The Atlanta Dream have eleven players on the 2025 roster with six returning players and five new additions. This article alphabetically spotlights Dream returners Maya Caldwell, Jordin Canada, Nia Coffey, Allisha Gray, Naz Hillmon, and Rhyne Howard.
Maya Caldwell
Listed Position: Guard
WNBA Experience: 3 years
Maya Caldwell played at the University of Georgia before being drafted in 2022 by the Indiana Fever. She has had multiple stints with the Atlanta Dream during her three-year WNBA career. Caldwell is signed on an unprotected rookie contract, making the same amount as 2025 third-round draft pick Taylor Thierry according to the Atlanta Dream salary cap sheet at herhoopstats.com.
2025 Impact: Caldwell made the Dream’s final roster over Dream 2023 first-round pick Haley Jones. In Sunday’s game against the Connecticut Sun, Caldwell made her first start of the season. She played a career-high 36 minutes tying a career-high with six assists.
Caldwell had limited playing time in two of the four Dream games prior to her start on Sunday, but was thrust into a bigger role due to injuries to Brittney Griner, Jordin Canada, and Te-Hina Paopao. When the players ahead of her on the depth chart are fully healthy, Caldwell will be used as a defensive presence and in blowout games, but she has shown the ability to contribute and fit into the Dream’s system when needed.
Jordin Canada
Listed Position: Guard
WNBA Experience: 7 years
The Dream traded for Jordin Canada prior to the 2024 season to bolster the point guard position and the Dream defense. Canada graduated from UCLA as the all-time assists leader in school history and has been a two-time WNBA steals leader (2019, 2023) making the WNBA All-Defensive First Team in both of those seasons.
Unfortunately, Canada dealt with multiple hand injuries last season that limited her to just 18 starts for Atlanta after starting 38 games for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2023. After returning from her second injury on the season in mid-August, the Dream finished 8-8 in their final sixteen games, performing much better than their season-long 15-25 (.375 winning percentage) clip.
2025 Impact: Despite optimism for Canada’s health entering the 2025 season after a successful stint with Unrivaled in the offseason, Canada was hurt once again in the opening minute of the 2025 preseason while driving to the basket on the team’s first possession of the year. The Dream originally released a statement that Canada would be re-evaluated in two weeks.
On May 22nd, the team provided an update that Canada was “expected to make a full recovery from a right knee injury” and “is anticipated to resume team activities in the coming weeks.” It may take time for Canada to regain her conditioning and adapt to the team chemistry that has formed throughout the preseason and first weeks of the regular season, but she is expected to start at point guard upon her return. That move would shift Te-Hina Paopao and Maya Caldwell to bench roles, helping Atlanta with their depth in the backcourt.
Nia Coffey
Listed Position: Forward
WNBA Experience: 8 years
Coffey has played with five different franchises during her WNBA career after being drafted fifth overall in the 2017 WNBA draft out of Northwestern by the San Antonio Stars (who would become the Las Vegas Aces in 2018). She will be entering her fourth consecutive season with the Dream and played in all 40 of Atlanta’s 2024 regular season games.
2025 Impact: Like Caldwell, Coffey started her first game of the season on Sunday against the Connecticut Sun due to the injuries ahead of her on the depth chart. She filled in admirably in the frontcourt, filling the stat sheet with three three-pointers, 11 rebounds, four assists, and 18 total points. While offseason signings Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones are expected to play the bulk of frontcourt minutes, Coffey appears to be next in the frontcourt rotation.
Allisha Gray
Listed Position: Guard
WNBA Experience: 8 years
Allisha Gray was acquired by the Atlanta Dream in January of 2023 as Atlanta traded the 3rd overall pick in that year’s draft (that would bring Maddy Siegrist to Dallas) along with their 2025 first round pick (that ended up as the 6th pick, sending Georgia Amoore to the Washington Mystics) for Gray. Gray has been a steady guard contributor for Atlanta, playing all 78 games in her first two seasons with the team. In those seasons, Gray shot over 40% from the field, averaging over 16 points per game.
Gray has become a fan favorite across the league after winning the league’s 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge during the 2024 WNBA All-Star festivities. Originally from Sandersville, Georgia, Gray’s interviews often go viral for her honest delivery and notable southern accent, as seen in her comments following the victories last summer:
2025 Impact: Along with fellow Unrivaled participants Jordin Canada and Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray helped recruit Griner to join Atlanta for the 2025 season. After Sunday’s games, Gray ranked ninth in the WNBA with 4.8 assists per game, seventh in the league with 19.4 ppg, fifth in minutes played at 34.6 per game, and third with 3.0 three-points made per game, just ahead of Caitlin Clark’s 2.8. Gray has benefitted from the addition of the two All-Stars in Griner and Jones, as Gray noted in her post-game comments:
Naz Hillmon
Listed Position: Forward
WNBA Experience: 3 years
Naz Hillmon was drafted by the Atlanta Dream as a highly decorated collegiate and international player: She was the 2021 Big Ten Player of the Year, Michigan’s all-time leader in rebounds, and a gold medalist with the FIBA U19 and U18 USA Basketball teams. As a rookie for Atlanta in 2022, Hillmon accomplished the following:
started in 12 of 24 games played
became the first Dream rookie to average at least five total rebounds per game with 5.1
had the most total rebounds (172) in a season for a Dream rookie.
Hillmon played 40 games for Atlanta in 2023 and 2024, averaging 13.5 and 21.7 minutes per game in those seasons, respectively. Off the court, Hillmon is a key part of team culture and has been referred to as Rhyne Howard’s best friend:
2025 Impact: Hillmon had not played more than five minutes before the short-handed win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, in which she played 29 minutes, grabbing nine rebounds and scoring seven points. She may be one of the final options off the bench, along with rookie Taylor Thierry, but in the words of Peachtree Hoops’ Wes Morton, “What Hillmon may lack in size for her position, she makes up for it and more in heart and hustle. The 6-foot-2 forward is a menace on the glass and finishes in the paint at a high clip.”
Rhyne Howard
Listed Position: Guard
WNBA Experience: 3 years
2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard was drafted with the number one overall pick after the Atlanta Dream traded their third and fourteenth overall picks to move up in the 2022 WNBA Draft. Howard has been an All-Star in two of her three seasons, medaled in the Paris Olympics in the 3x3 Basketball competition, and has been a key contributor to Atlanta’s offense and defense in her three years with the team.
The 6’2” guard played in at least thirty games in all three of her seasons in the league and finished the 2024 season in the top two league-wide for both steals and blocks per game. As of May 27th, Howard had logged the second-most minutes in the WNBA behind only Kelsey Plum and led the league with three-point attempts at 10.0 per game.
2025 Impact: Howard is recognized for her offensive talent, but has also been a key defensive contributor with Jordin Canada out due to injury. Against the Indiana Fever in the Dream’s home opener, Howard led the team with 24 points while also serving as the primary defensive option guarding Caitlin Clark. Although Atlanta lost the game, Howard’s defense helped hold Clark to just 11 points while snapping Clark’s streak of 140 straight games (including college) with a made three-pointer.
Once Canada is able to return as the defensive cornerstone, Howard should be able to focus on her offense and provide an outside threat to complement Atlanta’s new frontcourt additions.
Which returning Atlanta Dream player do you think is most important to help lead the team towards the playoffs in 2025? Let us know below in the comments.