A new WNBA season tips off on Friday, May 8, as the league celebrates its 30th season and welcomes two expansion teams in the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo.<\/p>\n
After a new collective bargaining agreement was reached<\/a>, a two-team expansion draft<\/a>, a whirlwind free agency period<\/a> and WNBA prospect draft <\/a>that at points were happening at the same time, the dust has settled for now.<\/p>\n With 12-player rosters bring finalized on Thursday, now is the time to assess what each team has assembled and how things might shake out this season. Which teams have set themselves up for success in 2026 and which teams will have a lot to prove?<\/p>\n Our WNBA experts Jackie Powell and Cole Huff have split up each of the league\u2019s teams, including the two new expansion franchises, and explored a big picture question for each in alphabetical order. What could define the fate of each franchise heading into the 2026 WNBA season? That\u2019s what we aim to explore below.<\/p>\n RELATED: WNBA balancing growth and legacy in 30th season <\/a><\/p>\n Atlanta Dream: How much of a leap will Angel Reese take playing for Karl Smesko? <\/p>\n To win in the WNBA, teams need versatile bigs that can balance out perimeter shooting and anchor defenses. The Dream always had the shooting in Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray, but have struggled to find a versatile big to allow those perimeter players more space. Which brings us to Reese, who during her second and final year in Chicago emerged as a point forward in addition to being a double-double machine.<\/p>\n The glaring issues for Reese when she played for the Sky were her efficiency and field goal percentage. She averaged<\/a> just 42 percent from the field in two seasons despite most of her shots coming in the restricted area. Also, her lack of shooting prowess from beyond the arc doesn\u2019t help to achieve advantageous spacing. Will playing in head coach Karl Smesko\u2019s system, in addition to extra focus on refining her shot, move Reese into a position where she\u2019s closer to the level of an A\u2019ja Wilson or Breanna Stewart? Smesko\u2019s work with the Dream\u2019s Naz Hillmon helped earn her not only Sixth Player of the Year in 2025, but turned her into a reliable stretch big. \u2013 Jackie Powell<\/p>\n SCHEDULE: Check out the full WNBA on NBC, Peacock slate of games<\/a><\/p>\n Chicago Sky: What will Natasha Cloud and Skylar Diggins\u2019 on-court fit look like?<\/p>\n After a long and uncertain saga<\/a> surrounding point guard Natasha Cloud, she\u2019s finally been signed to a WNBA team, but it\u2019s not exactly clear how her skills and those of her teammates on the Sky will complement each other. Cloud joins a roster with two other pass-first point guards in Skylar Diggins and Courtney Vandersloot. Before Cloud was signed, there were questions about how Vandersloot and Diggins \u2014 two guards whose career average shooting from three are both below 35 percent \u2014 could play together in a starting backcourt.<\/p>\n During training camp Vandersloot alluded<\/a> to the idea that she and Diggins would share the floor for presumably starters\u2019 minutes. And while Vandersloot won\u2019t start the season on time due to continued rehab from her torn ACL, does this mean Cloud just slides right into her spot? Cloud is just like Vandersloot and Diggins \u2014 she, too, has a career three-point average below 35 percent at 31.3.<\/p>\n This doesn\u2019t solve the Sky\u2019s problem when it comes to spacing and off-ball play in their backcourt. Unless both Cloud and Diggins buy into cutting off the basketball, or one of them agrees to come off the bench, it\u2019s hard to see these pieces coming together smoothly. \u2013 Jackie Powell<\/p>\n <\/p>\n WNBA rejoins the legendary women of NBC<\/p>\n As the WNBA gears up to return to NBC and Peacock beginning May 17, Aces’ A\u2019ja Wilson, Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu and Wings’ Paige Bueckers get a “first day of work” tour from SNL’s Chloe Fineman.<\/p>\n Connecticut Sun: What is the Sun\u2019s plan for Hailey Van Lith? <\/p>\n To make room for Natasha Cloud, Chicago had to waive their 2025 No. 11 overall pick Hailey Van Lith. And just a couple of days later, the Sun announced that they picked the second-year player up off waivers.