WNBA Predictions: How High Can Caitlin Clark and the New-Look Fever Climb? Are the Liberty Primed for a Repeat? ...Middle East

The 2025 WNBA season is upon us and we’ve brought our TRACR ratings to the league this year. See who projects to be the best in the W.

It doesn’t seem that long ago the New York Liberty were beating the Minnesota Lynx in a Game 5 overtime thriller to win their first WNBA championship.

But, in the blink of an eye, the expansion draft for the Golden State Valkyries took place, the WNBA Draft infused the league with even more talent, and now we sit on the doorstep of a much-anticipated regular season once more.

To preview the 2025 season, we’ve brought TRACR to the WNBA. Our TRACR metric normalizes performance based on how good a team is relative to league averages, and measures how many points per 100 possessions better or worse a team is than league average.

The following is how all 13 WNBA teams stack up against each other. Each team will play 44 games for the first time, and there are unbalanced conferences (six teams in the East; seven in the West), with the top eight overall advancing to the playoffs.

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1. New York Liberty (East), 4.36 TRACR

The reigning champions start the season as the best team by TRACR, which isn’t surprising.

The Liberty, who went 32-8 in the 2024 regular season before their championship run, have added Natasha Cloud. She averaged the third-most assists in the league last season while playing for the Phoenix Mercury, and should be an upgrade over what 35-year-old Courtney Vandersloot provided to the WNBA champs.

Cloud will help orchestrate a lethal offense that now has five players who scored in double figures last year. Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu are the stars, but Jonquel Jones is coming off WNBA Finals MVP and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is a talented two-way player.

With all the scoring options, coach Sandy Brondello’s team is far and away No. 1 in offensive TRACR. The questions will be on the other side of the ball, where the Liberty project to be just ninth-best.

2. Las Vegas Aces (West), 3.07 TRACR

The Aces bring back a ton of star power with one very significant roster shakeup.

Kelsey Plum was dealt in a three-way trade with the Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm that brought Jewell Loyd to Las Vegas. Loyd’s efficiency took a hit last year, but she’s still a volume scorer with elite on-ball skills.

Loyd should be able to replace Plum’s scoring, but her 3-point shooting has really fallen off the last two years.

With Alysha Clark also gone, the Aces have to hope for a bounce-back shooting season from Chelsea Gray. She’s alternated good shooting seasons with bad ones for the past five years and is coming off a 33.8% 3-point shooting season last year (after shooting 42.1% on 3s in 2023).

Center Aj’a Wilson led the league in scoring average (26.9) last season while being named WNBA MVP for the third time in the last five seasons. Guard Jackie Young also returns as a proven scorer.

3. Minnesota Lynx (West), 2.88 TRACR

The Lynx are neck-and-neck with the Aces for the second-best TRACR in the league.

It was almost a fairy-tale ending to an incredible season for the Lynx, but they fell short in overtime of a winner-take-all Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.

Everything Lynx starts with forward Napheesa Collier, who finally got recognition as one of the true greats in the league last season. She finished runner-up for the MVP Award and was named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. She’s since been named MVP of the first season of Unrivaled this past winter.

Whether Kayla McBride’s shooting gains last year were a one-off or a sign of real improvement will be the thing to watch early in the year for the Lynx. They need her knocking down shots to open up the interior for Collier and guard Courtney Williams on drives.

4. Indiana Fever (East), 2.14 TRACR

Few teams had a busier offseason than the Fever, and they’ve vaulted themselves into title contenders with the moves to surround a core of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aaliyah Boston.

Natasha Howard and DeWanna Bonner bring size and scoring punch to the forward spots, which the Fever lacked last year. Neither shot the ball well from deep, though, so the Fever traded for Sophie Cunningham for good measure.

TRACR ranks the Fever as the third-best offensive team in the league. If Clark (No. 7 in scoring and No. 1 in assists) can keep ascending and cut down on her league-high turnovers, they have the potential to be the best offensive team in 2025.

5. Atlanta Dream (East), 2.13 TRACR

The Dream don’t have the hype of some of the teams above them on this list, but they remain one of the five teams that TRACR sees as clearly above average.

Whereas the top four teams can be quantified as three offensive teams and one well-balanced squad (Minnesota), the Dream will have to succeed on the defensive end.

That shouldn’t be hard with newly acquired Brittney Griner anchoring the middle of the defense and Rhyne Howard leading a cavalcade of physical players on the perimeter.

Scoring could be a challenge at times, but there’s enough offensive talent to get by, and there will be nights when the Dream will simply overwhelm their opponents with physicality.

6. Seattle Storm (West), 0.71 TRACR

The Storm were one of the best stories in the league last year, improving by 14 wins from 2023 to 25-15 while reaching the playoffs.

The Storm have to deal with the loss of Jewell Loyd, but they signed Alysha Clark, a sharpshooter who won WNBA Sixth Player of the Year in 2023. Erica Wheeler and Lexie Brown were also brought in for depth on the perimeter.

Nneka Oguwmike is still a difference-maker and Skylar Diggins-Smith looks to build on her first season with the Storm in 2024, but the big X-factor this season will be rookie Dominique Malonga.

The 6-foot-6 Malonga was the second overall pick of this year’s draft and has unlimited potential. If she flashes that difference-making talent right away, the Storm could be very dangerous once again.

7. Los Angeles Sparks (West), 0.11 TRACR

After the Sparks ended last season with a league-worst 8-32 record, they decided to accelerate the rebuild with a trade for Kelsey Plum.

There are reasons to think this team will take a giant step forward beyond Plum. Dearica Hamby had a breakthrough season last year, Rickea Jackson should improve in her sophomore campaign and Cameron Brink should return sometime in the middle of the season from the ACL tear she suffered in the first half of last season’s schedule.

