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Michael Voepel
PHOENIX — The Las Vegas Aces are the 2025 champions after a WNBA Finals sweep over the Phoenix Mercury, giving the franchise its third league title in the past four years.
Now … welcome to chaos.
This offseason will be the busiest in league history. A new collective bargaining agreement is needed, plus expansion drafts for two new franchises and the draft lottery. Then comes a free agency bonanza that includes almost every player who isn’t currently on a rookie contract.
There has never been more uncertainty about each team’s roster than there is right now for next year. But that won’t stop us from projecting an early look at the 2026 season.
We do make one concession to the unknown. Since the two expansion teams, the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, don’t have head coaches or any players yet, they aren’t included in these rankings. But here goes for the other 13 teams.
2025: 30-14, won WNBA title
They saved the best for last: Going from a .500 record in early August, to the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, to taking most of the drama out of the WNBA Finals. A’ja Wilson won her fourth MVP award and at 29 still has a lot of great basketball in front of her. As long as Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and coach Becky Hammon remain with the Aces, they will be championship contenders next season, too.
2025: 27-17, WNBA runner-up
It was a great season for a Mercury team that was almost completely remade after Diana Taurasi’s retirement and Brittney Griner‘s departure to Atlanta. Forwards Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally found a new home in Phoenix and seem likely to want to stay there and build on all they did this year under second-year coach Nate Tibbetts. The organization has won three WNBA titles, but the last was in 2014. Returning to the Finals this season — beating the 2024 finalists, New York and Minnesota, to get there — was a success regardless of how the last series ended for the Mercury.
2025: 30-14, lost in first round
The Dream were happy with their regular season, but not with their playoff performance. After winning Game 1 at home against the Fever, they lost Game 2 in Indiana and Game 3 back in Atlanta. Still, there was a lot positive for 2025: a franchise-record 30 wins, career-best seasons for Allisha Gray and Naz Hillmon and a successful transition to coach Karl Smesko, who was in his first season in the WNBA after a long college career. Now the question, as it is with most other teams, is whether the Dream keep their core (Gray, Rhyne Howard and Brionna Jones) together.
2025: 34-10, lost in semifinals
Minnesota was the championship favorite almost all season, but things went awry in the playoffs. Injuries to guard DiJonai Carrington and forward Napheesa Collier took a toll, and Phoenix ended the top-seeded Lynx’s season. Since then, Collier has criticized WNBA leadership and commissioner Cathy Engelbert. That conflict and the abrupt end to Minnesota’s title dreams have, to some degree, overshadowed all the Lynx did this season.
But if the Lynx return their core and add a top draft pick — Minnesota has a spot in the lottery obtained from a 2024 trade — they will return to the championship hunt again.
2025: 24-20, lost in semifinals
This Fever season was defined by resilience over injuries to multiple players. The biggest was the loss of point guard Caitlin Clark, who was limited to 13 games and didn’t play after July 15. But even without the 2024 Rookie of the Year, Indiana made it to the deciding Game 5 of the semifinals. The Fever lost to Las Vegas in overtime after guard Kelsey Mitchell had to leave in the third quarter. She was affected by rhabdomyolysis, which caused her to severely cramp up.
Clark and 2023 Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston remain on their rookie deals, and the Fever hope to bring back free agent Mitchell — who has spent her eight-year career with Indiana — to continue the climb of the past two seasons.
2025: 27-17, lost in first round
The Liberty won their opening playoff game at Phoenix but then lost badly at home in Game 2 and saw the series — and coach Sandy Brondello’s tenure at New York — end with a Game 3 loss back in Phoenix. Brondello guided the Liberty — an original WNBA franchise dating to 1997 — to their first WNBA title in 2024, but general manager Jonathan Kolb said she wasn’t the right person to keep the organization moving forward.
Considering her New York roots, it would seem forward Breanna Stewart will stay with the Liberty for 2026. But there might be questions about other key New York players returning as the Liberty look to bring in a new coach.
2025: 23-21, lost in first round
Top-seeded Minnesota swept the Valkyries, but just getting to the playoffs was a big step for the first-year organization. No WNBA expansion franchise had ever reached the postseason in its first season. The team was immediately embraced by an enthusiastic fan base that made games at San Francisco’s Chase Center — nicknamed Ballhalla — an event. Natalie Nakase was WNBA Coach of the Year, and Veronica Burton was named the league’s Most Improved Player. Golden State did what it needed to do to make the franchise more attractive to free agents.
2025: 21-23, missed playoffs
Adding former Aces guard Kelsey Plum was a plus for the Sparks, who improved from a league-worst eight wins in 2024. Plum, Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson and Azura Stevens formed a good core. We will see if that stays together under coach Lynne Roberts, who like Atlanta’s Smesko came over from the college game this WNBA season. Cameron Brink, the 2024 No. 2 draft pick, returned July 29 from a knee injury that cut short her rookie season. Brink and Jackson, the No. 4 pick in 2024, are still on rookie deals.
2025: 23-21, lost in first round
After parting with longtime guard Jewell Loyd, who was traded to Las Vegas in the offseason, the Storm struggled to be consistent this year. Still, they came close to upsetting the Aces in Game 3 of the first round, falling 74-73. Think how one more Storm basket in that game could have changed this postseason, and the fate of coach Noelle Quinn. She was let go after seven seasons with the Storm, the last five as head coach.
Guard Skylar Diggins and forward Nneka Ogwumike are the top Storm veterans, and post players Ezi Magbegor and Dominique Malonga are the top young stars. We will watch to see if they all stay together under a new coach.
2025: 11-33, missed playoffs
The Sun lost their entire starting five from 2024, got a new coach (Rachid Meziane) and had few expectations for 2025. Reaching double-digit wins was an achievement, all things considered. Rookies Leila Lacan, Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers provide a young nucleus for the future. Veterans Tina Charles and Marina Mabrey were the Sun’s top scorers this season, so it will be interesting what 2026 brings for them. Off the court, the potential sale of the Sun is another story to watch during the offseason.
2025: 16-28, missed playoffs
The first year of a rebuilding period for the Mystics under new coach Sydney Johnson and general manager Jamila Wideman had its positives, although Washington finished the season on a 10-game losing streak. Guard Sonia Citron and forward Kiki Iriafen, 2025 lottery picks, were All-Stars and the Mystics’ top scorers. Washington right now has three 2026 first-round picks, including one in the lottery, so the draft could continue to help the Mystics grow.
2025: 10-34, missed playoffs
Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers led the Wings, and she’s a great player to build around. They have a chance to get another No. 1 pick in 2026 and will have a new coach after Chris Koclanes was let go after just one season. This franchise is not a magnet for free agents, to be sure. But perhaps the lure of playing with a point guard like Bueckers and the fact that so many players will be in the free agent market will help the Wings bring more talent to Dallas.
2025: 10-34, missed playoffs
The Sky seemed in disarray at season’s end after second-year star Angel Reese‘s published remarks about needing great players to come to Chicago to make the team more competitive. Reese apologized to her teammates, but there was no doubting the sincerity of her frustration with the organization. In his first season as coach, Tyler Marsh had a lot to deal with regarding injuries and on-court/off-court chemistry. The Sky have a lot of issues to work out in the offseason.
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