On May 16th, the WNBA kicks off its 29th season. Opening day features three games: Brittney Sykes and the Mystics play host to Brittney Griner and the Atlanta Dream, the Dallas Wings test out their new lineup against the reigning Commissioner’s Cup Champions, the Minnesota Lynx, and, in the nightcap, the first-ever regular season game for the Golden State Valkyries, as they welcome future in-state rivals, the Los Angeles Sparks, to the Bay Area.

I honestly can’t wait. I want to see what Karl Smesko’s offense looks like and how BG figures into his plans. I can’t wait for Minnesota to put Dallas through their paces and give us our first real assessment on where the Wings are in terms of development. I’m looking forward to hearing the roar of the Chase Center crowd. Golden State’s pre-season games have been electric, I can only imagine what tomorrow will be like.

(I am not, however, looking forward to another game where the Valkyries shoot 43 threes. If I wanted to see that, I’d watch the MNBA playoffs.)

But that’s tomorrow. Today, I’m just nervous. Ahead of the start of the WNBA season, teams have to finalize their rosters by cutting down their training camp rosters to 11 or 12 players, so I’ll spend the day refreshing the WNBA transactions page for the latest information. Cuts at this stage are hardly ever about talent; instead it’s just the fun of the pre-season giving way to the serious reality of the business of basketball. We’ve already seen some cuts — Bree Hall in Indiana, Serena Sundell in Seattle, Shyanne Sellers in Atlanta, Laeticia Amihere in Golden State, and Deja Kelly in Las Vegas — and more will come today; it never gets easier to see players have their dreams deferred. I’ll keep reminding myself that this is a pause not a period for those players who get cut: maybe they’ll get picked up by another WNBA team or maybe they’ll get a temporary contract during the season or maybe they’ll play overseas for a year and contend for a spot in Portland or Toronto next season. I’ll keep reminding myself but, still, today’s going to hurt.

As I await the fate of my favorite college players, I’ve got the second half of our WNBA Preview. Yesterday, we looked at the teams in the Eastern Conference and today we head out West to check the landscape of some drastically different rosters. I’m breaking down offenses, I’m looking at holes in coaching strategies and, of course, I’m answering the most important question of the WNBA season: who all’s gay here? (WAGH). Plus, if you want to be able to sound like you know what you’re talking about without going deep into the basketball nerdery, check out TL;DR.

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Dallas Wings

2024 Season: 9-31
WAGH: Dijonai Carrington, Teaira McCowan, Arike Ogunbowale, Nalyssa Smith and Assistant Head Coach Nola Henry

When the Dallas Wings won the 2025 draft lottery, their star Arike Ogunbowale was elated; she tweeted, “I just fell to my knees. THANK YOU LORD!” Her reaction was understandable: with her teammates hampered by injuries, Ogunbowale had been forced to do it all in Dallas. She’s was the team’s #1 scoring option, the team’s top perimeter defender, the Wings’ floor general and despite her best effort, the team lost, a lot. But now, armed with the #1 draft pick — the Wings’ first since 2021 — Ogunbowale would finally get the help she needed.

But the Wings’ front office wasn’t content to just add this #1 pick to a broken infrastructure: they cleaned house. They got a new General Manager, veteran WNBA head coach, Curt Miller, and new head coach, Chris Koclanes, a former assistant at the University of Southern California and the Connecticut Sun. They dealt most of their line-up, returning only three players (Ogunbowale, Teaira McCowan and Maddy Siegrist) from last year’s roster. They reloaded in free agency, picking up Dijonai Carrington and Ty Harris from Connecticut, NaLyssa Smith from Indiana, Myisha Hines-Allen from Minnesota, and Kiki Herbert-Harrigan from Phoenix. It was an entire new squad…and then, in April, they added more youth, led by the #1 pick, Paige Bueckers.

