Storm waive PG Kiana Williams

Storm point guard Kiana Williams throwing t-shirts to fans after a win over the Los Angeles Sparks on June 11 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA. (Photo by Rio Giancarlo)

By Christan Braswell

Seattle, WA - The Storm have waived backup point guard Kiana Williams, the team announced Tuesday afternoon. The roster currently sits at 10 active players.

Originally drafted by Seattle in 2019 with the No. 18 overall pick, Williams spent a lion’s share of her first two seasons in the WNBA with the Storm.

After playing overseas, the 5-8 guard signed a non-guaranteed minimum contract (0-2 years of WNBA service) with the team for the 2024 season. Appearing in 12 games, Williams scored 11 points in over 40 minutes of play off the bench.

With Wednesday, July 3 being the midpoint of the WNBA season, Tuesday was the last day before non-guaranteed deals become guaranteed. Williams’ contract had the lowest value on the team, so it wasn’t done for cap space reasons necessarily.

Waiving Williams now allows Seattle to sign her down the stretch of the season as seven-day contracts will be available soon.

After the win over the Dallas Wings on Monday night, Storm head coach Noelle Quinn spoke glowingly about Williams’ veteran leadership after playing seven of the 10 final minutes of the game.

“Kiana, to me, has stepped up. From drafting her until now, she’s grown a lot. She does everything for us. If you look at her on the bench, she’s always talking and right next to me. She’s very smart.”

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