<\/p>\n When dissecting the Sun\u2019s roster, there is a surplus of switchable wings that can play minutes at the one, the two, and all the way to the four. But these wings aren\u2019t necessarily shot-creating specialists. These players can mostly shoot, pass and defend. The Sun\u2019s offensive creators prior to bringing over Van Lith came in the frontcourt from Brittney Griner, Annesah Morrow, and Aaliyah Edwards. Is the idea that Van Lith balances out where the Sun can create some offense from?<\/p>\n That\u2019s how I rationalize it. But also this could be more about the franchise taking a flyer on as many young players as it can so it can figure out who they want coming with them when they move to Houston next season. \u2013 Cole Huff<\/p>\n Dallas Wings: Will the Wings deploy a three-guard starting lineup?<\/p>\n Despite not seeing the Wings at full strength during the preseason, there\u2019s a belief that the 2026 first-overall pick Azzi Fudd will likely join Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers in Dallas\u2019 opening unit to begin the season. A three-guard lineup isn\u2019t necessarily unheard of in the W. During their back-to-back championship runs, the Aces reached the mountaintop with Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, and Kelsey Plum starting together. Even more recently, Atlanta had one of the WNBA\u2019s best offenses and defenses a season ago while often starting games with a backcourt of Jordin Canada, Rhyne Howard, and Allisha Gray. Having multiple facilitators and shot creators on the floor at one time theoretically unlocks offenses to play a more versatile brand, one that forces defenses to react to and defend several actions within a possession, something the Wings could be looking to explore with their potential three-guard starting unit.<\/p>\n The distribution of workload and minutes could pose a challenge for first-year head coach Jose Fernandez, albeit a welcome one. Regardless, Dallas will ultimately have plenty of talent at its disposal, especially following a string of high-quality free-agent acquisitions. Whether it was taking Jessica Shepard and Alanna Smith from the Lynx to add to their frontcourt or adding veteran bench depth in Odyssey Sims and Alysha Clark, Fernandez will have a variety of cards to pull from his deck depending on the situation. Dallas should be vastly improved this season with the three-guard trio potentially headlining the success. \u2013 Cole Huff<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Are the Wings a top contender for 2026 WNBA title?<\/p>\n Trysta Krick breaks down which five WNBA teams are her top contenders for a 2026 season title, including Aces’ MVP A’ja Wilson, coaching changes for the NY Liberty and Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever.<\/p>\n Golden State Valkyries: Will the Valkyries continue the momentum from the inaugural season?<\/p>\n History has traditionally not been kind to expansion teams. Regardless of what would later become \u2014 specifically, the Minnesota Lynx, Detroit Shock, and Seattle Storm, all of which won multiple WNBA championships \u2014 their inaugural seasons did not yield great success. In fact, no expansion team had ever made the playoffs in Year 1; that, of course, was until head coach Natalie Nakase led the Golden State Valkyries to the postseason last year.<\/p>\n Year One success doesn\u2019t, however, guarantee Year Two success, and the Valkyries know that. Headlined by 2025 Most Improved Player Award winner Veronica Burton, Golden State brought back its entire starting five from the season-ending playoff loss to the Minnesota Lynx, retained their lone 2025 WNBA All-star, Kayla Thornton, and added veterans Kiah Stokes and Gabby Williams in free agency, with Williams being one of the premier defensive wings the league has to offer. Their continuity, combined with offseason additions, projects a clear talent upgrade. Now, they\u2019ll need to put all the pieces together and build off what was an impressive first year for the franchise. \u2013 Cole Huff<\/p>\n Indiana Fever: How will the Fever address their defense in the backcourt?<\/p>\n There has been a ton of hoopla when it comes to the idea of the Fever wanting to get Caitlin Clark minutes off the ball. The reason for it is two-fold. One reason is what head coach Stephanie White explained. \u201cIt\u2019s just a way to help her load management,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a way to help alleviate some of the extra stuff that\u2019s put on her shoulders throughout the course of a game.