ATLANTA — When the Atlanta Dream made the WNBA’s most interesting offseason trade, the only guarantee was a scene like Sunday afternoon with hundreds of kids (and some adults) walking the concourses of State Farm Arena in Angel Reese’s No. 5 jersey, every one of the 17,000-plus seats filled and a national television audience drawn to the magnetic power of a true mainstream star.

But the thing about Reese, who spent her first two professional seasons with one of the league’s worst franchises in Chicago, is that the basketball part is still a mystery box. There are stretches of incredible defense and infectious energy, followed by mindless fouls and egregious mistakes, missed layups that are hard to fathom combined with a gravity on court that should ultimately benefit teammates who are far more talented than what she had in Chicago.

Reese is both a marketing machine and an agent of basketball chaos. The question is whether she will now, with a fresh start in Atlanta, also become one of the WNBA’s best players.

“What I see every day is somebody that’s working really hard in practice, who wants to learn, who’s asking for extra film,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “She has the athletic tools to be one of the best players and she’s motivated to become one of the best players, so I think through the course of the season you’ll get to see her be more comfortable in our style of play. I just expect her to get better game by game by game because that’s the way she’s approaching them in practice.”

Reese’s home debut Sunday showed both sides of that coin. In Atlanta’s 85-84 loss to the Las Vegas Aces, who have won three of the last four WNBA titles, Reese was 1-for-8 from the field with eight turnovers in 29 minutes. In moments where she got double-teamed in the post and threw up a shot with no hope of going in, or committed a traveling violation trying to handle the ball on the perimeter, it looked ghastly. But in other moments, where her activity around the rim led to scoring opportunities for teammates or her defense truly bothered four-time league MVP A’ja Wilson, you could see the makings of a player with the potential to tilt the league’s balance of power if everything goes right.

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“You come to a new team, you’ve got to adjust and we’ve also got to adjust to her play style,” guard Te-Hina Paopao said. “We’ve still got to figure out the kinks, but once we get to mid-season and the playoffs start, we’re going to look like a different team.”

For a team like Las Vegas, Sunday’s result wasn’t going to change the dynamic regardless of the outcome. With Wilson carrying the Aces to three WNBA titles in the last four years, the regular season is merely a wind-up to the ultimate goal.

Atlanta, by contrast, has never won a WNBA title, hasn’t won a postseason series since 2016 and lost in the first round of the playoffs each of the last three years.

With two of the WNBA’s best guards in Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray, it has been clear that for Atlanta to compete at the very top level — especially in a league where Wilson is far and away the best player — the biggest difference is post presence.

Last year, the Dream tried to elevate their post play by signing Brittney Griner to a 1-year deal. It didn’t work. So in response, they sent a pair of future first-round picks to Chicago for Reese and drafted Madina Okot from South Carolina, building a frontcourt with the size and tenacity to theoretically provide some resistance.

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It’s too early in the WNBA season to say that Sunday’s game was proof of concept, but Wilson had to work hard against that pair for her 20 points. And while Okot was on the floor for much of Atlanta’s fourth-quarter comeback from 17 down with fewer than eight minutes left, Reese made a couple spectacular plays down the stretch that gave the Dream a chance to win.

With 2:15 left, Reese corralled an offensive rebound, pivoted away from the rim and found Paopao in the corner for a 3-pointer that closed the gap to 81-80. Then, isolated on Wilson near the free-throw line with 41 seconds left, Reese’s defense was so solid that Jordin Canada came in undetected to steal the ball and convert a transition layup for the lead.

Though Chelsea Gray’s 12-footer for Las Vegas with 3.6 seconds left won the game, this was the WNBA at its best — and Reese more than lived up to her billing down the stretch as a key defensive factor who erased the best player in the league.

“Angel was playing great defense down the stretch for us,” Smesko said. “It’s just disappointing because when you have a comeback like that you’d like to finish it off.”

Because she’s a model, a podcaster and a cultural phenomenon with an incomplete skillset, Reese is always going to be a lightning rod. Her critics will point to the occasional sloppy turnover or the point-blank shot she misses. Her army of online supporters will focus on leading the league in rebounds her first two WNBA seasons. In many ways, neither side has it quite right. The question is whether Reese can impact winning, something she obviously did as a college player and national champion at LSU but never had a chance to do in Chicago.

Now in Atlanta, Reese is going to electrify the city and bring a new level of attention to the WNBA. She’ll also have a chance to show the basketball world she’s more than just a big name.

“Unfortunately we didn’t win the game tonight, but to have her effect and her big motion, it’s good for us and good for her as well,” Paopao said. “We trust her, we believe in her, and I hope she keeps having fun with us.”