The Atlanta Dream have made a move to add depth at a position they’ve needed help at for weeks. The team has signed guard Jaylyn Sherrod to a developmental contract, adding a proven playmaker to a roster that has lacked one this season.
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Sherrod brings a championship pedigree to the signing. She began her WNBA career as a rookie with the New York Liberty in 2024, making 10 regular-season appearances and two in the playoffs. That year, Liberty successfully won the WNBA title. She started on a training camp contract, converted that into a seven-day deal, and eventually earned a spot for the rest of the season, contributing to the title run along the way.
She returned to the Liberty in 2025 before later signing with the Minnesota Lynx that same season. Atlanta marks her third stop in three seasons, which explains the mechanism behind this deal.
Developmental contracts are only available to players with zero to three years of league experience. Sherrod, now in her third year, fits that window exactly.
Sherrod played at the University of Colorado, where she developed into one of the program’s most promising guards. Her career WNBA averages so far sit at 1.4 points, 0.5 assists, and 0.4 steals per game, which is modest production mostly underselling what she’s being brought in to do. Under the terms of the developmental contract, she is eligible to appear in a maximum of 12 regular-season games and is not eligible for the postseason.
Sherrod has built a reputation around two-way reliability rather than scoring. She is known specifically for unselfish play as a guard, a trait Atlanta has been missing. And that need has been building for a while.
The Dream backcourt has leaned heavily on score-first this season, with players like Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard generating offense but not consistently setting up others. Atlanta’s interior duo of Angel Reese and Brionna Jones needs the ball delivered into space, and the current group hasn’t always done that.
Karl Smesko’s system is built around pace, floor-spacing, and heavy three point volume. But that structure has occasionally produced live ball turnover when the ball isn’t moving with purpose. That’s the gap Sherrod is being brought in to help close. Though Jordin Canada has been effective when healthy, she has missed time that has limited how much the Dream could rely on her as a steady distributor.
That backcourt need is just one symptom of a broader set of issues the Dream are working through right now.
The Atlanta Squad Looks Solid, Barring A Few Issues
Atlanta have a deep core headlined by Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, and Angel Reese. They look solid for the most part. A 12-7 record at this stage of the season is quite comfortable. However, they have now lost three games in a row. This points to the fact that their team is still not perfect.
Angel Reese is putting up record numbers this season. But Atlanta struggles with turnovers and rebounding when she is off the court. They also look physically outmatched at times due to a lack of a big presence on the court.
The team regularly shoots over 30 three-pointers a game, even when shots are not converting. This high-risk perimeter play has backfired many a time this season.
Injuries have played their part as well. Brionna Jones was ruled out at the start of the season as she continues to recover from right knee surgery. Aaliyah Nye has missed significant game time due to a lingering left knee injury.
Sorting through those absences and finding a more stable rotation at the point guard is the work ahead of Atlanta if this roster is going to translate its regular season talent into a deep playoff run.