2018 Las Vegas Aces season explained

The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season for the Las Vegas Aces franchise of the WNBA. This was the franchise's inaugural season in Las Vegas, after moving from San Antonio during the off season.^[1] The season tips off on May 20.^[2]

The team started the season slowly in May, posting an 0–4 record. June was a month of improvement, as the Aces went 6–7, including a win over Seattle away. July was the team's best month of the year. The Aces posted a 6–2 record, with their only 2 losses being to Los Angeles. The team's playoff push fell short in August, when the team posted a 2–7 record including the league's first forfeited game. Ultimately the forfeit proved costly, as the team missed out on the playoffs by 1 game and finished 9th in the league overall.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2018 WNBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	1	A'ja Wilson		South Carolina
2	13	Jaime Nared		Tennessee
3	25	Raigyne Louis		LSU
3	32	Jill Barta		Gonzaga

Trades/Roster Changes

Date	Details
February 1, 2018	Signed F Tamera Young^[3]
February 1, 2018	Signed C Carolyn Swords^[4]
February 1, 2018	Received Indiana Fever's 2nd round pick in 2019 WNBA draft in exchange for C Kayla Alexander and Las Vegas Aces' 3rd round pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.^[5]
February 2, 2018	Received C Kelsey Bone from Phoenix Mercury in exchange for the 26th pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and Las Vegas Aces' 2nd round pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.^[6]
February 26, 2018	Re-signed G/F Sequoia Holmes, F Cierra Burdick, Signed F Ivey Slaughter^[7]
March 13, 2018	Re-signed G Sydney Colson^[8]
March 20, 2018	Re-signed F Valeriane Ayayi^[9]
April 11, 2018	Signed G Jacki Gemelos^[10]
May 19, 2018	Signed G Lindsay Allen^[11]
May 23, 2018	Signed G Kelsey Plum and G Kayla McBride^[12]

Game log

Pre-season

|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 1| May 6| China| W 98–63| Wilson (20)| Tied (7)| Tied (5)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
| 1–0|- style="background:#fcc;"| 2| May 13| @ Dallas| L 55–68| Young (11)| Wilson (12)| Slaughter (3)| College Park Center
| 1–1

