Player Grades: Sparks finding new ways to lose

The Sparks continue to drop games, but rookie Rickea Jackson is coming into her own and giving fans something to be happy about.

Looking solely at the past week of basketball games from the Sparks, winning was not on the schedule. They lost all three games and it felt like they got closer to winning but lost in even more painful ways as the week progressed.

It started with an eight-point loss against the Connecticut Sun, followed by a six-point defeat against the Washington Mystics and ended with a fourth-quarter collapse versus the Dallas Wings.

There are few bright spots in the darkness that has been the 2024 season, but here are a couple. For starters, the Sparks have the best odds of getting the No. 1 pick in this year's draft.

According to Tankathon, Los Angeles has 44.2% odds of grabbing the top selection in this year's draft. With a player like Paige Bueckers expected to be on the board, it could be a franchise-changing draft for the Sparks.

They're also retaining their key veterans, signing Azurà Stevens and Stephanie Talbot to one-year extensions through 2025. With Dearica Hamby also signing an extension earlier this year and the dynamic rookie duo of Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson as part of this Sparks core, you can see a good team competing for the playoffs being a possibility next season even as the team currently sits at the bottom of the league.

For now, the team has been losing all their games, but some players have still looked good.

So, let's grade their performances. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A "B" grade represents the average performance for that player.

Rickea Jackson

34.6 minutes, 18.7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.3 blocks, 20-39 FG, 9-16 3PT, 7-8 FT, -22

This was far and away the best week of WNBA play for Rickea. From her 50% shooting from deep, near-perfect performance from the charity stripe and her team-high 34.6 minutes, she continues to raise the bar of what a good Rickea game means.

If she continues anywhere near this production for the rest of the season, she will undoubtedly be in the conversation for Rookie of the Year and a bonafide superstar in the making for the Sparks.

Grade: A+

Odyssey Sims

23.7 minutes, 14 points, 1 rebound, 5.7 assists, 0.3 steals, 15-26 FG, 2-6 3PT, 10-13 FT, -1

Sims signed a seven-day contract, flew to Los Angeles and played for the Sparks that same day. She has done well without practice time or an opportunity to get comfortable with the playbook. Odyssey gives this team an explosive offensive player off the bench, something the Sparks have been lacking all season long.

The team clearly values her play, as they've signed her to another seven-day contract. With another week of games with L.A., perhaps she can return to the 17 points per game average she had with the Wings earlier this season.

Grade: B+

Dearica Hamby

28.8 minutes, 13 points, 7.7 rebound, 2.3 assists, 2 steals, 17-31 FG, 1-7 3PT, 4-7 FT, -1

Coming back from the Olympics, Hamby hasn't been at the top of her game. Perhaps she's feeling fatigued from all the playing she's done. There's also the discrimination complaint she filed against the Aces and WNBA that could weigh heavy on her mind.

It's not that she's been bad; she's still scoring in double figures and pulling the most rebounds on the team. But she hasn't been the best player in each game and has had some lackluster performances.

Hopefully, this is just a down week and Hamby will return to her All-Star form as August ends.

Grade: C

Azurà Stevens

25.1 minutes, 12.7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.7 steals, 1 block, 15-31 FG, 5-15 3PT, 3-5 FT, -9

Stevens has been a star in her role for the Sparks this past week. She's shooting efficiently, grabbing a half dozen rebounds per game and provides the team with good size and versatility on the perimeter.

She will put up career numbers this season with the Sparks if she can maintain this level.

Grade: B+

Li Yueru

22.2 minutes, 6.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 1 steal, 0.7 blocks, 8-16 FG, 0-3 3PT, 4-4 FT, -6

Yueru has cemented herself as the backup big on this team and continues to get comfortable in that role. She is picking her spots well and handling the league's physicality better than at the start of the season.

If she can attack the boards better and speed up defensively, maybe she can even crack the starting lineup and be part of a two-big starting five.

Grade: B

Kia Nurse

14.9 minutes, 6.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.3 steals, 8-21 FG, 3-12 3PT, +16

Nurse has been consistent this week, playing a couple of shifts a night and being a net positive with a +16 over the past three games. It may not move the needle much, but she is a veteran you can depend on to play the right way and produce consistently.

Grade: B-

Stephanie Talbot

23.5 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks, 5-18 FG, 0-4 3PT, 2-4 FT, -25

Defensively, Talbot has been deflecting passes and forcing turnovers. Offensively, she had a poor shooting week and failed to convert on her 3-point shots. Silimar to Nurse, Talbot gives you a veteran who doesn't make mental errors, but you'd like to see her shoot a bit better from the field if she's going to play 20-plus minutes.

Grade: C+

Rae Burrell

10.6 minutes, 3.3 points, 3 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 1 steal, 2-10 FG, 0-2 3PT, 6-7 FT, 0

There were not a lot of minutes for Burrell this week and she struggled during her play. Even so, I'd like to see more time for her, especially if the Sparks are losing literally every game they have. She needs time to establish her post moves and spots on the floor she can attack. She can't do that sitting down and observing. Burrell needs the reps and she's shown signs that when she has the time to play through things, she can be a valuable asset.

This week wasn't an example of that, but hopefully, she gets more play in September so the Sparks can see what she brings to the team.

Grade: C-

Crystal Dangerfield

14.5 minutes, 0.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 0.3 blocks, 1-11 FG, 0-5 3PT, -21

Dangerfield shot a woeful 9.1% from the field but contributed offensively by dishing out dimes. Add a few steals and a rejection, and she was a decent player for this team. Given that Lexie Brown is out with her Crohn's disease and Sparks head coach Curt Miller states Aari McDonald is out for the "foreseeable future" with her foot injury, Dangerfield will remain a Sparks for the rest of the season.

Grade: C-

Zia Cooke

Playing just a handful of minutes, Cooke did not garner enough time on the floor to fairly judge her play. With the team losing so much and Cooke in her sophomore season, it'd be ideal to see if she has anything she can give to this team.

Curt Miller

Miller himself has stated he's failed this team at times this season. This week has been the worst, given that they held a lead entering the fourth quarter in two of their three losses. Simply put, the Sparks had chances to win and Miller didn't push the right buttons late in games to secure the results.

If the Sparks are trying to win, they must close these games. If it's tanking time, let's see Burrell and Cooke playing a lot and find out what they can contribute instead of giving heavy minutes to hardship contract players.

Right now, the Sparks seem to be failing in both development and results and that's not a good combination.

Grade: C-

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.