The Minnesota Lynx went and signed Karima Christmas-Kelly early in the free agency period.

The Minnesota Lynx signed Karima Christmas-Kelly early on in free agency. She is a 6’0″ forward who was injured at the start of last season after only six games. She is a good scorer , averaging 8.1 points per game in her career. She is also a good rebounding player, averaging 3.8 per game over her career.

The Dallas Wings were ok without her last year, they had Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins-Smith who are ample coverage for the output lost from the Christmas-Kelly injury. However they do not have Diggins-Smith for the early part of the season through pregnancy and Cambage has requested a trade.

Christmas-Kelly is now headed to a team which has success ingrained in its makeup. The Lynx are now going to go through a period of change without Lindsay Whalen who has retired and Maya Moore who is sitting the season out.

The good thing is, like Moore, Christmas-Kelly gives you a little bit of everything when she is on the court. She plays the same position as Moore but do not expect Moore like numbers from the Duke alum.

The timing of the Christmas-Kelly signing also sheds some light on how long Moore has been thinking about sitting this season out. The Lynx would not sign a starting calibre small forward on the first day of free agency if they thought Moore was going to play out the season. They would have been looking at the highest calibre point guard they could find to replace Whalen.

This actually tells me that Moore’s heart and soul are still with the team but her spirit and body are weak. Whether Christmas-Kelly is a rental at small forward until Moore comes back remains to be seen.If she stays with the club long-term, expect the Lynx to be right back at the top, especially if they can land a good point guard.

For full free agency coverage check out our 2019 free agency central.

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