Dream GM Dan Padover never doubted team’s title potential

The WNBA season always promises ups and downs. But Dream general manager Dan Padover never lost faith that the team could find its way to success.

Just over one year ago, the Dream exited the WNBA Playoffs in the first round. The Fever had eliminated them in three games and a few days later, Padover and Dream coach Karl Smesko spoke to media members in a Zoom news conference.

That early elimination didn’t represent the success the team, which won a then-franchise-best 30 games, had last season. So, the two focused on the future and what they could do to bring a championship to the city of Atlanta.

Now, the Dream sit four games away from finishing the job.

The Dream had some tumultuous moments throughout the season, including an injury to veteran forward Brionna Jones that limited her to nine games this season, as well as a four-game skid in June.

But even through that, Padover never lost faith that the team’s best basketball was ahead of it.

“ ... I think the top half of this league, as you all have seen, it’s just so competitive that it’s anyone’s game right now,” Padover told reporters on Aug. 10 after the WNBA trade deadline.

“So we’re going in every night right now and just trying to get better every day, and we still think that the best basketball is ahead of us. So we’re excited for our September-October push, getting more reps right now, but ... all eyes are on the end of this year and to be playing our best basketball at that time.”

And the team did have their best basketball ahead of them.

After the WNBA trade deadline, the Dream went 11-2 in their final 13 games of the regular season. With the addition of veteran wing DeWanna Bonner, the Dream have not lost a game since Aug. 28 and have swept each of their opponents in the first two rounds of the WNBA playoffs. They earned a trip to the franchise’s first WNBA Finals since 2013.

In the playoffs, the Dream have put up the league’s best defensive rating and net rating. They have the WNBA’s best assist-to-turnover ratio, which best showcases a team’s ball security.

“I think for the most part in our league, unless you’re a team that everybody has been together for a long time, I think usually you really start to hit your stride after the All-Star break,” Padover told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.

“We had a lot of continuity coming into this year, but a couple of things some people didn’t realize, like last year we had a lot of different lineups. Jordin (Canada) and Rhyne (Howard) barely played together last year. Bringing in someone like Angel (Reese), just an incredible talent, but her skill set, I think, is so unique that the four of our players that had been together before, they had to figure Angel out.

“Angel had to figure us out, and, again, the lineup we went with this year we had never played before together until this year, so I knew it was going to take some time.”

As the team figured out how to mesh, those challenges brought them together. Throughout the season, Reese has commented on the Dream’s continuous efforts to pour into each other and pick each other up when things get tough.

“I think it’s a testament to the people that we brought in here. It started with Rhyne and Naz (Hillmon), you know, team-first people who wanted to see each other do well. Lish (Allisha Gray) is the same way. Jordin’s the same way,” Padover said.

“Bri’s the same way. Angel and (Bonner) are the same way, and when you have a group of people who just want all their team to succeed and not just themselves, and you couple that with a lot of talent, really good things can happen.

“And I think one of the reasons we’re in the Finals is because all of these highly talented players have put the team first. And as long as we have that, we’re going to do great things. And I think it’s important for us to just maintain that over time.”