The undersized Minnesota Lynx struggled against taller, more physical teams. Finding solutions this offseason won’t be easy.

This time, Napheesa Collier walked in without notes.

One year earlier, Collier, in her role as vice president of the WNBA Players Association, took a seat at the Lynx end-of-the-season media availability and read a multipage statement ripping the league for poor leadership and questionable officiating. Collier’s comments, with players and management negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, sparked fan and media debate coast to coast and lingered over the talks.

The new CBA created a vast cohort of free agents, one of which was Collier, who returned to the Lynx but only on a one-year deal. That raised eyebrows, but it made sense given the risk on both sides. Collier was coming off two catastrophic ankle injuries that required extensive surgery, and the Lynx lost five rotation players from the squad that r...