Atlanta general manager Dan Padover built the Dream into a title contender through shrewd trades, a little bit of luck and patience from the team's ownership group.
All that has paid off as Atlanta is headed to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013 when the Dream play the Golden State Valkyries in the best-of-seven series that begins Saturday.
“I give the ownership group a lot of credit for having the patience to have this thing get where it is today,” Padover said in a phone interview. “A lot of times in sports, teams get broken up too early. Letting them grow together gives a continuity that is a huge competitive advantage. You’re seeing it now.”
Putting this team together started soon after Padover came to the franchise in 2021 from Las Vegas.
“We never got lottery luck or many free agents really, so we had to do it through trades,” said Padover, who was with the Aces when they drafted Jackie Young with the No. 1 pick. “That’s definitely the hardest way to build a franchise.”
ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo has been impressed with what Padover has done with the Dream.
“They put everything together. If they don’t have Angel (Reese) this year they aren’t in the finals. They got the gift of DeWanna Bonner at end of season. They picked her up for nothing. I think it’s twofold: a GM who has done an extraordinary job finding the right pieces and a team that’s come together at the right time.”
The three-time WNBA Executive of the Year's first big move was acquiring the No. 1 pick from Washington in 2022 to draft Rhyne Howard and then taking Naz Hillmon 15th that year through another traded draft pick.
“None of it gets off the ground without Rhyne and Naz,” he said. “They had a belief in each other and that we could try to build something here.”
The next season Padover traded for Allisha Gray for two draft picks, giving the Dream a solid foundation with Gray, Howard and Hillmon.
“Got to give credit to Lish,” Padover said. “She was on trade market, but she circled this as a place she wanted to go to. It worked out for all parties involved.”
The team was lacking a true point guard though, so Padover went out and got Jordin Canada from Seattle in 2024.
The biggest move though came this past year. After being upset by Indiana in the first round of the playoffs last season, Padover knew they need Angel Reese to contend for a title. A few months later, Padover made the move.
“I think she was looking at a few different places, but given our group, given our organization, our market, we were a natural fit for her,” he said.
The final piece to the puzzle involved signing DeWanna Bonner right at the end of the regular season when the Phoenix Mercury let her go to make one more run at a championship.
“It happened that Phoenix and her worked out a deal to allow her to make a run in the postseason and that turned into a mini-free agency with a bunch of teams that went after her,” Padover said. “We were fortunate that we had made a run at her the last few free agencies. She has a great relationship with our players, which helped.”
Padover decided after the 2024 season that it was time to move on from coach Tanisha Wright after she had led the team to consecutive playoff appearances. The team hired a search firm and the biggest thing that the franchise wanted was a basketball purist who aligned with the core values of the organization. The answer was longtime Florida Gulf Coast coach Karl Smesko.
“Karl was born to be a basketball coach. He’s extremely humble and hard working and just a phenomenal basketball mind,” Padover said. “To be in his second year in this amazing league that is ultra competitive from a player and coaching standpoint. To have 30 wins his first two years and then make the WNBA Finals in year two, puts him up there in elite, elite company.”
With the condensed free agency period this offseason because of the new collective bargaining agreement, Padover had little time to re-sign Howard, Gray, Canada, Hillmon and the others.
In the span of two days he was able to get them to all want to come back.
“To lock up five players in 48 hours is crazy, usually you don’t lock up one that quickly,” Padover said. “It’s a two-week process in a normal year.”
Padover said the work began well before he was able to talk to them.
“It was so important to have done your work earlier and them knowing who you are and that you care,” he said. “We knew speed was important because people were out there making them good offers. We made them feel whole as quickly as possible and showed them how much we wanted them."
See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) and Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) react after their team defeated the New York Liberty in Game 3 of the WNBA basketball semifinals, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
FILE - WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, right, awards Las Vegas Aces general manager of basketball operations Dan Padover the 2021 WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year award before Game 2 in the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs between the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury, Sept. 30, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents on Monday searched the home of Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a startling escalation in a criminal investigation that brings renewed scrutiny to the frequent target of Trump administration derision in the final weeks of her reelection bid.
The search of the Minnesota congresswoman's home so close to next month's midterm contests that will determine control of the House and the Senate was swiftly condemned by top Democrats in Congress, who raised questions about the timing given longstanding Justice Department protocol to avoid overt investigative steps involving political candidates in the direct run-up to an election.
