Storm have big plans for top picks going into matchup with Aces

The Seattle Storm got a brief glimpse of their future frontcourt Saturday, and it was promising.

Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam, Seattle's first selections in the past two WNBA drafts, shared the court for the first time in an 88-68 loss at Minnesota.

The duo, which will likely get more playing time together Monday in a Commissioner's Cup game at the Las Vegas Aces, combined for 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.

"We wanted to get to that pairing," Storm coach Sonia Raman said. "There's so much that we can build on. It was such a minimal amount of minutes (Saturday). It was just about making it happen and getting it going and getting this started with the two of them on the floor together."

The 6-foot-4 Fam, the No. 3 overall pick this spring, missed the first six games of the regular season while leading her Spanish club to the league championship.

Before Fam joined the Storm, the 6-foot-6 Malonga, the No. 2 selection in 2025, suffered a concussion that forced her to miss eight games.

"Saw some really good things there, but those two have to learn how to play together," Raman said. "They've never played together before. This was the very first time, and ... we can start to see a little bit of the potential of what that could look like."

The Storm (3-9, 0-3 Commissioner's Cup), last in the Western Conference, will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak when they take on the defending WNBA champion Aces (7-3, 2-0 Commissioner's Cup).

Las Vegas has won three in a row, including an 84-79 victory Saturday against visiting Golden State as four-time MVP A'ja Wilson had 28 points and 14 rebounds and Jackie Young scored a season-high 27 points, making 6 of 8 3-point attempts.

Chelsea Gray added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists, surpassing coach Becky Hammon for the franchise record in the latter category with 1,134.

"(Gray is) awesome, it's unbelievable," said Hammon, who played eight seasons at guard for franchise when it was the San Antonio Silver Stars (2007-13) and San Antonio Stars (2014). "She's one of the greatest to ever do it. It's actually fun for me because who cares about records? They're meant to be broken, and you want the next generation to be better than your generation, and they are. I'm super proud of who Chelsea is."

--Field Level Media