No Cap Space WBB's 2025 WNBA Power Rankings 1.0
As we near the end of the month, we take stock of where all 13 teams are in the WNBA and get ripping on a regular power ranking installment for those that know and love ball.
Now that we’ve got a couple of games under our belt, we have enough data points to draw some reasonable conclusions about where everyone in the WNBA stands. We’re hoping for this to be a weekly installment and we’ll be tinkering with making this either a rotation of rankings, a roundtable power ranking or something else entirely.
But for now, take a look and feel free to comment. Let us know who is too high or too low, who needs to make a run and who is doing better than expected.
1. New York Liberty (4-0)
I said it on last week’s Ball Up Top and I’ll say it again: how did the WNBA allow the Liberty to get Natasha Cloud? It’s been apparent in three straight games that she is exactly what the defending league champion needed. Fast, twitchy, incredible on defense and someone that can facilitate offensively as well. Next to Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty have found a nice routine early in the year. With Nyara Sabally appearing to make a jump and Jonquel Jones playing at an MVP level clip in just the first week of the season, things look very good for New York.
The only real question is at the wing position. When Leonie Fiebich went down with an injury against Indiana, the Fever were able to start to press the advantage in the third quarter and eventually take a lead into the fourth. There’s not question how important Fiebich is to this Liberty team. She’s a 6’4 wing that can guard multiple positions, shoot a good three ball and rarely makes mistakes. Oddly enough, amidst a roster of utter star power, Fiebich feels like the glue that holds everything together on the floor. She was back in the lineup against Golden State and went 3-4 (2-3 from 3PT) for 8 points and 6 rebounds. The counting stat contributions may not be huge but to get that every single night is massive. New York is balanced, deep and hungry for another title. Catching them will be no easy feat.
2. Minnesota Lynx (5-0)
The last question to answer so far this season was whether or not Minnesota had the firepower to compete with the top end of the WNBA table and on Tuesday night against Seattle, they proved they’re every bit as good as they were last year. Having Kayla McBride back in the lineup was a huge boost and provides a three point shooting advantage that few teams can replicate. She’s also the steady scorer on nights when Courtney Williams isn’t going. On nights where she is? Well you have the two combine for 14-26 shooting, 4-7 from 3 to combine for 38 points against a solid defense in Seattle.
Outside of Williams (who I think every team needs; that one streaky player who can just bury a team when they get hot), the rest of the Lynx can be characterized as maliciously competent. They just do everything well and are one of just two teams in the league (the other being New York) that are high floor/high ceiling. Napheesa Collier can have an off night and still give you 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. The addition of Jessica Shepard has been a godsend, giving Minnesota another big interior option who can score and give you rotational flexibility. The defense is still a slight question mark, as Cheryl Reeve mentioned in the preseason, but there’s no reason to believe they aren’t going to contend for an NBA title again.
3. Seattle Storm (3-2)
Yes, the Storm do have a loss on their schedule but the recent demolition of the Aces gave us a glimpse into what Seattle’s ceiling is. The long and short of it is that it’s high. It’s really high. But the floor/ceiling variance is probably higher than the Liberty and Lynx due to their sometimes inconsistent three point shooting. In last night’s loss to Minnesota, the Storm went 6-24 from deep. Conversely, they shot 9-25 from the same range in their dominant win over Las Vegas. On the bright side, Seattle’s balance and depth is as good as the two teams above them although it’s clear having a Katie Lou Samuelson or Jordan Horston would be a huge boost from a shooting and perimeter defense perspective. I have been impressed by Erica Wheeler, who had another efficient and effective performance off the bench on Tuesday after a stellar outing against the Aces.
Over the course of the season, I’m curious to see how Dominique Malonga, their number two pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, fits into the rotation. They started her slow which made sense given her late arrival to the U.S. after fulfilling her European obligations. But on Tuesday she played ten minutes in a close game with the league’s second best team. While it’s still early, that tells me that they’re at least willing to get her in the mix even in non-blowout games. I have a feeling she and Li Yueru will come up big in the playoffs when fresh legs will be at a premium. But, for now, there is no rush. The Storm’s starting five is as good as any in the league and may have at least two All-WNBA players when all is said and done.
4. Indiana Fever (2-2)
Caitlin Clark’s injury is a setback, to be sure. But if you actually look at the games, they’re three combined points from being 4-0. If they make their free throws down the stretch or Clark gets the foul call (or takes a better shot) at the end of regulation, we might have them towards the top of this list. That ceiling counts for something, in my opinion. If you want to put Atlanta or Phoenix ahead based on looks, vibes or straight up records, I’m willing to hear that. This is all subjective, after all. But what I like about Indiana is it seems like they’ve addressed several needs in the offseason and are still figuring themselves out which means there’s still ceiling left to find.