Drafts are usually a trade-off between what a team needs and the best available player but in Bueckers, the Wings got both. Dallas has desperately needed a consistent point guard for years and never seemed to make it a priority. Bueckers brings great floor vision and a willingness to share the ball but, if circumstances require it, she’s also capable of getting her own shot. She is, by all accounts, a great teammate and a good communicator and those traits will only help foster the kind of culture Koclanes is looking to build. I do worry a bit about asking Bueckers to do too much too soon; in addition to adjusting to the physicality and speed of the WNBA, she’s coming off what’s surely an exhausting collegiate championship run. Hopefully Koclanes will rotate Bueckers and Harris at the point guard slot to ensure that her legs stay fresh.

Beyond Bueckers, I love the rookies that the Wings have brought in and how they serve as nice compliments to the team’s veteran players. Aziaha James brings the same type of tenacity as Ogunbowale; both have shown the capacity to be microwave scorers, getting buckets in bunches. JJ Quinerly gives you the similar defensive intensity as Carrington, capable of being lockdown defenders on whomever their opponent’s best perimeter player is. I love all these guards and the depth they bring to Dallas.

I’m less enthusiastic about what the Wings have going on in the post. It’s an odd worry to have, given that that the Wings’ former head coach Latricia Trammel used to stack bigs like chips but now the cupboard in Dallas is bare. Part of me understands why Dallas would opt to keep McCowan — how many 6’7″ bigs are out there, after all — but her performances have been inconsistent, particularly against the top teams in the league. One game, McCowan might give Dallas a double-double, the next she might only collect one rebound. Hopefully, a steady rotation of help from Siegrist, Smith, and Hines-Allen will help McCowan establish some consistency.

TL;DR: The Dallas Wings’ moves during free agency and during the WNBA draft put them solidly back in the playoff race. But in order to take full advantage of Dallas’ backcourt combo of Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers, their front court is going to have to step up.

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Golden State Valkyries

2024 Season: N/A
WAGH: Tiffany Hayes, Kate Martin, Cecilia Zandalasini

Heading into Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals, the Las Vegas Aces were without the services of two of their starters, Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes, so Becky Hammon — aided by future Valkyries head coach, Natalie Nakase — is forced to turn to her bench. She tapped Sydney Colson to sub in and lock down the Liberty’s perimeter players. Colson was great: she clamped down on defense and, at one point, delivered a jaw-dropping behind-the-back pass to a cutting Alysha Clark. She helped the Aces get the W and became the unlikely hero of that championship run. Afterwards, people are stunned that Colson was capable of that, everyone assumed she was just on the team for vibes. But then The Face of the League stepped up and reminded fans: just because she isn’t playing doesn’t mean she can’t play. She could always ball, it’s just that she’s playing behind players that are future Hall of Famers.

I mention that because that’s what excites me most about watching inaugural season of the Golden State Valkyries: seeing players who have been stuck behind the starters finally getting a chance to shine. Temi Fagbenle, Tiffany Hayes, and Kayla Thornton have all been strong sixth woman contributors and now they get a chance to move into the starting lineup and showcase what they’re capable of. Those kinds of stories and the sheer excitement in the Bay Area for this team is going to make this Valkyries’ season fun to watch.

That said, I must admit that I’m a little perplexed by Golden State’s roster. When the team was announced, owner Joe Lacob set an ambitious goal: the Valkyries would win a championship in five years. If Golden State has any hopes of accomplishing that, they needed to be active in free agency and they just weren’t. Maybe they’re waiting until the new collective bargaining agreement is formalized to really build through free agency but it feels like a lost year in the five year plan. Even their first draft pick, Justė Jocytė, feels like a loss: she may not come over this season at all, opting instead to stay overseas and focus on EuroBasket. The Valkyries cut all three of their other draft picks, including both leading scorers from their pre-season games, Laeticia Amihere and Migna Toure. It’s non-sensical; granted, the Valkyries aren’t competing for anything other a lottery pick but, still, it’s hard to imagine building a culture without your star draft pick.

