Where the Mystics are Playing this Offseason

The 2024-25 WNBA offseason has begun for the Washington Mystics and as is the case with nearly everyone on the roster, it’s time to pack their bags, board a plane and start their new season playing abroad.

As soon as the buzzer sounded in last Thursday’s regular-season finale and the Mystics were officially eliminated from the WNBA playoffs, plans were already in place. For some, like Karlie Samuelson and Julie Vanloo, there is no break as their new season with their new club begins in earnest. Less than a week separates the WNBA season from their season in Turkey.

For others, it’s a chance to re-group and head home before taking right back off in the other direction.

This offseason the Mystics talent will be concentrated in Turkey with four players in the Turkish Super League. Three players will be on a sought-after EuroLeague roster, two others will compete in the EuroCup.

So here is what each of the rostered Mystics has planned for the 2024-25 offseason:

Ariel Atkins – Turkey (Fenerbahce Spor Kulubu Istanbul) – Atkins is back competing overseas after serving as an assistant coach on Michigan’s staff last year. Linking up with former Mystics teammate and 2019 WNBA Finals MVP Emma Meesseman on a team that is back-to-back EuroLeague Champions is a huge reason why.

As to why she is returning to playing in the EuroLeague despite being one of the highest-paid WNBA athletes, Atkins has things she wants to work on for next year. Those areas include having an impact on the ball by being a better playmaker, her pick-and-roll reads and scoring off the dribble.

“There’s some things in my game I want to get better at and I know the only way to do that is to play, to simply put it. And to put myself in a situation where I’ll be under a little bit of heat and under some pressure and I’ll come out better for it,” Atkins said.

Shakira Austin – No overseas plan for now. Going through rehab on her left ankle and fully healing her body are the two areas Austin is focused on after missing 28 games this season. Still, she is leaving the door open to playing somewhere later in the offseason.

“Things continue to get shooken [sic] up still, so I really don’t know what I’m gonna finish with and go through. The plan is to heal up and rehab and go train and obviously get my body feeling great, whatever I decide to go whether it’s overseas or staying in the States and playing, but I just want to be right for next season, I don’t want to go through another season like this,” Austin said. “I just want to be able to set the tone from the beginning (of next season) and know that I’m prepared and I’m ready to play and that’s just something I feel like I’ve been lacking. “

Stef Dolson – Not going overseas. “Stefanie will be at a beach,” Dolson said. But she did say that she does have other offseason plans.

Aaliyah Edwards – No overseas plan for now. A year of playing basketball for nearly 10 straight months has Edwards wanting to prioritize her rest this offseason. She went from helping lead UConn to the Final Four to being drafted to the Mystics to playing for Team Canada in the Olympics to back to the Mystics.

However, that’s not stopping Vanloo from trying to recruit Edwards to her EuroCup team, Galatasaray Cagdas Faktoring.

“Listen, I said to Leah, I said, take your rest and around November, December, my team Gala is going to call you. You’re playing with me overseas. That’s my plan with Aaliyah,” Vanloo said.

“When I played with Myisha (Hines-Allen) overseas, it really created an even bigger chemistry when we came into the league. And I’m like, if I would play with [Aaliyah] overseas, can you just imagine when we come back?”

Emily Engstler – Israel (Lev Jerusalem)

“I didn’t get a chance to go last year, and I think it stunted my growth. I think it’s important to play when you can, especially young, and I want to go, and I kind of want to just- I think I do a solid job at the things that I do well, but I think that I can be great at them one day. So just working on the same things and then finding my niche and just becoming better at the things that I’m okay at,” Engstler said.

Sika Koné – Spain (Perfumerías Avenida) – Koné joined her Spanish club last year and will be playing with them again in the 2024-25 season. Avenida is also a EuroLeague team – winning the championship in 2011 – while also regularly contending for championships in Spain’s top league, Liga Femenina de Baloncesto.

Jade Melbourne – Australia (University of Canberra Capitals) – Returning to Australia will likely have Melbourne earning a hero’s welcome after helping Australia win bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She returns to her WNBL team, the University of Canberra Capitals, where she has played the past three seasons.

Karlie Samuelson – Turkey (CBK Mersin) – Samuelson is fresh off winning a EuroCup championship with the London Lions and is stepping up to compete in the EuroLeague. CBK Mersin (Çukurova Basketbol) is also a contender for the Turkish Super League championship, along with Atkins’s Fenerbahce and Vanloo’s Galatasaray.

Sug Sutton – Turkey (Ormanspor). Ormanspor has a history of propelling young WNBA players into the prime of their careers. They compete in the Turkish Super League, with Sutton becoming the fourth Mystic in that league.

Brittney Sykes – Not going overseas. Instead, she was announced to be joining ‘Unrivaled,’ an up-start domestic league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Unrivaled will compete in January down in Miami, FL.

“I’m taking a break right now. I think after what is it, six, seven years in a row of like non-stop, I think my body has finally had enough and I’m taking a little break,” Sykes said. “So I don’t know what January holds, but I do know until December, I will be under the radar.”

Julie Vanloo – Turkey (Galatasaray Cagdas Faktoring). Vanloo will once again be playing in the EuroCup with Gala. They’ll be looking to contend for the title after falling in the EuroCup Quarterfinals last season while being led by Vanloo and Hines-Allen.

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough – Armenia (Les Foxes Yerevan). Walker-Kimbrough joins a EuroCup team this upcoming season after spending last offseason in Turkey. She’ll be joined by former Mystics hardship signee Jakia Brown-Turner.