The 2008 WNBA season was the 11th for the Detroit Shock, an American women's professional basketball team. The Shock attempted to return to the WNBA Finals for the third consecutive year. They won the WNBA Finals for the third time in franchise history. During the finals, Katie Smith averaged a team high 21.7 points per game to be named WNBA Finals MVP. Similar to Kevin Garnett with the 2008 Boston Celtics, Taj McWilliams-Franklin won her first championship after 10 years in the league. Offseason The following player was lost in the Atlanta Dream expansion draft: Katie Feenstra WNBA Draft Transactions September 4: The Shock signed Ashley Shields. August 19: The Shock signed Ashley Shields to a seven-day contract. August 12: The Shock traded Tasha Humphrey, Eshaya Murphy and a second-round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft to the Washington Mystics for Taj McWilliams-Franklin. August 8: The Shock waived Stacey Lovelace. July 26: The Shock signed Kelly Schumacher. July 25: The Shock waived Nancy Lieberman. July 24: The Shock signed Nancy Lieberman to a seven-day contract. July 11: The Shock signed Stacey Lovelace. June 27: The Shock waived Chrissy Givens. June 22: The Shock traded LaToya Thomas to the Minnesota Lynx for Eshaya Murphy. June 18: The Shock waived Wanisha Smith and signed Chrissy Givens. May 15: The Shock waived Michelle Campbell and Wanisha Smith. May 8: The Shock signed Wanisha Smith to a training camp contract. May 7: The Shock signed free agent Sheri Sam. May 5: The Shock waived Valeriya Berezhynska, Natasha Lacy and Tyresa Smith. April 26: The Shock waived Chakhia Cole, Fantasia Goodwin and Samantha Mahoney. April 18: The Shock waived Nina Norman. April 17: The Shock signed Samantha Mahoney to a training camp contract. April 16: The Shock signed Chakhia Cole to a training camp contract. March 31: The Shock signed Elaine Powell to a training camp contract. March 10: The Shock re-signed free agents Cheryl Ford, Deanna Nolan and Katie Smith. March 4: The Shock signed Tyresa Smith and Michelle Campbell to training camp contracts. February 29: The Shock signed Nina Norman to a training camp contract. February 28: The Shock re-signed free agent Plenette Pierson and signed Chrissy Givens to a training camp contract. February 19: The Shock traded Swin Cash to the Seattle Storm in exchange for the 4th pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft. February 6: The Shock traded Ivory Latta to