Sylvia Fowles Finds The Right Fit In Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS -- Sylvia Fowles pretty much figured her 2015 WNBA season was just never going to happen. She was prepared to sit it out entirely because she knew for sure what she wanted: to be traded from Chicago to Minnesota.

But it just didn't look like it would materialize. Minnesota general manager Roger Griffith had been trying to work a deal since around January. He said he lost count of how many offers and counteroffers the Lynx and Sky tossed back and forth. He thought they were very close a few times -- he specifically mentioned July 4 as an "almost" -- but in the past couple of weeks, his hopes faded, too.

And then ... Sunday, it all finally came together rather surprisingly, as these things sometimes do. With Atlanta as the third partner in the trade, Minnesota got yet another Olympian to add into its "let's go win a championship again" mix.

Fowles joins the green-and-blue crew and is now WNBA teammates with the likes of Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Asjha Jones. They were all together on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. Add in another outstanding post player in Rebekkah Brunson, who has been such a big part of Minnesota's rise to power.

Quite the collection of stars the Lynx have now heading into the second half of the WNBA season. But as recently as Saturday, Fowles didn't expect to be here.

"I can be honest," Fowles said. "I pretty much had given up hope. "

She was speaking Tuesday at her first Lynx news conference, which followed her first Lynx practice. Now will she be ready for her first game of 2015, Wednesday at Target Center against visiting Los Angeles?

"We shall see," said a grinning Fowles, who might even start, though that hasn't been determined. "I am up for every challenge."

Fowles joked that Augustus -- her former collegiate teammate at LSU who is currently sidelined after arthroscopic knee surgery -- was the first Lynx player to meet her upon her arrival in Minneapolis, and then they talked for "about five hours."

"We had a nice conversation about the organization and what was to be expected," Fowles said. "It was some good stuff."

Fowles has tried to be careful through this pained process of disengaging from the team that drafted her in 2008 to not disparage the Sky. She said that she just felt it was the right time in her career to make a move to a team with which she thinks she has the best chance of winning a WNBA title.

Like Augustus, Fowles went through the heartbreak of Final Four appearances in college without an NCAA championship. In Fowles' case, in fact, she made it to the national semifinals all four of her seasons at LSU (2005-08) without advancing to the title game.

And while Fowles has won titles in the Olympics, world championships and overseas, there is still a feeling for her that something is missing: a championship in the WNBA. Augustus, the pivotal No. 1 draft pick in 2006 who really began to turn the tide for the Lynx, has won two WNBA titles. Now she wants to help Fowles get her first.

"I hope we can get those lob passes going to her, those pick-and-roll situations," Augustus said. "It should be fun."

So Augustus and Fowles are both very excited; indeed, the whole pack of Lynx are thrilled. Fowles said coming to Minnesota was like "Christmas times three."

In the necessary role of Grinch, of course, is Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who wants to make very darn sure that nobody is starting a championship parade in July.

She reminded the Lynx -- not that they'd forgotten -- about them having lost their last game before the All-Star break, 78-77 to Connecticut on July 22 at home. Admittedly, the Lynx then didn't have Augustus -- who is out probably until at least mid- to late August -- and Whalen, who will return Wednesday wearing goggles after an eye injury on July 19. But a loss is a loss.

And even if the Lynx are leading the West at 12-4 and now have "Big Syl" on top of everything else, Reeve scoffed at the idea that now all she has to do is watch her team run over everyone else.

Reeve understandably doesn't want anyone to think this is going to be simple. Remember, her Lynx lost in the WNBA Finals in 2012, when -- let's be frank -- most everyone thought they would beat an Indiana Fever team that was missing an injured Katie Douglas. Instead, Minnesota lost 3-1, and that still burns Reeve.

Stockpiling talent, which the Lynx have done, certainly isn't all you have to do to win a WNBA championship. But it sure should make it more likely.

And that's really what Fowles , 29, was hoping for: to continue her career someplace that is already well established. That the Lynx have a state-of-the-art training facility across from Target Center and have become pretty much the WNBA's model organization were additional lures for Fowles.

"I know the transition will be easy, but the expectations are different," said Fowles, who averaged 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in her first seven seasons, all with Chicago. "I know everybody has high expectations here. I know everybody will be looking in [at us] like, 'They've got it easy,' but it's really not. I've got to come in and meet these needs here, as well.

"Maya was on me this morning, showing me everything that I need to do. She's telling me I need that second energy to kick in. I heard a lot from Seimone. [Whalen] was pretty much on the smooth side: 'Just go out there and do what you do.'"

Fowles has always played excellent defense, and she also provides a splendid, 6-foot-6 target inside on offense. Even with Augustus out the Lynx are a very strong offensive team. Still, they will be very, very glad to have Fowles on both ends of the court.

"She's such a dominant force when she gets going," Moore said. "It's only going to be good for her having players like us around as far as the competitiveness, the passion, the focus. I think she's going to come in and fit in just fine."

Despite not wanting to "oversell" the Lynx's new addition, Reeve fully acknowledged the many ways that Fowles can help Minnesota -- and do so without the Lynx having to remake themselves. Reeve also said that Fowles looked good in her first practice Tuesday with Minnesota.

"Working out on your own is not the same as practicing, so I'm sure she's feeling it right now, having gone through two hours of practice," Reeve said. "I thought she fit in really well, and the players around her really enjoyed some of the options that present themselves with having a 6-6 player.

"More than anything, I just kind of want her to ease her way into things. And I don't want it to be disruptive to us; we still are what we are, and do what we do. And just let her find her way."

Realistically, that's probably not going to take very long. Fowles said that to stay in shape the past few months while not playing, she mostly rode her bike, along with lifting weights. So she will have to get her basketball legs under her again. But she has also had plenty of rest since the end of her overseas season in China, and that time gave her a chance to refresh both mentally and physically.

She thinks that will pay off over the next couple of months as the Lynx try to finish first in the West and secure home-court advantage in the playoffs.

"As a player, this is something that you look for: You want to play with the best of the best at the highest level, and winning a championship is always one of your goals," Fowles said. "To get there, you have to have all the pieces in place."

Minnesota pretty much already had that, or close to it. But there was room for one more: a much sought-after part of the puzzle in Fowles, who now just wants to snap in place and complete the picture.