The Justice Department confirmed in a statement that Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant in the Washington, D.C., area in connection with an ongoing federal criminal investigation but provided no other details.
The nature and scope of the investigation were unclear, though officials in President Donald Trump's administration have repeatedly hinted at the existence of an inquiry targeting Omar, a Somali-born Democrat whose status as an immigrant to the U.S. and left-wing views have repeatedly drawn criticism from Republicans and senior Trump officials.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said last month that there was an “ongoing investigation” related in part to whether Omar lied on her immigration forms and that “something's going to happen.”
Omar responded to the search with a statement on X that called it an “attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”
“For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,” she said. “I will not be silenced.”
Though the Republican focus on Omar's background dates back years, the search of her home took place three weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is on the ballot for reelection. The Justice Department has historically sought to avoid public investigative actions involving a candidate within 60 days of a primary or general election.
“For years, Donald Trump and far-right extremists have relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Omar with vile personal attacks and baseless accusations,” top House Democratic leaders said in a statement. “Now, less than 30 days until the midterm election, his violent mass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly elected Member of Congress and her family.”
Trump as recently as this past weekend brought up Omar at a rally in Tennessee, where he attacked her upbringing and suggested that Vice President JD Vance “and our people” were investigating her.
Vance has in the past accused Omar of committing immigration fraud — an allegation she has denied — and has said he and a top White House official were trying to figure out how to investigate her.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, of which Homeland Security Investigations is part, referred questions about the search to the Justice Department. The Justice Department said in a statement that Monday's enforcement action “is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.”
The street was blocked off Monday morning as HSI agents remained near the home.
Omar, who was first elected to the House in 2018, represents Minnesota’s 5th District, including Minneapolis. She is part of The Squad of progressive lawmakers who are a vibrant political force on the left wing of Congress but have also endured repeated attacks from Trump, dating back to his first term. She was one of the first two Muslim-American women in the House and the first African refugee to be elected to Congress.
When Republicans swept control of the House in 2023, they voted to oust Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, citing her anti-Israel remarks.
In January, Trump lashed out at Omar during a rally in Iowa hours before an assailant sprayed the congresswoman during her own town hall meeting in Minneapolis with a substance that turned out to be vinegar. The attacker was sentenced recently to 14 months in prison.
Republicans have raised questions about Omar's past since before she was even elected, including asserting that she had married her brother and committed immigration fraud. Omar has broadly denied the allegations as “disgusting lies.”
“It certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody's entitled to equal justice under the laws,” Vance told reporters in May. “So we're going to investigate it. We're going to take a look at it. If we think there's a crime, we're going to prosecute that crime.”
In a separate interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, Vance said without offering evidence that “we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.”
He said that he and deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller had been discussing it and “trying to look at what the remedies are.”
“That’s the thing that we’re trying to figure out," he said. "What are the legal remedies now that we know that she’s committed immigration fraud. How do you go after her? How do you investigate her? How do you actually do the thing? How do you build the case necessary to get some, some, some justice for the American people?”
Omar’s office in March dismissed Vance’s claims as fabricated and defamatory.
“This is rich coming from someone who literally said they were willing to ‘create stories’ to redirect the media,” Omar’s chief of staff, Connor McNutt, said in a statement.
“This is a ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract from the pedophile protection party’s unpopular war of choice, increasing gas prices, and rapidly dropping polling numbers,” McNutt said at the time of the vice president’s allegations and comments.
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Michelle L. Price and River Zhang in Washington, Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pa., and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C., contributed.
Homeland Security officers carry boxes from the Washington residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, during a search. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security officers speak with local residents on 26th Street NE in Washington, early Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, during an investigation at the residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security officers carry boxes from the Washington residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, during a search. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A Homeland Security officer carrying a box walks out of the Washington residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., during a search, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Signs on the property of a neighbor of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., are pictured Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, as Homeland Security officers carry boxes during a search of Omar's Washington residence. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security officers carry boxes from the Washington residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, during a search. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security officers stand on 26th Street NE in Washington, early Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, during an investigation at the residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security officers speak with local residents on 26th Street NE in Washington, early Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, during an investigation at the residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security officers walk down 26th Street NE in Washington, early Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, during an investigation at the residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks during a news conference on Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, File)
FILE - Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., listens during a Congressional spotlight hearing on Capitol Hill, Sept. 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., takes questions during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