\u201d<\/p>\n But the other reason is because the Fever are sacrificing defensively when both Clark and Kelsey Mitchell share the backcourt. There is a theory that by having Aliyah Boston protecting the rim, some of these troubles will be alleviated. But as we saw with the New York Liberty in both 2023 and 2024, it\u2019s difficult to contend when two guards on the floor struggle consistently to defend the basketball.<\/p>\n New additions rookie Raven Johnson and Ty Harris both defend exceptionally. The question will be how exactly do these permutations that feature Clark, Mitchell, Harris and Johnson make sure that the Fever aren\u2019t sacrificing too much on either end of the floor. Is this the case of Mitchell and Clark starting games together but not finishing them together? It\u2019s going to be really tough for White to navigate. \u2013 Jackie Powell<\/p>\n Las Vegas Aces: Can this Aces core repeat again?<\/p>\n We all know the faces at this point. The A\u2019ja Wilson-Chelsea Gray-Jackie Young trio is one that\u2019s been intact for five seasons already, with head coach Becky Hammon at the helm for four. Together, they\u2019re proven winners and some of the highest regarded in their profession, namely Wilson, a four-time league MVP, and Hammon, with three WNBA championships in four years as a head coach. Throw in the fact that the key complementary pieces, NaLyssa Smith, Dana Evans, Jewell Loyd, Kierstan Bell, and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus are back, and you get a veteran squad that has the chance of building off a uniquely hot final two-and-a-half months of the season.<\/p>\n But with contenders such as the New York Liberty and Atlanta Dream seemingly improving their rosters this offseason in hopes of dethroning the champs, can these Aces continue to play like the post-All-Star Break team of 2025 rather than the one that went .500 and struggled in the lead-up? Perhaps the added depth of Chennedy Carter, Stephanie Talbot, and Brianna Turner makes the difference on a game-by-game basis. \u2013 Cole Huff<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Evaluating 2026 WNBA MVP betting market<\/p>\n Trysta Krick has her eye on a dark horse candidate to come away with the 2026 WNBA MVP award.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Sparks: Will the Sparks end their playoff drought?<\/p>\n As one of the five active franchises with multiple WNBA championships, simply making the playoffs should be the bare minimum for the Sparks, especially when considering four of their projected starters have each won a WNBA championship and combine for six altogether. Yet, the reality is Los Angeles hasn\u2019t made the playoffs since the 2020 season \u2014 at that time, Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby were part of a young and unproven Las Vegas Aces team, Ariel Atkins was in just her second WNBA season, and Nneka Ogwumike was nearing the latter part of her first tenure with the Sparks. Today, the Plum-Hamby duo has become one of the most respected in the league, the now-veteran Atkins has a chance to compete on a contending team for the first time in years, and Ogwumike is back for her second stint in hopes of bringing a title back to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n The departure of Rickea Jackson this offseason via trade leaves Rae Burrell and Cameron Brink as the only two projected rotation players with fewer than 100 games of WNBA experience. Clearly in win-now mode, can this veteran group of players get back to the playoffs and, even better, make some noise in the postseason? \u2013 Cole Huff<\/p>\n Minnesota Lynx: Can this Lynx team hold down the fort until Napheesa returns?<\/p>\n There were plenty of obstacles for the Lynx to maneuver en route to their league-best 34-10 record during the 2025 season. One of the most notable was the need to win games without their MVP candidate, Napheesa Collier, who missed 11 games altogether. They did exactly that, tallying more victories than defeats during her absence, including a notable 5-2 late-season stretch a few weeks before the start of the postseason.