The West is best as the WNBA approaches its midway points and All-Star break landmarks.
The WNBA's fireworks will extend long beyond the 4th of July.
A star-studded 30th season has reached several holiday checkpoints: in addition to Independence Day weekend, a good number of the league's teams has either reached or passed their regular season's midway mark. The player pool for the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game has also been revealed, as 22 women will do battle at Chicago's United Center on June 25.
Amidst the celebrations and landmarks, several squads have made their championship cases while individual breakouts and ballers have further defined this historic season. So much has transpired since BIL released its last batch of WNBA power rankings, previously organizing the league's clubs in early June. With all that has transpired in the ensuing month-plus, it's the perfect time for BIL to rerack the fateful 15 ...
1. Las Vegas Aces (16-6)
Last: 3rd
June Record: 9-2
June MVP: A'ja Wilson (25.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals)
It's still shocking how a team like the Aces can still float under the radar but anything's apparently possible in Vegas. The team did have to endure a Wilson-less stretch in late June (which included the valiant yet futile Commissioner's Cup final effort against the New York Liberty) but has been buoyed by Jackie Young's heightened distribution abilities: both she and Chelsea Gray dished out over seven per game in June, two of five regulars to do so in the month.
How the Aces deal with the departure of Chennedy Carter will be one of the prevailing second half subplots. Carter appeared to be a Sixth Woman of the Year headliner in her early Vegas entries (still second among bench scorers as of press time despite a significant drop-off in production) but was unceremoniously waived before her contract became fully guaranteed. That'll shrink an already scant Vegas rotation but such necessities are hardly a concern with the hydra of Gray, Wilson, and Young in tow.
2. Minnesota Lynx (16-6)
Last: 1st
June Record: 9-2
June MVP: Natasha Howard (18.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.4 steals)
Even when the Lynx lose, they've won. Minnesota hit its first brand of adversity with its first batch of consecutive losses: falling to the Liberty is forgivable but dropping a home decision to the Connecticut Sun, even with Olivia Miles nursing a calf issue, was rather concerning. Minnesota quickly recovered to the tune of a narrow yet emphatic vengeance victory in Uncasville, one that secured head coach Cheryl Reeve's recording-setting 380th win in the regular season.
This, of course, isn't even the Lynx's final form, as Minneapolis madness is reaching its peak now that Napheesa Collier is getting designations beyond "out" on the nightly injury reports. Collier has yet to make her debut but recent hunts for the Lynx have also benefitted from the return of Dorka Juhasz: coming off both injuries and a year abroad, Juhasz has come out shooting to the tune of a 5-of-12 rate from three-point range in her first couple of showings (complementing a haul of 10 rebounds). Keeping up with the departure of Collier, as well as the more permanent post leavings of Bridget Carleton and Alanna Smith, has been the definition of the Lynx's season so far. But if the 6'5 Juhasz can keep this pace up, start prepping the Finals sticker for Target Center's court now.
3. Golden State Valkyries (17-7)
Last: 6th
June Record: 8-4
June MVP: Veronica Burton (10.4 points, 5.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals)
Ballhalla has been Helheim for visitors: no one in the W has protected its home hardwood better than the Valkyries, who are 10-3 at home after winning seven of eight under Chase Center's roof in June. The latest was a solid shellacking of the New York Liberty in its final outing before the Commissioner's Cup showcase. Having Kayla Thornton around longer might help in that regard: the original Golden State All-Star tied with Burton for a team-best 5.8 plus/minus in June and barely beat her out for the Bay Area's best net rating (10.7). Her return has also allowed Golden State to keep winning despite a lack of offensive dominance: the Valkyries are last in scoring over the last five games yet have prevailed in each instance.
The good vibes have kept rolling on an ongoing road trip: Golden State is one win in Indiana away from sweeping a five-game set away from the Bay Area. It's part of a seven-game winning streak that's one short of the longest on the W ledgers this season. Since June tipped off, the Vakyries' only losses have come against their fellow penthouse dwellers in Las Vegas and Minnesota. Such efforts were recently rewarded with Gabby Williams' premier invite to the All-Star Game, as she'll be one of the first 10 women on the floor come the exhibition in her original WNBA home of Chicago.
