Seton Hall
Heaven Hill's WNBA Power-Rankings
Date: May 25, 2019By: Heaven Hill
This season in the WNBA, anything is possible. The offseason really is not an offseason for the players, since many of them go to play overseas due to their meager salaries.
Another aspect of the offseason featured many changes and ripple effects that could impact this season and beyond. 2018 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart, tore her Achilles during the Euroleague championship game, ending her season before it started and seriously hindered the Seattle Storm’s chances to repeat as WNBA Champions.
MVP runner-up Liz Cambage requested a trade from the Dallas Wings in January after the Wings fired former head coach Fred Williams in 2017. She was then shipped to the Las Vegas Aces, forming a new and intriguing super team in the Western Conference.
The Washington Mystics are seen widely as the title favorites from the Eastern Conference, returning former MVP Elena Delle Donne and a great supporting cast that went to the Finals last year.
Finally, the Los Angeles Sparks traded for All Star Chiney Ogwumike from the Connecticut Sun to pair with her sister Nneka, adding more depth to an already strong team. So, who will come out on top in August? Will it be one of the teams named that have gone through drastic changes before the season even began, or will it be a surprising newcomer?
1. Washington Mystics
The Mystics are in my opinion the new favorite to win the WNBA Championship. Last season, they finished with a record of 22-12, the second seed in the Eastern Conference behind the Atlanta Dream. They made it all the way to the WNBA Finals, but unfortunately an injury to their best player Delle Donne hampered their chances, and they were swept by the Seattle Storm.
They are returning former MVP and 2018 All-Star captain Delle Donne, who is one of the most complete players in the league. In addition to Delle Donne, they also return with All Star Kristi Tolliver, who spent her offseason working for the NBA’s Washington Wizards as an assistant coach. I think the important pieces for this team, however, will be center Emma Meesseman, who took the 2018 season off to rest and is a 39% shooter from the three-point line for her career, and sophomore Ariel Atkins, who made the All-Rookie team and All-Defensive team in her first year.
2. Los Angeles Sparks
The Sparks are one of the favorites from the Western Conference, for a few reasons. They finished 19-15, good enough for the third seed in the West, and they were eliminated in the second round of the postseason by the Mystics. With the unfortunate injury to Stewart, the Storm aren’t projected to play as well as they did, leaving a huge opening in the top tier of the league for the Sparks to seize.
They return one of the greatest players of all time in Candace Parker, All Stars Ogwumike and Chelsea Gray, and back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year Alana Beard. The Sparks also traded for All Star and former Rookie of the Year Ogwumike from the Sun, increasing their depth and star power without giving up much in return besides a 2020 first-round pick. This returning cast makes the Sparks a great bet to win it all.
3. Las Vegas Aces
The Aces are a popular pick by the masses to make the leap from amongst the worst to potentially first. After missing the playoffs by just one game last season, the Aces surprised everyone once they won the 2019 WNBA draft lottery to pick #1 in this past draft. They selected Jackie Young from Notre Dame, one of the best college basketball players in the nation. In addition to this, they have a great core in All Stars
Kayla McBride and A’ja Wilson, who made the All-Star Game as a rookie, won Rookie of the Year and is one of the league’s budding young stars. The Aces then decided to capitalize on their rapidly opening championship window by trading for MVP runner-up Cambage to form a devastating frontcourt with Wilson. These players, along with other solid contributors like Kelsey Plum and Tamera Young should lead to a lucky season in Vegas.
4. Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream lead their combination of great coaching and different playstyles to the top seed in the Eastern Conference last season. Headed by reigning Coach of the Year Nicki Collen and returning players Tiffany Hayes, who was named to All-WNBA first team and Renee Montgomery, the Dream will be quite formidable.
Unfortunately, they might be without All Star forward Angel McCoughtry as she recovers from a knee injury for most of the 2019 season. To try and compensate for this huge loss, they acquired forward Nia Coffey from the Aces, who should fill in quite nicely.
5. Connecticut Sun
Although they just traded All Star forward Ogwumike to the Sparks, the Connecticut Sun will be back better than ever thanks to their returning players Jasmine and Alyssa Thomas and WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Jonquel Jones.
Ogwumike threatened to sit out this season and only focus on her ESPN broadcasting job if she wasn’t traded from the Sun, so this trade will hopefully remove any potential issues from the locker room and open up minutes in the rotation for their frontcourt players.
