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Minnesota Lynx guard Jaylyn Sherrod. Photo credit: Chris Poss
I explained some new rules that affect roster contruction in Part One of this series yesterday, where you can also find details of the training camp situations for the first five teams (alphabetically) in the WNBA.
For today, we’ll jump straight to the breakdowns of the next five teams. Again, players in bold are those I think are pretty much locks to make the roster, italics indicate protected salary (which doesn’t always mean the player is a lock, but usually does). Players in brackets are those already signed to developmental contracts, who are therefore unlikely to be on the main roster on opening day.
PG: Caitlin Clark/Tyasha Harris/Raven Johnson/Megan McConnell
SG: Kelsey Mitchell/Shatori Walker-Kimbrough/Jessica Timmons/Kayana Traylor
SF: Sophie Cunningham/Lexie Hull/[Justine Pissott]
PF: Monique Billings/Myisha Hines-Allen/Makayla Timpson
C: Aliyah Boston/Damiris Dantas
Honestly, I’ve been incredibly conservative with my bolded players above. This might be one of the most finished-looking rosters around the league heading into camp. Add Walker-Kimbrough, Timpson and Dantas to the nine I already have in bold and you have a 12-player roster that’s all of $4,521 under the salary cap. If that’s not where they end up for opening day, it’ll be a surprise.
The Fever drafted Pissott this year but she’s in brackets above because they signed her to a development contract rather than her rookie-scale contract. So they clearly expect her to fill one of their development spots heading into the season (which does not take up one of the main 12 roster spots, and does not count on the cap). The rest of the players attending camp will largely just be hoping to make an impression for the future, or maybe earn the Fever’s other developmental player spot.
PG: Chelsea Gray/Dana Evans
SG: Jackie Young/Jewell Loyd/Chennedy Carter/Jordan Obi
SF: Kierstan Bell/Stephanie Talbot
PF: NaLyssa Smith/Cheyenne Parker-Tyus/Janiah Barker
C: A’ja Wilson/Brianna Turner
There are a lot of people in bold above because I’m following Las Vegas’s lead. Rather than taking the approach of most teams and inviting a full collection of players to training camp, often in many cases taking the opportunity to go over the 18-player limit if some are arriving late, the Aces named only 13 players for their training camp. So unless they add other people along the way, all but one of them is going to make the opening day roster.
So I have all 11 players with WNBA experience making the roster, including Dana Evans who’s “out indefinitely” with a left leg injury, and Chennedy Carter who no one in the league wanted to touch last season despite her obvious on-court talents. That leaves a straight battle between their two 2026 draft picks Janiah Barker and Jordan Obi for the final spot, or possibly for someone who isn’t yet on the roster. The Aces once again did some careful maths when making their signings, but they made sure that the 12th spot can go to someone on either minimum salary, which now means someone on any minimum salary due to that new rule that reduces the cap hit for all veterans to $277,500. Even if Obi or Barker stick for opening day, don’t be surprised if the Aces find some other use for it later on in the season.
PG: Erica Wheeler/Julie Vanloo/Sevgi Uzun
SG: Kelsey Plum/Ta’Niya Latson/Chance Gray
SF: Ariel Atkins/Rae Burrell/Jihyun Park
PF: Dearica Hamby/Sania Feagin/Amelia Hassett/[Laura Ziegler]
C: Nneka Ogwumike/Cameron Brink/Emma Cannon
Los Angeles made some headline-grabbing moves in the signing period, like talking Ogwumike into a return and the trade for Atkins, but they’ve also lost several important pieces. Julie Allemand, Rickea Jackson and Azurá Stevens are all gone, and as a result this team does not look deep. The side effect of that is that there are a lot of spots to be fought over, even in a training camp where they only invited 15 people to battle for them.
Everyone here has a shot. Lots of people thought Latson would go higher than the No. 20 pick she fell to in order to end up with the Sparks, so she’ll definitely be given every chance. Wheeler, Vanloo and Uzun are three veteran point guards who are all also capable playing off the ball, making them comfortable fits next to Kelsey Plum, so all three may well stick.