TL;DR: In their inaugural season, the Valkyries will focus less on winning and more on building a foundation for a future successful franchise. This summer will be full of historic moments for the WNBA’s new franchise and offer a blueprint for forthcoming franchises in Portland and Toronto.

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Las Vegas Aces

2024 Season:  27-13; Lost in the second round of the playoffs
WAGH: Kierstan Bell, Chelsea Gray, Elizabeth Kitley, Jewell Loyd, Head Coach Becky Hammon

Last year, it felt like everyone’s long-held concerns about the Las Vegas Aces, mine included, finally came to fruition. The impact of years of having a limited bench and forcing their starters to play excessive minutes took its toll. Past coaching decisions prolonged Chelsea Gray‘s recovery from her 2023 injury which shifted responsibilities to Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum, primarily, and it all became too much. Now, did the Aces make the playoffs? Yes. Did the Aces advance to the semifinals? Also, yes, but that’s just what happens when one team has A’ja Wilson — who was playing otherworldly, MVP-level basketball — and the other team doesn’t.

For nearly every other team in the W, the Aces’ season would’ve been an acceptable result but for Las Vegas, who seemed on the verge of a dynasty and who have to take full advantage of Wilson’s prime, it was a sign that change was needed. Their big off-season move was being part of the 3-way trade that sent Kelsey Plum — who’d been part of this team since they were the San Antonio Stars — to Los Angeles and brought Jewell Loyd from Seattle. The team would also lose Kate Martin in the expansion draft and Alysha Clark, Tiffany Hayes, and Sydney Colson in free agency. With the Aces’ already short bench getting even shorter, the team hit the free agent market themselves, bringing in Dana Evans, Tiffany Mitchell, and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (who will miss part of the season due to pregnancy). Add to that some interesting prospects in training camp and, maybe, the Aces have learned their lesson.

Or maybe not. I remain skeptical of the Plum for Loyd swap. To be sure, Loyd is an incredible talent with the ability to stuff a stat sheet but Plum is, by far, the more efficient scorer. Perhaps now that Loyd is no longer her team’s first scoring option, she can get the shots she wants and improve her efficiency. I’m also skeptical that the additions to the bench…actually, let me correct that: I think the biggest impediment to the Aces’ efforts to building a supporting cast is Becky Hammon. She is so overly invested in the core that she’s not giving young talent the opportunity to develop and then she wonders why she can’t depend on her bench when it counts. Just watching her substitution patterns during the preseason — why is A’ja Wilson playing when the Aces are up 20+ — have me doubting that Hammon learned anything from last season.

(You know what would help solve some of these issues? A general manager. You know what the Aces haven’t had since November? A general manager.)

That said, two things really excite me about the Aces this season: first, Chelsea Gray is back in her bag. It took longer than expected but Gray’s performance at Unrivaled, particularly in the playoffs, showed us that the Point Gawd still lives. The Aces are championship contenders when Gray is at her best. And second, of course, is seeing A’ja Wilson do A’ja Wilson things. We’re watching a player make a case for being the GOAT in real time, we should all savor it.

TL;DR: With Jewell Loyd stepping into Las Vegas’ core four, the Aces come into this season looking to recapture past magic. Having Chelsea Gray back at full strength should bolster the Aces’ hopes of being championship contenders but the team’s lack of depth (still!) could come back to bite them.

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Los Angeles Sparks

2024 Season: 8-32
WAGH: Julie Allemand, Emma Cannon, Crystal Dangerfield

For years since losing Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray, the Los Angeles Sparks have been slowly wilting: refusing to accept that they needed to undergo a full rebuild. Instead, the Sparks would just bring in role players who, when combined with All-Stars like Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby, might put the team in playoff contention (spoiler alert: it didn’t work!). But Curt Miller’s arrival in Los Angeles in 2023 seemed to signal that the franchise was finally embracing reality and realizing that they needed to rebuild through the draft. The Sparks began that process last year, securing Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson in the draft. The team’s rebuild was stymied a bit by Brink’s injury but the process was working: Jackson was getting playing time and developing in Miller’s system and the franchise secured the #2 pick in the draft.

