GM’s Five-Year Vision and the Angel Reese Gamble: How the WNBA’s Most Chaotic Franchise Became a Contender

While the Golden State Valkyries making it to the WNBA Finals in just two years of existence has grabbed the spotlight, the Atlanta Dream’s journey to their first Finals since 2013 is no less remarkable. When the Dream hired Dan Padover on Oct. 25, 2021, as their General Manager, the team had been through a political storm that resulted in an ownership shuffle, spent an entire season without a GM, and cycled through three coaches in 2021. So, Padover had an immense challenge on his hands.

In 2020, the players had openly advocated against the ousting of the team’s co-owner and then Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler.

Loeffler had publicly opposed the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 and even written a public letter saying she didn’t agree with the WNBA allowing players to wear shirts with BLM and “Say Her Name” to games. This led to an internal struggle between the Dream’s players and the ownership, which culminated in the players wearing shirts publicly supporting Democrat Raphael Warnock, who unseated Loeffler.

The former Senator would ultimately sell her stake in Dream and leave the WNBA. Just two months after that, the WNBA sold the team: Northland estate equity firm chairman Larry Gottesdiener (Majority owner), Northland’s president Suzanne Abair, and two-time WNBA champion Renee Montgomery. However, that didn’t really fix things.

In 2021, head coach Nicki Collen left just before the season started. Assistant coach Mike Petersen became the interim head coach but stepped down in the middle of the season before Darius Taylor took charge as the Dream finished the season with an 8-24 record. Even the roster was in less than ideal shape.

Chenedy Carter remained suspended for most of the 2021 season for conduct detrimental to the team. Dream also told Courtney Williams and Crystal Bradford they wouldn’t re-sign them following their involvement in a scuffle outside a club.

Yet, one advantage Padover had amidst the chaos was that he almost had a blank slate, which he used to chalk out an approach that would change the Dream’s trajectory in five years.

“To build an organization from the ground up with new ownership and new leadership in a top-ten market like Atlanta is such a unique and exciting opportunity,” Padover said in his opening speech.

“My ultimate goal is to help create a model WNBA franchise and bring a championship to the city. Rebuilds don’t happen overnight, but this organization is now uniquely positioned to create a winning culture.”

The leadership also placed their faith in the Dream’s GM.

“We set out to create a leadership group with experience building winning teams underpinned by a values-based culture. Dan is one of the most well-respected executives in the WNBA with a track record that speaks for itself,” Larry Gottesdiener said in their official announcement.

Before joining the Atlanta Dream, Padover was with the Aces, where he cleverly used trades to sign big names like Jackie Young, and immediately took the same approach with the Atlanta Dream.

The trades that built Atlanta’s Finalist roster

The Dream’s first big signing under their new GM was Rhyne Howard (No. 1 pick), followed by Naz Hillmon (No. 15 pick) during the 2022 WNBA Draft. However, to get those picks, Padover had to work his magic with trading players.

Padover started by trading Li Yueru’s rights and Chennedy Carter to the Los Angeles Sparks. In return the Erica Wheeler and the No. 15 Draft pick. He then immediately set his sights on acquiring the No. 1 pick of the 2022 Draft, despite not being anywhere near it.

So Padover once again turned to the Sparks. he first traded the third and 14th overall picks and swapped rights to the Sparks’ 2023 first-round pick to the Washington Mystics. All that effort landed the Dream with both the No. 1 and No. 15 picks ahead of the 2022 Draft.

TWO TEAMS. ONE TITLE. HISTORY ON THE LINE. The @AtlantaDream and @valkyries will go head-to-head in the WNBA Finals as both franchises are in search of their first Championship in league history. Game 1 tips-off Saturday, October 17 at 3:30pm/ET live on NBC and Peacock! https://t.co/2yDNWGuzvO

— WNBA (@WNBA) October 10, 2026

The impact was immediate. The Atlanta Dream finished the 2022 season with a 19-21 record, with Howard winning Rookie of the Year.