Ziegler was signed to a development contract, so that is presumably the plan for her to start the season. In theory, if she shows out in camp they could upgrade her essentially immediately, but having set a path for her they’ll probably stick with it.
PG: Olivia Miles/Jaylyn Sherrod
SG: Courtney Williams/Eliška Hamzová/Reigan Richardson/Lani White/Amaya Battle
SF: Kayla McBride/Antonia Delaere/Anastasiia Olairi Kosu/Aubrey Griffin
PF: Napheesa Collier/Nia Coffey/Liatu King/Saylor Poffenbarger/Jade Masogayo
C: Dorka Juhász/Natasha Howard/Emma Čechová/Sakima Walker/Ra Shaya Kyle
After being raided for parts by a variety of other teams around the WNBA, the Lynx have a lot more spots available to be fought for in camp than they might’ve wanted. I have their seven players with protected money in bold above and no one else, because whoever impresses Cheryl Reeve over the next couple of weeks has the chance to stick around.
Williams has obviously spent recent years at point guard, so there’s no particular positional need to keep Sherrod as the backup to Miles as it’s listed above, although Sherrod’s been a nice little sparkplug option the last couple of years in New York and Minnesota. Delaere is a regular starter for the Belgian national team alongside Meesseman, Allemand, Vanloo et al, so she has a chance to make an impact. They’ll also be hoping to continue seeing development from Kosu, who they stuck with throughout her rookie season last year and only turned 21 today.
Inside, expect Čechová to be given every chance to stick. Also only 21, she might struggle with WNBA physicality to begin with but she’s one of the bright young prospects on the Czechia national team, 6’5” and skilled. Reeve is going to have to trust some new pieces this year, especially as both Collier and Juhász are currently dealing with injuries. This is an important camp for the Lynx to find some people they think can contribute, not just build chemistry within their core as has been the case in the last couple of years.
From a cash perspective they’re surprisingly close to the cap, and do need to keep at least one player on the $270,000 minimum in order to fit under. However, all but three of their current minimum-salary players meet that requirement, so if the 12-player roster comes from their current group, they’ll automatically fit. It only gets a little complicated if they start adding more veteran players from outside.
Coming tomorrow, when we might have more info to help with the details.
PG: Monique Akoa Makani/Kiana Williams
SG: Sami Whitcomb/Lee Seul Kang/Jovana Nogic/Aisha Sheppard/Lauren Jensen/Yarden Garzon/Kara Dunn/Shay Ciezki
SF: Kahleah Copper/DeWanna Bonner/Noémie Brochant/Jaime Nared/Morgan Maly/Sha Carter
PF: Alyssa Thomas/Valériane Ayayi/Kathryn Westbeld/Maggie Doogan
C: Natasha Mack/Kyara Linskens/Jillian Alleyne/Ashten Prechtel
Just like last year, Phoenix have packed their camp with a whole lot of people, several of whom will be complete unknown quantities to many US basketball fans. However, we saw how well it worked last year when you trust your scouting and coaching, and have Alyssa Thomas to make everyone look good. So who’s to say it won’t work again?
I have seven in bold above, leaving five spots available. Westbeld will probably make it after a useful season in Phoenix last year. Lee Seul Kang is an absolute gunner who took a slightly absurd 65 threes in five games at the recent World Cup qualifiers (hitting over 41% of them), so feels like a good fit for Phoenix. Brochant, Nogic and Linskens all have plenty of experience in Europe and could help as well. But after last season when Westbeld, Akoa Makani and Lexi Held all played useful roles at different times, I’m prepared for the Mercury to surprise me with who might make the team and go on to contribute.
With only three players on the roster making over $500,000, they’re also going to have plenty of cap space left over regardless of who they keep. So don’t be surprised if the Mercury have another move or two to make later in the season, whether picking up a veteran free agent or making a trade.
That’s it for today. Remember, you can go back to Part One here, and come back tomorrow for the remaining teams in Part Three.
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