<\/p>\n But that was last season; a season in which a group of veterans, with continuity, rallied together behind the elite coaching of Cheryl Reeve to form the WNBA\u2019s best overall record. However, that core of reliable veterans is gone; the Lynx are a new squad entering 2026. Jessica Shepard, Bridget Carleton, Alanna Smith, Natisha Hiedeman, and DiJonai Carrington \u2014 five of Minnesota\u2019s top-8 minutes-per-game leaders \u2014 are all on new teams. And with Collier out of action until at least early June in her recovery from offseason ankle surgery<\/a>, what is a realistic expectation for the suddenly unfamiliar Lynx? They\u2019ll have to dig deep, but if there\u2019s any coach who can accept the challenge and rise to the occasion, it\u2019s Cheryl Reeve, arguably the greatest coach the WNBA has seen. \u2013 Cole Huff<\/p>\n New York Liberty: Will the Liberty be able to fully unlock their depth?<\/p>\n Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb built another Noah\u2019s Ark <\/a>type roster where the depth on paper functions as safety valves for when injury strikes. New head coach Chris DeMarco will be tested early about how he uses and unlocks his roster\u2019s depth especially since Sabrina Ionescu will miss at least two weeks after rolling her left ankle in a preseason game against the Connecticut Sun.<\/p>\n Marine Johann\u00e8s, who wasn\u2019t always trusted to do more than shoot by former head coach Sandy Brondello, will be thrown into the fire a bit more alongside new rookie French point guard Pauline Astier, who proved her skill and WNBA-readiness in the Liberty\u2019s final preseason game scoring 12 points and dishing out four assists in 22 minutes off the bench.<\/p>\n Also, when Leonie Fiebich and Raquel Carrera come to the WNBA after playing their overseas seasons in Spain, it will be up to DeMarco to figure out how those two pieces fit. And then there\u2019s 6\u201911\u201d Han Xu who looks like a different player since she was last in the WNBA three seasons ago. \u201cSo we want to play eight, 9,10, 11 players,\u201d DeMarco said when asked about the bench. \u201cI do find that if you have weapons off the bench like that alleviates some of that pressure for your starters, you want to get to that early.\u201d \u2013 Jackie Powell<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Aces trail only Liberty in WNBA title odds<\/p>\n Vaughn Dalzell and Trysta Krick evaluate if the favorites are the right play when betting the 2026 WNBA championship.<\/p>\n Phoenix Mercury: How will the Mercury replace Satou Sabally\u2019s production?<\/p>\n The 2025 Mercury, essentially a team of entirely new players, overcame injuries, saw several rookies emerge into important rotation players, and rode the sensation of an expectation-exceeding regular season into a Finals appearance. And while they were one of the league\u2019s best stories, some of their success could have been forecasted, given their stout Big 3 of Alyssa Thomas, Kahleah Copper, and Satou Sabally. The latter now calls Brooklyn home, becoming the latest Sabally to represent the Liberty. So the question is: how do the Mercury fill the void of a departed leading scorer who played a massive role in helping the team reach the Finals?<\/p>\n They didn\u2019t add any marquee scorers during the free agency period and didn\u2019t hold the draft position to select an expected difference-maker in terms of scoring. Perhaps DeWanna Bonner steps into a larger role and turns back the clock a bit after an up-and-down 2025 campaign. Or maybe Monique Akoa Makani takes a leap in development during Year 2. Nonetheless, how far the Mercury go likely depends on the level of play Thomas displays. And based on what she, an MVP finalist, proved a season ago, there\u2019s no reason to believe she isn\u2019t capable of carrying Phoenix once more. \u2013 Cole Huff<\/p>\n Portland Fire: Can the Fire become the latest expansion team to have Year 1 success?<\/p>\n As mentioned previously, the Valkyries bucked the trend last season by becoming the first-ever expansion team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season. While their playoff stay was brief, the accomplishment alone has made Year 1 success less of an afterthought than before. It\u2019s now Portland\u2019s turn to try its luck \u2014 technically, its second turn.