It goes without saying that the 2026 Washington Mystics will live and die by how Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin do. In addition, Michaela Onyenwere, their only notable free agency addition, makes up Washington’s veteran core. They are also all four of Washington’s double digit scores per game.
Washington’s roster outside of these four is made up almost entirely of rookies. None of the rookies have stood out in a positive way yet. To be fair, none have stood out negatively either given
how this team was constructed except at point guard.
Georgia Amoore is the only rookie (though she was a 2025 WNBA Draft pick) to start regularly in 2026. She is averaging 5.0 points and 3.7 assists per game. However, Amoore is also only making 26 percent of her shots. I get the point of starting Amoore. She is Washington’s only option at point guard along with fellow rookie Alicia Florez who is making… 25 percent of her shots. Regardless, with both point guards unable to score efficiently, other teams can just focus more on Citron.
Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic, the Mystics’ posts who hail from defending national champion UCLA, are faring better. With Iriafen, Austin and Onyenwere starting, Betts and Dugalic have primarily come off the bench. Betts is leading the Washington rookies at 6.7 points per game while making 57 percent of her shots. Dugalic is making 5.3 points a game on 44 percent shooting, but her three point shooting has been in a slump. Given Washington’s depth in the forward and center positions, this is not necessarily a bad thing. But if Betts and Dugalic were on a different type of rebuilding team where they had to start regularly, then it’s unclear if they could have made an impact like Iriafen did last year from the jump as a rookie.
Cotie McMahon is also averaging 6.6 points primarily as a bench scorer.
The other rookies haven’t gotten enough consistent playing time for me to write much about them one way or another.
In short, considering how young the Mystics are, I’m pleasantly surprised that they are 5-7 about a quarter of the way into the 2026 WNBA season. But it would be nice to have a veteran post player and a more established point guard, especially after an offseason where player salaries and movement went up dramatically.
