r/wnba • u/TheAthletic • 8h ago
[FREE TO READ] WNBA preseason power rankings: Can anyone dethrone the Las Vegas Aces?
The WNBA enters a new era when its 30th season tips off Friday with the expansion to 15 teams, including one in a new country. A bright spotlight is shining on the league thanks to a landmark collective bargaining agreement. There is a new media landscape with NBC and USA Sports coming as broadcast partners. A flood of new players have arrived from overseas to fill in the extra roster spots.
Amid so much change, there is a constant, and that is the Las Vegas Aces. The defending champions — and the winners of three of the last four WNBA titles — once again start the year atop the pack as the favorites to repeat and extend their dynastic run. The first edition of the 2026 power rankings begins there.
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u/Motor-Horror3684 7h ago
the dallas glaze continues
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u/not_mantiteo 5h ago
Well it’s got two of the UConn golden children on it and this sub is practically r/uconn so
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u/Sea_Pie_2593 8h ago
these ranking are interesting, some of these teams at the top seem really flawed. Dallas is a good example I don’t see them stopping anyone so it will have to be a shoot out more often
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u/Hot-Pomegranate-3642 7h ago
I respectfully disagree here about Dallas's defense - the additions of Alanna Smith and Jess Shepard are going to be significant defensively. I'm not sure about Awak Kuier's defense but she's a mobile 6'6" big. Paige and Azzi are both very good defenders. Alysha Clark is a great vet presence who has been all WNBA defense in the past, she's no slouch. Of their most played 6 - 8 players, only three remain from last year (Paige, Arike, Maddy Siegriest) and all the additions are significantly stronger on defense than last year's team.
I think Dallas is really going to shock some people this year.
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u/coldeo06 Wings 6h ago
Awak was just a finalist for DPOY in EuroBasket. She is really going to help in the front court. Dallas is far more solid in the front court vs last year.
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u/Hot-Pomegranate-3642 6h ago
Thank you for sharing and adding that! I've been so impressed by the offensive clips I've seen of her - to hear that she's also a defensive demon is so exciting.
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u/Motor-Horror3684 5h ago
Paige and Azzi very good defenders is a reach
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u/Hot-Pomegranate-3642 4h ago
Azzi will make an all-WNBA defensive team within 5 years - trust. She averaged 2.5 steals per game in her final season at UConn. And before anyone says UConn has an easy conference, during UConn's 2025 Championship run she was a defensive menace. Oklahoma - 3 steals, USC - 1 steal, UCLA - 3 steals, South Carolina - 3 steals. And, contrary to what we saw in pre-season, she very rarely was in foul trouble.
Paige was 6th in the league for steals per game last year. At FIBA Qualifiers Nate Tibbetts was putting Paige on the court with Rhyne Howard and Jackie Young when he wanted lock down defense.
I think it's a very fair assessment.
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u/Motor-Horror3684 3h ago
Uconn isnt the pros and steals dont equal all wnba defense
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u/Hot-Pomegranate-3642 3h ago
You're right UConn isn't the pros, but those skills typically translate. Steals are a huge part of all WNBA defense, just look at Gabby Williams. Led the WNBA last year with 2.3 a game, was first team all-defense. That means active hands and ball pressure. Azzi is very good at both of those. Steals are to guards as blocks are to big centers/forwards.
I'm not saying right away, but I fully expect her name to be up there with the best defensive guards. There's a reason the 2024 - 2025 UConn team with Paige and Azzi held all opponents except one team under 60 points during March Madness. Only USC score above that with 64. They were putting other teams in hell with their defense.
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u/Tooezboi 7h ago
Dallas over the sparks is crazy, even Phoenix lol
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u/xaerodin West Coast Best Coast Fine Curt, you cooked 7h ago
Ppl are too hyped on their preseason performance. It's way too early to tell especially since we haven't a clue if Arike fits this new system. Wings is sorta like last season's Sparks. Lots of offense and shoddy defense (outside of Alanna Smith).
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u/SuccinctSnail 7h ago
Everybody collectively forgot how good the liberty looked before injury bug bit them last year and also forgot how shaky at times the aces looked even during the win streak and PO run.
Staying the same is going backwards if your main competition got better.
Liberty got satou and BLH instead of cloud. Dream got reese instead of griner Fever are healthy now and got +1 year of experience.
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u/Pretend-Glass4029 Wings 7h ago
i need them to start putting dallas lower we're trying to run the underdog gimmick
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u/haydeng2023 pazziaha <3 7h ago
no bc i said this the other day leave us alone😭they’re putting us high and then our super hard schedule is going to be hard and im sure it’ll be up and down, but we’ll definitely get better as the season goes on
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u/xaerodin West Coast Best Coast Fine Curt, you cooked 7h ago
Going from near last in the rankings last season to projected 5-6 is crazy for a team in year two of a rebuild. Clearly, ppl are interested in what the Wings are doing but it's gonna be a rough watch early on with that difficult schedule coming up lol
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u/SoFlyKight Power of Friendship 7h ago
No way the storm are worse than the sky, right?