The Sparks project to be a balanced team, as TRACR puts them in the top seven of both offense and defense. If Plum clicks with the lineup right away, they could easily be the most-improved team from last season.

8. Washington Mystics (East), -0.80 TRACR

TRACR projects a three-way battle for the eighth playoff spot and has the Mystics as a surprise contender for it.

The offseason indicated the Mystics were willing to take an even further step back after missing the playoffs last season. They traded Ariel Atkins to the Chicago Sky for a package that included this year’s third overall pick, which they used on Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron.

But Citron is the kind of player who can contribute right away as a versatile player on both sides of the ball. The Mystics used their own pick to draft USC’s Kiki Iriafen fourth, and she’ll get plenty of minutes as well.

The key for the Mystics this year is getting power forward Aaliyah Edwards to play more consistently. She flashed with a couple of really nice games as a rookie, but also had several stretches in which her presence wasn’t felt enough on the court. If she can be a threat every game, it will give the Mystics offense much-needed juice.

9. Phoenix Mercury (West), -1.03 TRACR

It’s a new era of Phoenix Mercury basketball with Diana Taurasi retired and Brittney Griner leaving the team in free agency.

Diana Taurasi has announced her retirement, ending her career as one of the most successful WNBA players and team Olympic athletes of all time. pic.twitter.com/i1ABIqJa4b

The Mercury weren’t content to tear it all down with Kahleah Copper in her prime, though, and traded for Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas.

Both players should help Copper maximize her talent. Sabally is a lethal-shooting big who should open up the lane for Copper’s drives, and Thomas is the ultimate point forward who finished second in the league in assists per game and fifth in MVP voting last season.

Copper, Sabally and Thomas are a formidable trio, but there are questions about the rest of the roster. Sami Whitcomb may be starting in the backcourt with Copper after having just three starts last season. Natasha Mack will likely step in to start down low after averaging just 3.8 points in a mostly reserve role last year. The bench doesn’t have any guaranteed production on it.

The Mercury will be placing a lot of hope in their three best players and coach Nate Tibbetts being able to mold the rest of the roster into enough complementary pieces.

10. Chicago Sky (East), -1.09 TRACR

Last year, the Sky found their frontcourt of the future with rookies Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. They spent the offseason trying to put the right pieces around them on the perimeter.

Courtney Vandersloot has returned to her first team (she played in Chicago from 2011-22) to provide stability at point guard. The Sky traded for Ariel Atkins to gain a true scoring threat and outstanding defender on the wing. Rebecca Allen and Kia Nurse also were signed to give the Sky more proven options on the wings.

The success of their season will come down to the offense. The defensive fit of Reese and Cardoso is excellent, with Cardoso playing the rim deterrent while Reese is a versatile weapon who blows up any offensive scheme. TRACR projects the Sky as the second-best defense in the league.

Offensively, though, the team has a lot to navigate in being built around two non-shooting bigs. Perhaps draft pick Hailey Van Lith, whose college career ended with a big season at TCU, can help with offensive creativity.

If Van Lith contributes right away and Reese takes a step forward offensively, the Sky could be better than anticipated.

11. Dallas Wings (West), -1.96 TRACR

The final three teams need a lot to go right to be playoff contenders. But there are worse starting points offensively than the pairing of Arike Ogunbowale and No. 1 overall draft pick Paige Bueckers.

As expected, Paige Bueckers is chosen with the first pick of the 2025 WNBA draft, becoming the sixth UConn player taken No. 1 overall. pic.twitter.com/Dh9NglyJeX

Bueckers is used to playing with talented players from her career at UConn and should have no problems fitting in next to a high-volume shooter in Ogunbowale. Teaira McCowan will provide her typical steady play down low and newly acquired DiJonai Carrington should offer the team a boost on both ends as well.

The Wings may take some time to figure themselves out, but Bueckers has them pointing in the right direction.

12. Connecticut Sun (East), -4.86 TRACR

There are roster teardowns… and then there is what the Sun did.

The entire starting five from last season’s playoff semifinalist is gone. Their head coach, Stephanie White, left to coach the Fever. And their best remaining player, Marina Mabrey, made a trade request in the offseason that was denied.

It all adds up to a completely new team that will be led by coach Rachid Meziane, who comes over from France’s Ligue Feminine, where he guided the league’s 2024 championship squad.

The Sun are hoping newly acquired Jacy Sheldon steps up after an uneven rookie season and that rookie Aneesah Morrow from LSU is an impact player on the boards. Tina Charles signed with the Sun in the offseason and is still productive at age 36.

It’s a transition year, and the goal for Meziane should be to lay a foundation to the franchise’s next great team by using the season as a learning experience for the team’s young players.

13. Golden State Valkyries (West), -5.61 TRACR

The first year for the Valkyries franchise will likely be a tough one, as the roster doesn’t have any player who averaged double-digit points in the WNBA last year.

Tiffany Hayes came close with 9.5 points per game for the Aces en route to winning the Sixth Player of the Year Award, and she’ll be asked to step into an even bigger role for the Valkyries. Kayla Thornton will be asked to shoulder some of the scoring load as well.

Lithuanian shooting guard Juste Jocyte, the franchise’s first draft pick at No. 5 overall, is still playing in Europe and may join the Valkyries midseason, if she chooses.

Like the Sun, this will be a year of laying the foundation. Coach Natalie Nakase will have to be patient with her roster as will the fans, although they’ll probably just be happy to have WNBA basketball in San Francisco.

For more coverage, follow along on social media on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook and X.

WNBA Predictions: How High Can Caitlin Clark and the New-Look Fever Climb? Are the Liberty Primed for a Repeat? Opta Analyst.

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