Then, seemingly, the Sparks’ front office got impatient and shifted the team back to a “win now” mindset. To that end, they were part of the three-way trade with Las Vegas and Seattle that won them Kelsey Plum and sent the #2 pick and Li Yueru to the Storm. In some ways, the move made sense: the Sparks are without a 2026 first round draft pick so there’s nothing to be gained by not making the playoffs. But, at the same time, passing over a generational talent like Dominique Malonga or even a point guard of the future in Olivia Miles (though she ultimately decided to return to college) was a risky proposition, especially for a player entering her eighth season in the league.

That said, Plum is a walking bucket: she can hit a smooth jumper from the outside or drive to the basket and score in traffic. KP can handle the ball and has great court vision but I think she’s better when she’s playing off ball so I’m anxious to see what she and Julie Allemand look like as a backcourt duo, once Allemand recovers from surgery. Plum used to share the floor with Hamby in Las Vegas — to great effect — so I’m hoping they can recapture some of their past chemistry this season. Those two have to play well and be strong leaders in the locker room, in order for the Sparks to have any chance at the post-season.

Like her counterparts, Karl Smesko and Nate Tibbetts, the Sparks new head coach, Lynne Roberts, prefers an offensive scheme that values the three point shot and layups… and I remain skeptical that it’ll work at this level. It just doesn’t make sense to me to mold professional players to a system, rather than building a system that best utilizes their talents. To be sure, I think there’s a better chance of that scheme being effective in Los Angeles than Atlanta or Phoenix because the Sparks has shooters like Plum and Allemand, rim runners like Hamby, and a big who can space the floor in Azurá Stevens. Even the rookies and newcomers the Sparks acquired in the off-season seem to fit. But what does Roberts do with a player like Jackson who thrives in the mid-range (much like to Kahleah Copper)? How do you work Brink back into the rotation under this system?

TL;DR: It’s playoffs or bust for the Los Angeles Sparks this year and, with the addition of Kelsey Plum, the franchise has a shot of getting there. With the rest of the league improving around them, the window is narrow for the Sparks. Much of the season’s hopes will hang on recapturing the on-court chemistry between Plum and Hamby from their Vegas days and maximizing the efficiency of Lynne Roberts’ offense.

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Minnesota Lynx

2024 Season: 30-10; Lost in the WNBA Finals
WAGH: Natisha Hiedeman, Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams, Head Coach Cheryl Reeve, Assistant Coach Rebecca Brunson

In 2016, the Minnesota Lynx were on the verge of cementing themselves as a WNBA dynasty. The franchise had already won three championships with its hall-of-fame core but now were vying to do the improbable: win back-to-back championships in the WNBA for the first time since the Los Angeles Sparks did it in 2001/2002. The team rolled through the regular season, finishing atop the league standings and earning the overall #1 seed in the playoffs. Behind a dominant performance from Maya Moore, the Lynx would sweep past the Phoenix Mercury in their opening round playoff series and, fittingly perhaps, meet the aforementioned Sparks in the WNBA Finals. The match-up remains, in my view, the best playoff series in WNBA history.

The Sparks stole Game One on Minnesota’s home court — on an Alana Beard buzzer beater, no less — but the Lynx evened things up in Los Angeles, sending the series back to Minneapolis for a decisive Game 5. The lead volleyed back and forth between the two powerhouses and, ultimately, came down to the final seconds. Down one with about six seconds left, the Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike collects back-to-back rebounds and then scores over the out-stretched hand of Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles. The Sparks won, 77-76. After the game, Minnesota Head Coach Cheryl Reeves blasted the series’ officiating, including an earlier shot by Ogwumike that the WNBA would later admit came after the shot clock had expired. Feeling cheated out of a WNBA championship, the Lynx returned the next season with the same group of core players, and avenged their 2016 loss.

