Who is the best WNBA team? The arrival of Caitlin Clark with the Indiana Fever brings a new wave of fans to the WNBA. With the start of the season just around the corner, Sportsnaut’s WNBA power rankings will evaluate every team throughout the 2024 season.
Let’s dive into our WNBA power rankings 2024 before the regular season tips off on Tuesday.
12. Chicago Sky
Winning became the norm for Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese in college, with each player winning national championships with their teams dominating the competition in the regular season. Life with the Chicago Sky will be very different. There are obviously questions about how Cardoso and Reese fit together on the court, with both lacking great offensive games, making things even more challenging for first-year coach Teresa Weatherspoon. The 2024 season will be about learning and adjustments for the trio, but it’s also why the Sky are likely going to be the worst WNBA team this year.
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11. Washington Mystics
Transitioning to a new era takes time and that’s what the Washington Mystics are going through with Natasha Cloud and Elena Delle Donne gone. It’s Brittney Sykes’ time now, but she’ll have some support from former lottery pick Shakira Austin and 2024 first-round pick aliyah Edwards. Washington knows this season isn’t about wins and losses, instead, growth from its young core and the Sykes-Edwards combo making strides over a full season, should be considered a successful year for the Mystics.
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10. Los Angeles Sparks
It’s all about the future for the Los Angeles Sparks, which is bright. While the 2024 WNBA Draft is known as the ‘Caitlin Clark Draft’ by the general public, Los Angeles walked out of it with two of the best players in college basketball last year. The Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson combo has the chance to be special. Brink should develop into an excellent defender and as on-court chemistry with Jackson improves, they can be a quality scoring tandem as well. This season won’t be pretty for Los Angeles, but it’s all about the years to come.
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9. Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx were bad defensively in 2023 (105.7 Defensive Rating), resulting in the third-worst net rating (-5.9) in the WNBA. That will be put even more to the test this year with the league’s talent significantly improving. We do expect a scoring boom from Minnesota, thanks to the additions of Alissa Pill and Courtney Williams, but making the playoffs will all come down to defensive improvements this year.
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8. Indiana Fever
We’ll be a bit bolder with the placement of the Indiana Fever in our WNBA power rankings. Maybe Caitlin Clark won’t be a superstar immediately, but the Clark-Aliyah Boston pairing could be phenomenal. There will obviously be a lot of focus on what Clark’s scoring does for a Fever team that attempted the third-fewest threes (19.8) per game and barely averaged 81 points per night, but Clark’s court vision and passing could also help Boston (14.5 PPG, 57.8 FG%) take her game to another level. While making the playoffs isn’t a guarantee, we’ll say now that Indiana makes it back with Clark taking home WNBA Rookie of the Year.
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7. Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream made it back to the WNBA playoffs last year for the first time since 2018, also recording consecutive seasons with double-digit wins for the first time since 2017-’18. The guard tandem of Rhyne Howard and Haley Jones really made that happen, now they have more support. While Tina Charles might not be the player she used to be, we’re confident she’ll do a lot more than what we saw in 2022. Plus, Atlanta snagged Nyadiew Puoch, though that’s a move worth more long-term excitement. Still, a Dream rotation boasting Howard, Jones, Jordin Canada and Alisha Gray should challenge for a winning record in 2024.
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6. Phoenix Mercury
Whereas Dallas took a patient approach this offseason, the Phoenix Mercury were more aggressive. Not only does Phoenix boast Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and Sophie Cunningham, but they added Rebecca Allen, Natasha Cloud and Kahleah Cooper to the rotation. That’s important for a team that went 9-31 last season with by far the worst net rating (-10.3) in the WNBA. There should be a massive turnaround from Phoenix in 2024, though, not enough to consider them a threat to reach the Finals.
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5. Dallas Wings
On the one hand, adding Ohio State point guard Jacy Sheldon (5th overall pick) and France’s guard Carla Leite (9th overall pick) is great for the Dallas Wings’ future. After all, Dallas had its first winning season (22-18) since 2015. Unfortunately for the Wings, star Satou Sabally isn’t expected to return from shoulder surgery until after the Olympics. Pair that with some of the youth on the roster – Sheldon and Stephanie Soares – it could be a challenging first half of the season for Dallas. We’re factoring that into where Dallas lands in our WNBA power rankings, but they could easily pose a threat to the Seattle Storm.
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4. Connecticut Sun
After losing in the 2022 WNBA Finals, the Connecticut Sun ran into the buzzsaw that was the New York Liberty in the WNBA Semifinals last year. Fortunately, Connecticut was able to retain leading scorer DeWanne Bonner (17.4 PPG) along with co-star Brionna Jones (15.9 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.8 SPG). While the Sun did add point guard Leila Lacan with the 11th overall pick in the 2024 draft, that’s a move for the future. Bonner, Jones and Alyssa Thomas are a strong enough trio to take the Sun deep into the WNBA playoffs, but there just isn’t enough to overcome a team like New York or Las Vegas. With that said, it could be a beck-and-neck race with the Seattle Storm this year.
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3. Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm are the most improved team from the WNBA offseason. Just a season ago, Seattle finished 11-29 including a 2-8 stretch in their last 10 games. Without the benefit of winning the draft lottery, Seattle packed the fourth overall pick with Kia Nurse to free up cap space. Because of it, the Storm were able to land Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith. Then, Seattle wasted little time drafting guard Nika Mühl, who played sensational defense on Caitlin Clark in the Final Four. A Storm lineup featuring Diggins-Smith, Ogwumike, Jewell Lloyd and Ezi Magbegor with Mühl also in the rotation, is poised to be one of the WNBA’s breakout teams in 2024.
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2. New York Liberty
The New York Liberty only lost 8 games last season, two of those coming against the Las Vegas Aces. Building a team of superstars, even with some of them making financial sacrifices to make it happen, does come at the cost of depth, however. New York experienced some losses this offseason, but the hope is that rookie wing Marquesha Davis (11th overall pick) can step up. Even if New York is a tier below Las Vegas in our initial WNBA power rankings, this is very much the same caliber of team that can boast a net rating more than double) the other top teams in the league. The one big concern with the Liberty coming out of preseason, the lack of depth is apparent and it could cost them multiple games this season and potentially a playoff series.
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1. Las Vegas Aces
The Las Vegas Aces are No. 1 in the WNBA power rankings, as any back-to-back champion should. New York’s super team lost the WNBA Finals in four games to Las Vegas last season, with the Aces’ margin of victory at 15.3 points. That same team, which led the WNBA in scoring (92.8 PPG) – no other team averaged 90-plus PPG – is back. With A’Ja Wilson, the best WNBA player right now, Las Vegas can become only the second team in WNBA history (1997-2000 Houston Comets) to three-peat.
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