Ahead of the following season, the GM had already picked out Allisha Gray. However, he once again had to go through a few hoops to add her by trading Dream’s No. 3 overall pick in 2023 and a first-round pick in 2025 to Dallas. In the end, Gray turned out to be worth the effort.

“She is one of the best two-way guards in the world and is in the prime of her career…” said Padover.

He couldn’t have been more correct. Since her addition, Gray has become one of the key players in the Dream’s rise to WNBA title contender status.

2024 turned out to be an even bigger year. Padover added another star to the roster by trading Aari McDonald to the Sparks for Jordin Canada.

“I think she was looking at a few different places, but given our group, given our organization, our market, we were a natural fit for her,” Padover added.

Then on November 13, 2024, the Dream GM brought on the man who has led the team to their first WNBA Finals in over a decade: Head coach Karl Smesko. Replacing Tanisha Wright, who had led the team to back-to-back playoffs, Smesko had his work cut out for him. But right now, as the Dream prepare to contend for the title, it’s tough to argue against what he has achieved in two years.

Karl Smesko, the Angel Reese gamble, and the final piece of the puzzle

While there are critics of Karl Smesko’s fast-paced, perimeter-oriented brand of basketball dubbed as “Raining Threes”, it has turned out to be the perfect fit for the Atlanta Dream. However, part of that is because he hasn’t focused on just the offense but also the defensive prowess of this Dream roster.

As per the Hoops Junkie’s data, the Dream have boasted the best offensive rating in the WNBA in the last five minutes of games. That’s especially impressive in a season where the Fever have set an all-time offensive output record with 96.0 points per game. Atlanta haven’t lagged in defense either.

That same data shows that in the last five minutes of games, the Dream’s defense has been the third-best in the league. While that has led to some slim losses, it’s also made the Dream one of the best clutch teams in the league, something that was quite evident as they managed to leave the Liberty behind in the final minutes of all three of their semifinal wins.

However, Smesko’s coaching philosophy isn’t the only thing that’s helped the team’s success so far. He has placed immense faith in the roster that Padover built since 2022. The coach has constantly backed players like Gray and Canada, even when the team didn’t perform well, and that’s where his chemistry with Angel Reese comes in.

The Dream acquiring Reese from the Chicago Sky ahead of the 2026 season was nothing short of a blockbuster deal. Yet, there’s always a chance that egos may clash when someone with Reese’s significance and fan following joins the team.

Not only has that not been the case, but the former LSU star has unlocked a whole new level under Smesko’s guidance and has had nothing but praise for the Dream.

“Being able to bring this to Atlanta means a lot to me,” Reese told the crowd during the launch of her signature Barbie doll in August. “You guys have poured into me since I’ve been here, and I’ve only been here for maybe three months now.”

Reese’s improvements showed up on the stat sheet. She played the most games of her three-year career at 43 and averaged a career high of 16.4 points. She also led the regular season in rebounds, averaging 12.1, and won her first Defensive Player of the Year award.

The most surprising improvement came in her shooting, especially in the postseason. In the semifinals against the Liberty, Reese shot 57% from long range.

As well as Padover’s plan has panned out, there’s one addition that even the Dream didn’t see coming.

Shortly before the playoffs, the Atlanta Dream picked up former champion and veteran DeWanna Bonner from the Phoenix Mercury. Padover revealed how things fell into place following Bonner signing with the Dream.

“It happened that Phoenix and her worked out a deal to allow her to make a run in the postseason and that turned into a mini-free agency with a bunch of teams that went after her. We were fortunate that we had made a run at her in the last few free agencies. She has a great relationship with our players, which helped.”

Bonner has already proved herself as a crucial rotational piece and backup during the Dream’s 5-0 run through the playoffs so far.

Now it’s only a matter of time before we find out whether the Dream’s journey from disarray to WNBA title contenders ends with them becoming champions.

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