Natasha Howard has fit into her role surprisingly well and her bounceback game in Atlanta after a terrible outing in the first Dream matchup was a great sign. DeWanna Bonner has been a little quieter but I think people asking for her to be a 15 point per game scorer or better might have set their expectations too high. She’s there to be a leader, defensive presence and a scorer *when needed*. On a team with Clark, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and Howard, she really doesn’t have to do much. Now when she gets the look, she can’t backboard corner threes but we’ve seen over a decade of dominance from DB so I don’t expect that to be the norm throughout the year. What’s impressed me the most has been Aliyah Boston, who looks like a completely different player this season. She’s combined her dominance in the post and touch around the rim with a new physical makeup that allows her to be more elastic and take players off the dribble as well as run in transition. That’s a three dimensional star and the type of generational ceiling that had Dawn Staley fighting tooth and nail for her to get more national attention at South Carolina. Now, with Clark out of the lineup, she may get her moment to remind everyone exactly who she’s been.
5. Atlanta Dream (4-2)
Karl Smesko is going to get some of these players seriously paid when the new CBA kicks in. Through five games — a gauntlet when you look at just how quick the turnarounds have been — the Dream have looked as lively as ever and more dangerous than any time in the last five years. Allisha Gray has opened the season playing like a first team All-WNBA point guard and is on pace for a career year. While there is still some newness to Atlanta, as we saw against Indiana and Washington, they have a lot of veteran players who are clearly starting to understand the vision and how Smesko wants to run this team.
The ability to have Brittney Griner load managed is a huge plus considering the length of the season, the likely playoff run and the fact that this system may run down some players. For her to be as fresh as possible and for things to not fall apart when she isn’t on the floor is a big advantage that will bare itself out come playoff time. Brionna Jones has looked great in the meantime while I’ve come away especially impressed with Nia Coffey and Naz Hillmon as rotational pieces. Rhyne Howard has the highest ceiling of anyone on this team and you can see it in spurts. While she’s had a couple of games where she’s put up good scoring numbers, the percentages are lower than they’ve ever been (30.4% FG, 26.2% 3PT). But unlike previous years, where she would have trouble staying engaged when the shot wasn’t falling, she’s filling up the stat sheet in other ways. She’s on pace for career highs in rebounds and assists per game and has been a total pest (complimentary) defensively. If the shot does start to fall, expect some 100+ point outings from Atlanta.
6. Phoenix Mercury (4-1)
I’m curious how this all looks when Kahleah Copper comes back into the lineup because the Alyssa Thomas - Satou Sabally combo looks lethal. Thomas, in particular, might go down as one of the highest floor raisers in WNBA history. While she may not be an MVP off counting stats, the fact that she is able to just step into any system with any coach and turn the team into something good makes her value incalculable. Personally, I think I see the MVP vision more this season than I did in Connecticut where she had a lot of pieces around her to buoy the 14-9-8 seasons we were used to seeing. But in Phoenix, the only other star on the floor right now is Sabally. Outside of those two, she’s opening up the floor and making a cast of WNBA journeywomen into bonafide players.
To give you an idea of how herculean this task is…
Kitija Laksa was waived by Seattle in 2021 and has played in Europe since. Monique Akoa Makani is a 24 year old rookie who has primarily only played abroad. Kathryn Westbeld was waived by the Sparks in 2019. Lexi Held was undrafted out of DePaul in 2022. Some of the improvement is coaching — Nate Tibbetts aka Coach Riblets deserves a shoutout here — but a big piece is Thomas and her ability to run the offense, anchor the defense and just always find the right player. I don’t know how sustainable that is against top teams but the Mercury have split a series with Seattle so clearly they’re pretty good. We’ll learn more this week with two games against Minnesota on the docket.
7. Las Vegas Aces (2-2)
The only reason I’m not putting the Aces lower than seventh is because of A’ja Wilson. The vibes don’t look great relative to a Golden State or Washington but those two teams don’t have the reigning MVP who still looks like the best player on the planet. With that in mind, the Aces should be way higher up this list and the fact that they aren’t this early in the year is a bit worrying. Jewell Loyd already has a game winner under her belt but statistically looks the same type of inefficient she was in Seattle. Age may have caught up to Chelsea Gray a bit, even as she’s fully healthy while the bench pieces haven’t given what we hoped they would this early. But, again, they have A’ja Wilson. Since dropping her signature shoe with Nike, the 28 year old superstar has been doing literally anything and everything Vegas has needed. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that she’s doing the team’s taxes and handling marketing while leading the Aces in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks (seriously).