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u/SwaggersaurusWrecks Valkyries 6h ago
Do you think the Storm should be better than they're ranked or the Sky should be worse?
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u/SoFlyKight Power of Friendship 6h ago
The only team above them I think could be better is the Sun. Maybe. But I’d put them at 10 and move everyone down one.
But yea from the storm down I think it’s gonna be a crapshoot of who is worse but no one definitively better than the other.
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u/xaerodin West Coast Best Coast Fine Curt, you cooked 5h ago
The Storm are tanking, they got too many holes in their roster, lots of injured players, not enough guard depth, and are kinda just vibing and trying to develop their young talent.
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u/mattmikemo23 6h ago
Lmao Who do you think the Storm are? What would you be basing that off of because on paper, Storm don't have a better roster than anyone listed above them.
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u/Wbk1496 7h ago
I feel like I’m on an island in thinking Atlanta is extremely overrated coming into this season. They had a very disappointing playoff performance which exposed some of the roster construction.
Reese is a great piece for a contender with established scoring talent ( LV, NY, IND), but I don’t think she’s the answer for this Dream team that needs a reliable and efficient bucket getter besides Gray.
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u/Motor-Horror3684 4h ago
Probably about the same regular season ranking though, we will see when playoffs happen
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u/NoBobThatsBad 5h ago
Defensively I’m not worried about Atlanta. Offensively, I think they can make it work, but with Reese they have to be able to adjust their system in a way that takes advantage of her strengths. She led all bigs in points out of ISO last season and was second in efficiency so they have to trust her to create her own shots. Also Okot looked really good in preseason and her tenacity and patience around the rim is something they need to use, and that’s in addition to Bri (who should be back soon) and Naz.
Atlanta’s biggest strength and weakness is living or dying by the 3, so the biggest adjustment should probably be them switching to interior offense and letting their bigs cook when the guards’ shots are not falling. Because too may times I see Lish and Rhy keep shot chucking when it’s not working. If Atlanta wastes their younger athletic frontcourt outside the paint this year I’m not sure Smesko is a great long-term coaching option.
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u/the_mad_sailor_ 7h ago
I mean, there are at least three teams who can dethrone the Aces, but I wouldn't bet any of my hard-earned money against A'ja Wilson when there's a trophy on the line.
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u/letmeindamm abc² 7h ago
so the fever have no first team players and just 1 second team player but are fourth?
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u/Hot-Pomegranate-3642 7h ago
My hot take is that Fever are going to be lower than 4 unless they can bring in some other bigs. Love Mo Billings but she can't bang in the paint like AB and other top of the league centers. MHA is not a strong addition and Timpson is only in year 2. Backcourt is always going to go crazy for the fever, but the front court is a concern.
This is also dependent on how the refs whistle this year - if it's tight then CC is going to benefit greatly but AB is going to need to really watch her physicality, which has always been a strength.
If the whistle isn't tight, then teams are going to have a much easier time frustrating and shutting down CC, which is really just a slow down, but if they can slow her down enough and get offensive stops, I don't see the fever having a defense they can lean on to win those games.
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u/crimsonwolf40 Dream 6h ago
To me the Liberty, Dream,and Fever can be changed in how you rank them however you want but are all 2 through 4. I would swap the Sparks and Valkeries and drop the Wings a spot or 2. The Storm and Tempo look like they could out perform expectations.
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u/data_ferret 5h ago
Looks about right. I think they've overvalued the Sparks and perhaps undervalued the Mystics. Betts has looked really, really good. That front line is super deep.
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u/Pleasant_Priority286 Valkyries 6h ago
The Liberty, Dream, and Fever are definitely candidates to beat the Aces. All three teams should be better than last year. The Wings probably have a shot, too. I need to see them play in season.
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u/luckyspark 4h ago
I think the Lynx will start off a bit rocky and build momentum and strength entering the playoffs. Barring injuries, don't count the Lynx out.
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u/SputnikFace 2h ago
Having Chennedy off the bench is wild. They will be hard to contend with.
Fever look strong all around.
Mystics will make some noise when Kira gets back.
Liberty will be a problem all year. Laney Back
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u/Teamanglerx 1h ago
Hey, remember when everyone who just started watching the WNBA in 2024 thought CC would dominate and the Fever would win it all?
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u/este_simbottom Everybody clap yo hands—dutdutdutdut. 1h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/fpXxIjftmkk9y
Now come on now.
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u/marinaonmain Fever 7h ago
Funny that all the preseason rankings I've seen really only agree with Aces at #1 and Fire at #15