The Dream will attempt to start a new playoff streak when they open their season at San Antonio on Saturday.
The team’s string of six consecutive seasons of making the playoffs was snapped last year because of a 15-19 record under coach Michael Cooper.
The team returns four starters from last season and has added two draft picks and other signings in its effort to win its first WNBA title.
Returning are leading scorer Angel McCoughtry, second-leading scorer Tiffany Hayes, forward Sancho Lyttle and guard Matee Ajavon.
The Dream traded for a new center, Elizabeth Williams, in the offseason and added draft picks Bria Holmes, a guard, and Rachel Hollivay, a center. Cooper already waived the team's remaining two draft picks, Courtney Walker and Niya Johnson.
The team addressed the issues it had at point guard when it led the league in turnovers (16 per game) last season by trading Shoni Schimmel, a scorer who could be careless with the ball and lackadaisical on defense, and re-signing Carla Cortijo.
Cooper said he hopes the additions of Williams and Hollivay can anchor a defense that ranked the worst in the league last season, giving up 79.8 points per game.
Playing without McCoughtry and Lyttle, who hasn’t reported to training camp yet after playing in Europe, the team went 0-4 in the preseason with an offense (71.3 points per game) and defense (81.5 points per game) that were among the least productive in the short warm-up to the openers.
The team’s home opener will come May 22 against Chicago.