The Sun fielded a top-four offense in the league these last two seasons, and their top three players could also make big leaps on the defensive end, leading to a great year for the Sun.
6. Phoenix Mercury
Coming off a top-two finish in the Western Conference last season, and a solid showing in the playoffs, things were looking up for the Mercury. They added great college players in Alanna Smith and Sophie Cunningham, and they signed veteran Essence Carson in free agency.
Then, a devastating blow hit the Mercury locker room as WNBA living legend Diana Taurasi would undergo back surgery and will miss a third of the season. This news definitely puts a damper of the championship hopes of the Mercury, but they still return All Star post player DeWanna Bonner and rim protecting big Brittney Griner, so those two-thirds of the Phoenix big-three will attempt to keep the team afloat.
7. Seattle Storm
Normally it’s weird to see the defending champions of a league out of the top-five of any power rankings, but this is no error. Before the season has even tipped off, the Seattle Storm have been absolutely decimated with injuries. They finished with the top record in the WNBA last season, with Stewart winning MVP handily, Natasha Howard winning Most Improved Player, and Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd making the All-Star Game.
They breezed their way to the championship and swept the mystics and were riding high. Unfortunately, Stewart tore her Achilles and will miss this season, and news came out today that Sue Bird will also miss most of the season due to a knee injury. In total, that’s two of the best players in the league that will be out for a significant amount of time.
The Storm will have to put thoughts of a championship repeat on the back burner for now, unless Lloyd and Howard make gigantic leaps to make up for the missing production.
8. Chicago Sky
After missing the playoffs last year, the Sky are primed to make a big leap. They return with great players like Diamond DeShields, All Star marksman Allie Quigley, and the WNBA’s resident dime dropper Courtney Vandersloot, who lead the league in assists last season.
They also added Katie Lou Samuelson from dynastic UCONN women’s team. All in all, this team will be tough to beat if everything comes together, and they continue to get great contribution from the players named.
9. Minnesota Lynx
Entering the section of teams that will be outside the playoff bubble, we have the most recent WNBA dynasty, the Minnesota Lynx. Last season, they made the playoffs as the overall seven-seed with an 18-16 record, and that was with great players like Rebekkah Brunson and three All-Stars in former MVP Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, and possibly the best player in the league in Maya Moore.
When you have great players such as those and barely make the playoffs, it could be seen as an issue. Now this season, they’ll be without emotional leader Lindsay Whalen, and Maya Moore as well. Draft pick Napheesa Collier and other players named could raise their production to fill the voids left by those two this season, but the Lynx may be on the outside looking in.
10. Dallas Wings
The Dallas Wings will have to replace the 2nd most production out of any team in the league this season behind Seattle, as they now have to figure out where they’ll get 23 points, 10 rebounds and two assists per-game from. That stat line is from the disgruntled powerhouse Cambage, who forced her way out of Dallas due to them firing a close friend of hers.
This season will be very interesting, as their locker room leader and starting point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith will also miss some time due to maternity leave, but in her place they have electrifying rookie Arike Ogunbowale. Ogunbowale might already be famous for her multiple game winners in the NCAA Tournament and her storied career at Notre Dame, but she can ball out, so this season Dallas will be quite the League Pass team.
11. New York Liberty
The New York Liberty finished with seven wins last season, which was the franchise’s lowest win total in its existence. Point is, they can only go up from here, and they made great strides in doing that this offseason by drafting Asia Durr, a sweet-shooting guard from Louisville, and Chinese center Han Xu, a great developmental piece.
These additions, plus returning players like All Star Tina Charles and rising player Kia Nurse, will hopefully help the Liberty out of the Eastern Conference basement.
12. Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever were the only WNBA team to finish with fewer wins than the Liberty, with six. Because of this, they have landed the bottom spot in this edition of the power rankings.
Fortunately, they have great reinforcements coming to affect them on the offense and especially the defensive side of the ball. The Fever lost the draft lottery to the Aces, but they may have walked away from the draft with the most impactful player in the class: 6-foot 7 inch center Teaira McCowan.
McCowan comes in as a first-team AP All-American, SEC Player of the Year and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. This incoming addition can shore up the frontcourt of the Fever for a decade to come, with McCowan blocking shots and getting buckets a variety of ways. Her, along with solid role players like Kelsey Mitchell and Candice Dupree, will make this season one to watch for Indiana.
That concludes the first edition of the WNBA Power Rankings, so I just have one thing left to say: You in?
Heaven Hill can be reached at heaven.hill@student.shu.edu.