Regular season

|- style="background:#fcc;"| 1| May 20| @ Connecticut| L 65–101| Young (23)| Wilson (10)| Bone (3)| Mohegan Sun Arena
6,637| 0–1|- style="background:#fcc;"| 2| May 22| @ Washington| L 70–75| Wilson (16)| Wilson (8)| Allen (6)| Capital One Arena
4,509| 0–2|- style="background:#fcc;"| 3| May 27| Seattle| L 98–105| Wilson (27)| Wilson (8)| Allen (6)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
7,662| 0–3|- style="background:#fcc;"| 4| May 31| @ Seattle| L 74–101| Wilson (21)| Tied (6)| Plum (6)| KeyArena
5,235| 0–4|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 5| June 1| Washington| W 85–73| Wilson (26)| Wilson (12)| Tied (4)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,575| 1–4|- style="background:#fcc;"| 6| June 3| @ Chicago| L 90–95| Wilson (22)| Park (6)| Allen (8)| Wintrust Arena
5,052| 1–5|- style="background:#fcc;"| 7| June 8| Atlanta| L 83–87| Wilson (20)| Wilson (9)| Allen (7)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,913| 1–6|- style="background:#fcc;"| 8| June 10| @ Phoenix| L 66–72| Wilson (17)| Park (11)| Plum (6)| Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,471| 1–7|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 9| June 12| @ Indiana| W 101–92 (OT)| Wilson (35)| Wilson (13)| Young (9)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,437| 2–7|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 10| June 13| @ New York| W 78–63| Hamby (17)| Tied (4)| Allen (7)| Westchester County Center
1,419| 3–7|- style="background:#fcc;"| 11| June 15| @ Dallas| L 67–77| McBride (22)| Young (9)| Young (4)| College Park Center
4,549| 3–8|- style="background:#fcc;"| 12| June 17| Phoenix| L 80–92| Wilson (21)| Coffey (12)| Plum (5)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,432| 3–9|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 13| June 19| @ Seattle| W 87–77| Wilson (25)| Wilson (15)| Tied (6)| KeyArena
6,395| 4–9|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 14| June 22| New York| W 88–78| McBride (27)| Wilson (14)| Wilson (4)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,478| 5–9|- style="background:#fcc;"| 15| June 24| Minnesota| L 73–88| McBride (18)| Wilson (7)| Plum (5)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,814| 5–10|- style="background:#fcc;"| 16| June 27| Dallas| L 91–97| McBride (38)| Wilson (15)| Wilson (8)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,246| 5–11|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 17| June 29| Los Angeles| W 94–78| Wilson (29)| Tied (9)| Tied (5)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,124| 6–11|- style="background:#fcc;"| 18| July 1| @ Los Angeles| L 71–87| Young (16)| Park (6)| Young (8)| Staples Center
12,003| 6–12|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 19| July 5| Chicago| W 84–80| McBride (28)| Swords (12)| McBride (7)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,699| 7–12|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 20| July 7| Connecticut| W 94–90| Wilson (34)| Wilson (14)| Plum (10)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
3,363| 8–12|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 21| July 10| @ Chicago| W 98–74| McBride (18)| Tied (8)| 3 Tied (4)| Wintrust Arena
7,696| 9–12|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 22| July 13| @ Minnesota| W 85–77| McBride (24)| Wilson (15)| McBride (9)| Target Center
9,813| 10–12|- style="background:#fcc;"| 23| July 15| Los Angeles| L 78–99| McBride (18)| Tied (8)| Jefferson (3)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,810| 10–13|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 24| July 19| @ Phoenix| W 85–82| McBride (27)| Wilson (12)| McBride (3)| Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,587| 11–13|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 25| July 22| Indiana| W 88–74| Wilson (24)| Tied (10)| 3 Tied (4)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,368| 12–13|- style="background:#fcc;"| 26| August 1 | Phoenix| L 93–104| Wilson (29)| 3 Tied (6)| Tied (5)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,129| 12–14|- style="background:#fcc;"| 27| August 3| @ Washington| L via forfeit^[13] | –| –| –| Capital One Arena
0| 12–15|- style="background:#fcc;"| 28| August 5| @ Connecticut| L 88–109| Wilson (24)| 5 Tied (3)| Tied (4)| Mohegan Sun Arena
6,791| 12–16|- style="background:#fcc;"| 29| August 7| @ Atlanta| L 100–109| Plum (20)| Swords (9)| Plum (13)| McCamish Pavilion
4,033| 12–17|- style="background:#fcc;"| 30| August 9| Minnesota| L 73–89| Wilson (18)| Swords (7)| Young (4)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,497| 12–18|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 31| August 11| Indiana| W 92–74| Plum (20)| Wilson (8)| Tied (4)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,213| 13–18|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 32| August 15| New York| W 85–72| Wilson (19)| Young (8)| Young (4)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
7,159| 14–18|- style="background:#fcc;"| 33| August 17| @ Dallas| L 102–107| Wilson (34)| Wilson (7)| McBride (12)| College Park Center
6,209| 14–19|- style="background:#fcc;"| 34| August 19| Atlanta| L 78–93| Wilson (21)| Hamby (8)| Plum (8)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,737| 14–20