I mention all of that because, after getting a title “stolen” from them last season, the Lynx are coming into the 2025 with the same energy of that 2017 squad. It feels like this a team set on vengeance. We’ve gotten a taste of what that looks like already: Napheesa Collier came into Unrivaled with a massive chip on her shoulder following that WNBA Finals loss and she took her frustrations out on the entire roster. Phee has always been a great player — she won Defensive Player of the Year and finished second in last year’s MVP balloting — but her performance in Unrivaled was on a whole new level. If the rest of the Lynx come out with that same energy, Minnesota could certainly find themselves contending for a championship again this year.

But much like that 2017 team, the 2025 Minnesota Lynx return not having made substantial changes to their lineup. But with continuity comes chemistry and the Lynx will start the 2025 with a distinct advantage in that regard. Jessica Shepard returns to the Lynx after a season away from the league and should give Minnesota some post depth after losing Myisha Hines- Allen in free agency and Dorka Juhász opting for a season of rest. Newcomer Karlie Samuelson gives the team more depth on the perimeter and another three point shooting threat to pair alongside Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams.

TL;DR: The Minnesota Lynx return most of their lineup from last year’s run. Can the continuity and chemistry of their lineup help them capture the WNBA championship that eluded them? I’m hardpressed to bet against Napheesa Collier who, at least in Unrivaled, looked like the best player in the world.

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Phoenix Mercury

2024 Season: 19-21
WAGH: Kalani Brown, Kahleah Copper, Natasha Mack, Alexis Prince, Alyssa Thomas, Sevgi Uzun, Sami Whitcomb, and Associate Head Coach Kristi Toliver

I had, to put it mildly, some misgivings about Nate Tibbetts becoming the head coach of the Phoenix Mercury. For me, Tibbetts’ lack of exposure to the women’s game — his coaching experience was limited to the MNBA and G League — was disqualifying but I understood why it wasn’t for the Mercury’s front office. Two of the franchise’s three championships have been won by male coaches (Paul Westhead and Corey Gaines) with no prior coaching experience in the women’s game. They bolstered Tibetts with experienced assistants, some of the best facilities in the league, and a lineup overflowing with talent. To Tibbetts’ credit, the Mercury improved last year, winning 10 more games than they had the previous season.

But it wasn’t enough for the Phoenix front office — they wanted to compete for championships — so they blew up the team. Phoenix took to the free agent market and walked away with two of the most coveted entrants: perennial MVP candidate, Alyssa Thomas, and All-WNBA standout, Satou Sabally. The “win now” mentality came at a cost: the Mercury dealt much of their rotation — breaking some promises in the process — leaving Kahleah Copper as their only returning starter.

It’s hard to bet against an All-Star trio like Copper, Sabally, and Thomas but, if the success of the Liberty and Lynx taught us anything last year, it’s that depth is still a necessity in this league and the Mercury just don’t have it. As with the Aces, I worry about what that short bench means if there’s an injury among the Mercury’s Big Three (being without Copper in the preseason cost them a game to the Valkyries). Plus, though defense has never been a hallmark of Mercury squads — having traded their best perimeter defender, Phoenix is going to struggle against the league’s top backcourts. The Mercury have to hope for big jump from Celeste Taylor or that one of their international guards can quickly acclimate themselves to life in the W.

For me, though, the biggest hindrance to this team remains the head coach. Seemingly with the front office’s blessing, Tibbetts wants to mold the Mercury into a run-of-the-mill MNBA team. He wants to play a position-less game, where the offense eschews the mid-range and, instead, relies on layups and 35-40 threes per game. It’s a questionable strategy for any team — Kahleah Copper’s mid-range is a thing of beauty — but it’s especially perplexing for a team without high volume, long distance shooters. Of the Big Three, Sabally had the best overall three point percentage (45%) but she only shot six threes per game, no where near what she’d have to do under Tibbetts’ system. In Unrivaled, Sabally increased her volume of three point shooting but her overall percentage went down (37%). If the Mercury thought enough of these players to trade for them, they should be more focused on building an offensive strategy that aligns with their strengths, not try to shoehorn them into playing MNBA-style ball.