The major caveat here is that Cheyenne Parker-Tyus can solve a lot of the Aces problems when she returns from having her child. The longtime WNBA vet is exactly who A’ja Wilson needs to draw some attention way from opposing defenses without leaving Wilson on an island on the other end. Liz Kitley gave Vegas some good minutes in the blowout loss to Seattle and while she may not be fully ready to take on heavier minutes against starter-level rotations I just don’t see how you can continually justify putting Kiah Stokes out there for defense, rebounding and zero offense whatsoever. That doesn’t feel like the formula that won them back-to-back titles.
8. Golden State Valkyries (2-2)
Color me impressed with Natalie Nakase and the newest WNBA franchise. Despite the criticism they took with regard to their draft strategy and how vet laden their team became, clearly they had an idea of what kind of culture and program they wanted to build in year one. The Valkyries have beaten their contemporaries — Washington and L.A. — and clearly are a step behind the top teams as evidenced by their blowout loss in New York on Tuesday. But that’s to be expected.
I’ve been really impressed with Kayla Thornton, who has taken the reins as a number one option on this team while the European contingent of Jamelle Salaun and Carla Leite has been extremely fun to see develop. There’s an article to be written about whether or not the WNBA is actively training Team USA’s first true Olympic rival but that’s for another time. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t add Veronica Burton into players that have been impressive in a new setting. Few know about Burton’s collegiate dominance at Northwestern given their lack of national success but she was absolutely her. As a senior, she averaged 17.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 4.0 steals (!) per game. Despite bouncing around the W, she’s always been built for the league and I’m so glad to see her finding her footing in Golden State. Ultimately, the early returns are good and may make them very attractive in next years highly anticipated free agency period.
9. Washington Mystics (2-3)
Sydney Johnson, I’ll be apologizing to you until the end of time. Regardless of how good the Mystics end up being, they are a lot of fun and have a bright future. That alone is worth a lot. Are they going to be immediate playoff contenders this year? It’s probably a little early but I wouldn’t be surprised if they snuck into a low seed and got their young core some really good experience for the future. Even if we never see Georgia Amoore, the drafting of Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron makes Washington the big winner of this past years’ draft. If Amoore does return next year fully healthy and lives up to the billing, then the Mystics will have a clear group that can contend in the long term.
Beyond their rookies, who look extremely ready for the professional moment, I have been floored at how good Brittney Sykes has been this early in the season. She had a bad shooting day in the loss to Phoenix but I can’t imagine we’re going to see 1-13 performances from her this season. Keep in mind that Shakira Austin and Aaliyah Edwards are also just getting their feet back under them as well which will bolster Iriafen and Stef Dolson in the frontcourt. There may not be the superstar/top-end ceiling that most teams have but if the Mystics can sty the course then there is a chance they could be a serious contenders for years to come.
10. Los Angeles Sparks (2-4)
It seems that Los Angeles is starting to figure out who they are under Lynne Roberts. They ebb and flow during their games but there’s clearly a good amount of talent here that can potentially get them into the playoffs. Six games into the year, the Sparks have a bit of a hole in their frontcourt but it feels like Cam Brink could fill that when she returns to the lineup. In the meantime, Azura Stevens has done an excellent job and looks like the best version of herself. The 6’6 forward opened the year averaging 15.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and has shown the ability to score inside and out. Once you add a pure center to the mix that allows Stevens, Dearica Hamby and Rickea Jackson to move around and find open space, the Sparks could be very dangerous.
It’s been fun to see Kelsey Plum in a lead dog (excuse me, Dawg) role this season and L.A. fans have gotten the full KP experience so far. There’s going to be some games where she scores 37 points on 11/19 shooting and other nights where she’ll score 16 on 18 shots. It’s just baked into the calculus. But what I’ve liked about the Sparks is that they’ve been pretty competitive in every game they’ve played. They’ve fallen behind in some matchups and clawed their way back in and once they find that ability to close, it wouldn’t shock me if L.A. starts to rocket up this list. So much of that feels dependent on Brink, who is the scoring center that makes a Lynne Roberts offense go from good to great. Provided she can get the foul problem under control on the other end, she’ll be able to shore up a defense that has been susceptible to giving up scoring runs.
