she’s the piece we needed to get us over the hump,” All-WNBA first-team guard Allisha Gray said.

Coach Karl Smesko didn’t shy away from fueling the hype. In his second year after leading the Dream to a conference-best and franchise-record 30-14 regular-season record (before falling in the first round of the playoffs), he shared a conversation he had with general manager Dan Padover after last season.

“Dan’s question to me is, ‘What do you want to do?’” Smesko said. “And I said, ‘I want to run it back. I want the same group. I believe in them. I know one more year together, we can accomplish what we set out to accomplish in the beginning.’”

After getting traded for two first-round draft picks following two rocky years with the Chicago Sky, Reese overflowed with words that were well received in the room by Dream supporters and likely much less so about 600 miles to the north.

She said she was grateful for her two years with the Sky, “but I wanted more,” Reese said. “I love to win. I love to compete, and I wanted to be surrounded by people that could make me better.”

She went on to say that “having a general manager that really wanted me and knew what my talents are, being able to talk to players that genuinely know what I am and who I am as a person but also as a player is like a breath of fresh air.”

And just in case you still weren’t sure how she felt about her two years in Chicago:

“It low-key makes me emotional because I haven’t had this, and I’m really grateful and I’m really looking forward to getting started.”

This could all work out beautifully for the Dream, a franchise that seems to be on stable footing after years of ownership changes and instability.

Under the ownership of a team led by real estate developer Larry Gottesdiener since 2021, the Dream competes on the firmest foundation they’ve had since their inception in 2008.

“We really got here when it was gutted,” said forward Naz Hillmon of herself and Howard, both 2022 draftees. “Like, we brought in the drywall around here. It feels great to see how much work we’ve put in and (that) people wanted to come to Atlanta and be a part of the culture and be a part of what we’re building.”

The team still doesn’t have its own practice facility and plays most of its games in tiny Gateway Center Arena in College Park (capacity: 3,500). But Gottesdiener said Friday that the franchise is looking at three “concrete options” for a practice facility that will be open by the 2028 season, if not sooner.

There are no plans at present for moving out of Gateway, whether into an existing site or a new one, but Gottesdiener called it top of mind and acknowledged that staying in Gateway “is not a sustainable economic template, given the new (collective bargaining agreement).”

In the meantime, the commitment to retain the core — in return and those players wanting to stay — spoke loudly.

Friday, the energy and connection among the five returnees — Brionna Jones, Jordin Canada, Gray, Hillmon and Howard — and Reese were practically tangible. At one point, she leaned her head on Howard’s shoulder.

Reese said that she was sure that core would return intact “because I felt like they loved each other. I could feel the sisterhood just on the court, off the court, looking at them.”

After her two seasons in Chicago with a combined record of 23-61, it’s not hard to envision Reese thriving with a winning team with a strong culture. Maybe this is the start of an unforgettable season.

But, of course, things don’t always work out as planned. The Sky didn’t trade the league’s best rebounder on a rookie contract for what will likely be a pittance out of charity.