DiJonai Carrington Named as Potential Dream Addition After Finals Run

Atlanta should add a bench player coach Karl Smesko “will trust to put on the court,” and DiJonai Carrington, who spent 2026 with Chicago, fits that description if she’s healthy, Sabreena Merchant wrote in The Athletic’s Nov. 10 analysis of one offseason priority for each WNBA team.

What the Dream need, in Merchant’s view, is a little more depth to spell their starters, and Brionna Jones should help with that after missing most of the year. The four-time All-Star got into nine games and was inactive Oct. 31 at Chase Center when Atlanta lost Game 7 of the Finals to Golden State 68-63. Beyond those two, Merchant wrote, the Dream don’t seem inclined to shake up a rotation that got them to the Finals.

Her case starts with the starters, who “had the second-best net rating (plus-21.5 points per 100 possessions) of any starting five over the last decade,” Merchant wrote. Only Minnesota’s 2024 group was better.

Jones never really got going in 2026. She tore a meniscus playing in the Czech Republic in late January, had right knee surgery in April, and didn’t make her season debut until July 17 against Toronto. Less than a month later, on Aug. 13 at Connecticut, she hurt her left leg, and the Dream shut her down for the year on Sept. 17, saying they expect a full recovery.

Carrington had signed a one-year deal with Chicago before the season, but a left foot injury from Minnesota’s 2025 playoff run cost her the Sky’s first 27 games, and her first appearance came July 30 against Connecticut. Two years earlier, she was the league’s Most Improved Player and an All-Defensive First Team pick.

She’s an unrestricted free agent now, per Her Hoop Stats’ free agent list. Merchant noted that Carrington “already has familiarity with Jones, assistant coach Brandi Poole and DeWanna Bonner if the veteran sticks around,” and Bonner is one of the Dream’s own two unrestricted free agents, along with Shatori Walker-Kimbrough.

Allisha Gray and Jordin Canada both re-signed before the 2026 season, and the Dream won 30 games for a second straight year under Smesko.

“It was nice to get a taste of what the Finals feel like,” Gray said after Game 7, “and next season, we come back together, same group, same core, won’t be short.”

Angel Reese came over from Chicago in a trade on the first day of free agency in April. In Game 2 she had 30 points and 16 rebounds, and Atlanta had its first Finals win in franchise history.

“Probably just about the joy that we’ve had, just being around each other,” Reese said. “This is my third year; this is the most fun I’ve ever had with a group. It’s the most competitive team I’ve ever been a part of where everybody just wants to see each other get better. Everybody supports each other when somebody gets something or when somebody wins, something happens, everybody is just cheering for the next person, and you love that about a group.”

“There’s no egos in the locker room and nobody is selfish,” Reese added. “Everybody just want to see each other succeed. When you have a team like that, I’ve been a part of some teams and I know what takes to win a championship. That’s the winning mindset. And just because we didn’t win today doesn’t mean that we won’t be champions in the future.”

It was Atlanta’s first Finals trip since 2013, and the Dream actually outscored Golden State over the seven games, 500-472. In the last one they went 6-of-30 from 3-point range. Canada led them with 18 points, and Rhyne Howard was 3-of-14 from the field.