<\/p>\n The Fire\u2019s original WNBA debut came in 2000, where they tallied a 10-22 record and a seventh-place finish in the Western Conference. Their time as a franchise was short-lived as they folded after just three seasons. But they have a chance at redemption 24 years later. It\u2019s unclear which players will earn the heaviest workload or emerge as the franchise\u2019s faces in Year One \u2014 my guesses: Bridget Carleton and Carla Leite. We\u2019ll soon find out. Regardless, the Fire will have big shoes to fill if trying to chase the success of the Valkyries. \u2013 Cole Huff<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fudd, Miles have good case as WNBA ROY bets<\/p>\n Vaughn Dalzell and Trysta Krick explain the players to consider in the WNBA Rookie of the Year race.<\/p>\n Seattle Storm: What does the Storm\u2019s frontcourt rotation look like?<\/p>\n The Storm paid their veteran, Ezi Magbegor, this offseason. They drafted Dominique Molonga last season with the second-overall pick. And one year later, Seattle selected Awa Fam with the third pick in the WNBA Draft. That\u2019s likely some iteration of 6\u20194\u201d, 6\u20196\u201d, and 6\u20194\u201d on the floor at all times. We saw a similar situation play out a season ago in the Pacific Northwest with the aforementioned Malonga, Magbegor, and a slightly shorter 6\u20192\u201d Nneka Ogwumike.<\/p>\n Then-head coach Noelle Quinn had the nightly task of managing the three frontcourt players\u2019 minutes, ultimately opting to start the veterans in all 44 regular-season games while keeping the rookie Malonga firmly as the first center off the bench. Should we expect a similar approach in 2026 under first-year head coach Sonia Raman, bringing Fam along slowly off the bench to learn behind the more experienced bigs? It\u2019ll be interesting to see how the minutes in that frontcourt rotation unfold throughout the season. \u2013 Cole Huff<\/p>\n Toronto Tempo: Will Sandy Brondello continue her playoff streak? <\/p>\n Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello has never missed the playoffs in her 13 seasons as a head coach in the WNBA. It says a lot about her: 1) She knows how to win games regardless of the roster she\u2019s given and 2) She understands expectations. When I asked her about what the goals for the team are, she was honest about the Tempo\u2019s situation as an expansion team. \u201cI think we\u2019re realistic with our expectations, but knowing, why not? If we can push to a playoff spot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n I compare this Tempo team to the 2022 New York Liberty which was a team that had some star power but wasn\u2019t quite a roster yet built to contend. That Brondello-coached team needed to prove it was trending upward so that the most talented players in the league would be drawn to play there. That\u2019s Toronto\u2019s goal in year one. And they will try to do so with a dynamic backcourt that features Marina Mabrey, Brittney Sykes, and No. 6 overall draft pick KiKi Rice. \u2013 Jackie Powell<\/p>\n Washington Mystics: How many three-pointers will the Mystics take and make? <\/p>\n I could be beating a dead horse<\/a> at this point, but where are the Mystics going to find space on the floor? How are they going to keep up with the rest of the league as the WNBA is well into its own chapter of basketball defined by pace and space? To be clear, the pace I see for the young Mystics, especially since they are once again the youngest team in the league<\/a> and the second-youngest team in WNBA history. But the space part of the equation is a whole different story.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s going to be an incremental boost there that I think that people may be underestimating,\u201d head coach Sydney Johnson said about his team\u2019s three-point shooting this season. \u201cAnd at the end of the day, we\u2019re, we\u2019re kind of a key-in-three team.\u201d<\/p>\n That focus on driving and kicking might get the Mystics taking more threes this season than last, but I still continue to question how a roster with no more than three players who have shot over 35 percent from deep are going to be a well-spaced team. \u2013 Jackie Powell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new WNBA season tips off on Friday, May 8, as the league celebrates its 30th season and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-629528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}