11. Dallas Wings (1-4)
I believe in Paige Bueckers. The rest of this Dallas Wings roster? I’m not so sure. The NaLyssa Smith experiment may be on ice five games into the year as Maddy Siegrist has made a strong case to be the starting four after a handful of solid performances. Arike Ogunbowale has opened the year shooting 30% from the field and 25% from range which isn’t great when she’s one of the highest usage players on the roster.
But here’s the positive: Paige has been very good in her first five WNBA games. She’s already leading the Wings in points and assists and while she hasn’t flashed the 30 and 10 ceiling of Caitlin Clark, who she’s often measured against, she’s established an extremely high floor as a guard. Through five games, Bueckers has scored in double digits every game, has one double-double and just came off a 21-5-7 win over Connecticut in which she shot 80% from the field. That’s a future superstar in the making, even if the supposed ‘wow’ factor isn’t there.
What’s tough is that you see what Bueckers is doing and wonder what is happening with the rest of this Wings roster. There is clear talent but it doesn’t quite feel like everyone is on the same page. Dallas has a bit of a hole in the frontcourt as Teaira McCowan hasn’t been great to start the year while Chris Koclanes has opted to go somewhat small with his starting lineup. But you simply can’t have your starting four and five averaging 2.8 and 5.6 rebounds per game and expect to be a top team in this league. I have faith in the long term for the Wings, especially given the impending offseason player movement. Right now, they may find themselves right back in the lottery. But if that nets you Lauren Betts, that could be a win in itself.
11. Connecticut Sun (0-5)
Simply put, there just isn’t a ton of top-end talent in a league flush with it. But what Rachid Meziane is building is something worth getting behind. When I assess rebuilding teams and franchises that have stripped it down and decided to start from zero, the biggest positive is player engagement. Through five games, the Sun look like they want to compete and care. I chalk that up to Tina Charles being a consummate pro and Marina Mabrey who deserves a lot of credit for turning the page on the trade request drama and becoming a leader on this Sun team. I sometimes wonder what the Sun would’ve been if they had Meziane and last years’ roster but that’s entirely too speculative. The fact of the matter is that this is a team with a lot of young players and a couple vets who aren’t expected to win a lot.
Here’s the challenge for Meziane and this Connecticut organization. How many losses can you take before the engagement begins to wane? Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers are rookies that have that competitive gene built into their DNA but they are not accustomed to losing. How do you make sure they don’t build bad habits in losses? Meziane is a coach that isn’t used to losing either. If they continue to pile up, how does he handle it? There are good pieces here for the future and who knows what will happen with the franchise itself given the reports of the Mohegan tribe looking for outside investment. With Indiana, New York and Atlanta up next on the roster, the Sun will have to find ways to keep their heads in the game or the losses could pile up in a hurry.
13. Chicago Sky (0-4)
Whew lord the vibes are bad in Chicago.
Four straight games giving up 90+ points is an awful look but handing away a lead the way the Sky did against Phoenix on Tuesday is more alarming. If Connecticut is out of the last place spot in the power rankings because of the presence of engagement, the Sky are 13th this week because of a lack of fight. Angel Reese is Angel Reese at this point. She played well defensively, got to the line and tried her best to keep Chicago in the game. But there are just these weird lapses with her where she brings the ball back to her waist and then sort of throws it up at the hoop and hopes to draw a foul. I don’t know what the solution is but the hope was that Tyler Marsh’s reputation as a player developer would help her advance. But what happens if Reese isn’t on program or, even worse, Marsh doesn’t have the ability to get her up to where she needs to be?
That’s before you get to Kamilla Cardoso, who deserves a measure of criticism for her wavering engagement in games. When she’s on, she’s a uniquely athletic and dominant 6’7 center who can affect the game on both ends. But there’s sequences where you just don’t know where she’s at mentally. During a pivotal possession against Phoenix, Cardoso went up for a layup, missed it, gave up on the play, got back on defense, went out to defend a Kathryn Westbeld three which missed, then got lazy and didn’t track the rebound, allowing Westbeld to get it back and kick out for a massive three for the Mercury. Those are losing basketball plays.
Defensively, the guards are a mess. Courtney Vandersloot wanted to be a starter but was it really a good idea to let her live that out? She’s gotten cooked on the perimeter. Ariel Atkins was supposed to be a defensive stopper and hasn’t lived up to the billing while Kia Nurse inexplicably continues to start over Rebecca Allen, who has a legit reputation as a high level defender in this league. There’s still time for this to be figured out but right now Chicago has no answers. Even worse, they look like they’re already fracturing which is cause for concern just a week and a half into the season.
How do you see Amoore faring in the league (WAS or otherwise) with her height? Any comps you can think of?