Statistics

Regular season

style= width="16%"	Player	style= width="6%"	GP	style= width="6%"	GS	style= width="6%"	MPG	style= width="6%"	FG%	style= width="6%"	3P%	style= width="6%"	FT%	style= width="6%"	RPG	style= width="5%"	APG	style= width="6%"	SPG	style= width="6%"	BPG	style= width="6%"	PPG
A'ja Wilson	33	33	30.6	46.2	0.0	77.4	8.0	2.2	0.8	1.7	20.7
Kayla McBride	31	31	32.3	44.9	39.3	91.7	3.9	3.5	1.1	0.1	18.2
Tamera Young	33	25	26.7	40.8	30.8	70.7	5.1	2.8	1.0	0.2	9.9
Kelsey Plum	31	27	25.5	46.7	43.9	87.5	2.4	4.0	0.8	0.2	9.5
Dearica Hamby	33	0	14.4	52.6	28.9	74.2	3.6	1.2	0.7	0.3	7.4
Moriah Jefferson	16	0	15.7	37.9	20.0	81.0	1.3	2.1	0.6	0.0	5.4
Nia Coffey	28	10	13.8	38.0	40.0	61.8	2.4	0.6	0.3	0.2	5.3
Carolyn Swords	26	12	14.5	55.7	0.0	87.5	4.7	0.9	0.2	0.7	3.9
Lindsay Allen	24	6	14.9	38.4	6.3	70.8	1.3	2.9	0.6	0.0	3.1
Kelsey Bone	32	10	10.8	50.0	0.0	50.0	2.2	1.2	0.1	0.1	2.8
Ji-Su Park	32	11	13.0	38.8	0.0	61.9	3.3	0.9	0.3	0.6	2.8
Jaime Nared	31	0	9.1	30.0	22.6	85.7	1.5	0.5	0.4	0.1	2.5

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
A'ja Wilson	WNBA Rookie of the Month - June	July 2, 2018	^[14]
	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week	July 9, 2018	^[15]
Kayla McBride	WNBA All-Star Selection	July 17, 2018	^[16]
A'ja Wilson
A'ja Wilson	WNBA Rookie of the Month - July	August 1, 2018	^[17]
	WNBA Rookie of the Month - August	August 20, 2018	^[18]
	WNBA Rookie of the Year Award	September 9, 2018	^[19]

External links

• The Official Site of the Las Vegas Aces

Notes and References

1. Web site: San Antonio Stars moving to Las Vegas, bought by MGM Resorts. usatoday.com. Associated Press. October 17, 2017. April 18, 2018.
2. Web site: 2018 Las Vegas Aces Schedule. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. April 18, 2018.
3. Web site: Las Vegas Signs 10-Year Veteran Forward Tamera Young. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. April 18, 2018.
4. Web site: Las Vegas Signs Five-Year Veteran Carolyn Swords. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. April 18, 2018.
5. Web site: Las Vegas Acquires 2019 Second Round Pick From Indiana. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. April 18, 2018.
6. Web site: Las Vegas Acquires All-Star Kelsey Bone From Phoenix Mercury. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 2, 2018. April 18, 2018.
7. Web site: Las Vegas Re-Signs Holmes, Burdick, Signs Free Agent Ivey Slaughter. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 26, 2018. April 18, 2018.
8. Web site: Las Vegas Re-Signs Guard Sydney Colson. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. March 13, 2018. April 18, 2018.
9. Web site: Las Vegas Re-Signs Forward Valeriane Ayayi. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. March 20, 2018. April 18, 2018.
10. Web site: Las Vegas Signs Free Agent Guard Jacki Gemelos. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. April 11, 2018. April 18, 2018.
11. Web site: Las Vegas Signs Lindsay Allen. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. May 19, 2018. June 11, 2018.
12. Web site: Aces Welcome McBride, Plum To Las Vegas, Waive Schimmel, Louis. aces.wnba.com. WNBA. May 23, 2018. June 11, 2018.
13. Web site: Las Vegas Aces Forfeit Game vs. Washington Mystics. wnba.com. WNBA. August 7, 2018. August 8, 2018.
14. Web site: Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson Named Rookie of the Month. wnba.com. WNBA. July 2, 2018. July 2, 2018.
15. Web site: Elena Delle Donne, A'ja Wilson Named Players of the Week. WNBA. wnba.com. July 9, 2018. July 9, 2018.
16. Web site: 2018 WNBA All-Stars Announced; Elena Delle Donne, Candace Parker To Serve As Player-Captains. wnba.com. WNBA. July 17, 2018. July 18, 2018.
17. Web site: Las Vegas' Wilson Named WNBA Rookie Of The Month. wnba.com. WNBA. August 1, 2018. August 1, 2018.
18. Web site: Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson Named August WNBA Rookie Of The Month. wnba.com. WNBA. August 20, 2018. August 20, 2018.
19. Web site: Aces' A'ja Wilson Unanimously Selected 2018 WNBA Rookie Of The Year. wnba.com. WNBA. September 9, 2018. September 10, 2018.