TL;DR: Longing to return to championship contention, the Phoenix Mercury took to the free agent market to build the league’s newest Big Three: with Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally joining Kahleah Cooper. Putting together that big three came at a cost, though…a cost that might mean they’re not much better than they were last year.

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Seattle Storm

2024 Season: 25-15; Lost in the first round of the playoffs
WAGH: Jordan Horston, Erica Wheeler, and Gabby Williams

Late last year, the Chicago Sky took a little time to roast all the teams in the WNBA in their 2025 schedule drop. There was a joke about Indiana’s fans and Connecticut always being the bridesmaid…but when it came time to flame the Seattle Storm, the chase stopped and the narrator candidly admits, “suspect just got a lot goin’ on right now.” Days later, as if to underscore the point, the Golden State Valkyries passed on selecting any member of the Seattle Storm during their expansion draft. Details were scant but it ended with a trade request from the Storm’s most decorated veteran, Jewell Loyd, so it was clear something was wrong in Seattle.

But years as a sports fan have taught me that there are three balms to soothe issues within a locker room: trades, time, and winning. The Storm have delivered on two of those fronts. Loyd got the trade she sought, as she was part of a blockbuster deal that sent her to the Aces, Kelsey Plum to the Sparks, and the #2 pick in the draft — which eventually became Dominique Malonga — to the Storm.

Generally speaking, “super teams” crafted in free agency need a year together before they can reach their potential. They need that time to acclimate to the new environment, to build chemistry with each other, and understand their roles on the team. Seattle tried to speed up that evolution last year and it clearly led to a lot of conflict. This year, the core members of the Storm — Skylar Diggins, Nneka Ogwumike, Ezi Magbegor, and Gabby Williams — have had that time and come into training camp with a renewed sense of what they’re capable of achieving.

Can the Storm, now that they’ve made the trade and taken the time, turn last year’s dysfunction into wins and a strong run in the post-season? Maybe…and, for me, Seattle’s ceiling is going to be determined less by the players and more by the coaching. Even with injuries to Nika Mühl, Jordan Horston, and Katie Lou Samuelson, Noelle Quinn has no shortage of options; Diggins’ assertion that this is  “the most talented roster I’ve been a part of” almost inarguably true. The question becomes what combination of that talent allows Seattle to fulfill its potential.

Who starts alongside Diggins in the backcourt? When Diggins joined the team last year, she was just coming off extended maternity leave after her second child, and it took until after the All-Star/Olympic break for her to regain her footing. Spending her off-season participating in Unrivaled has only strengthened Diggins’ game and it’ll pay dividends for the Storm this season, especially if she has a reliable partner in the backcourt.

In building their front court, I think Seattle has to establish Magbegor as their centerpiece but with whom do you pair her? Williams and Ogwumike? Williams and Malonga? Do you move Williams up to shooting guard and play Malonga, Magbegor, and Ogwumike? I loved what I saw from Li Yeru in the Storm’s pre-season match-up…how does she get worked into rotation so she doesn’t languish on the bench? How do you not play Malonga, who could be a generational talent in this league, even if her inexperience hampers her initially? These are difficult coaching decisions but ‘ll also be looking for leadership from Seattle’s veteran post players — Alysha Clark, Ogwumike, and Williams — to ensure that the front court is unified.

TL;DR: During training camp, Skylar Diggins insisted that this Seattle Storm roster was the most talented that she’d been a part of and she’s probably right. If the coaches can figure out the player rotations, Seattle could make a deep run in the playoffs. Between the potential for an in-game dunk from Dominque Malonga or a fiery collision between Skylar Diggins and Jewell Loyd, Seattle could be the most exciting team to watch this season.

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