4. Dallas Wings (15-8)
Last: 2nd
June Record: 6-5
June MVP: Paige Bueckers (20.3 points, 6.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.2 steals)
Dallas hasn't been able to keep up the torrid paces it established in the early portions of the year. But being in position to "host" a playoff series is a strong path forward for the Bueckers era, which has no doubt been complemented by the emergence of Jessica Shepard. The newly-minted All-Star starter should make a sterling case for the Most Improved Player title while the one-year improvement should place rookie boss Jose Fernandez on the Coach of the Year shortlist.
Time will tell whether the Wings get a key to the WNBA penthouse, especially considering nearly half of their losses have come to the Lynx. In the meantime, there's a nice chance to fatten up on lesser competition heading into both the All-Star break and August: each of Dallas next nine games (beginning with a Friday road win in Toronto) comes against a team that's below it in the standings. The most prominent challenge on that list is next Thursday's hosting of New York, one that provides a chance for a season sweep of the in-season champs.
5. New York Liberty (13-9)
Last: 5th
June Record: 7-4
June MVP: Breanna Stewart (19.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists)
Though they continue to work without Satou Sabally, who remains stuck in concussion protocol, the Liberty has found a little rhythm again even with another unpleasant loss to Dallas on its docket. Like its pinstriped counterparts, the Liberty endured a bit of a June swoon that featured losses to Washington, Los Angeles, and Seattle. But New York did recover well enough to end the pre-fireworks slate with a Commissioner's Cup win over Las Vegas and a healthy July-opening triumph over Minnesota.
A return to form for Sabrina Ionescu has certainly helped the cause: Ionescu shook off her own medical doldrums to put up 26 points in the Commissioner's Cup clash with the Aces (one week after putting up a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double in Sin City) and followed that up with 17 more tallies in the Lynx's visit. Her partners in metropolitan stardom have been equally efficient: Jonquel Jones sank over 60% of her tries from the field in June while Stewart played her way into her another All-Star starting berth. She'll be joined by Jones, who's back on the exhibition ledgers after last year's injury-riddled campaign.
6. Indiana Fever (13-9)
Last: 8th
June Record: 7-4
June MVP: Aliyah Boston (17.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 49.3 field goal percentage, 46.7 three-point percentage)
The 3-ver flexed its outside muscles in June: Indiana was one of two teams to sink over 10 threes in June alongside the Toronto Tempo. Kelsey Mitchell alone was sinking just under three a game while Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham both joined her in the realm of multiples. Indiana also continues to playfully thwart Clark's MVP case: following last year's run to the semifinals and a vengeful victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday, the Fever are 4-0 when Clark is forced to sit due to injury.
While the lead triumvirate of Clark, Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston continues to lead the way (all three will rep Indianapolis in the All-Star Game's starting five), one of more pleasant recent developments under Gainbridge Fieldhouse's roof has been the emergence of Tyasha Harris: with Clark ailing, the depth star took full advantage of an entry into the starting five to the tune of a 14-of-26 effort from the field over the last four games (including 6-of-12 with an extra point on the line to stay on theme). Each part of that quartet has also featured at least three assists from her arms, including five (with two steals) in that fracas with Phoenix.
7. Washington Mystics (10-10)
Last: 10th
June Record: 6-5
June MVP: Sonia Citron (19.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.2 steals)
Young Washington endured, but could ultimately benefit from, an eventful June that could yield mega Mystic maturity. An epic weekend saw them put up back-to-back wins over New York and Minnesota and they also earned a four-overtime win over the Portland Fire. Citron and Kiki Iriafen saw their efforts rewarded with their second consecutive All-Star Games invites.
The Mystics still have plenty to master (they scored but 49 points in a Citron-less defeat to Golden State over the weekend) but it's clear that they have a bit on inside edge on the final portions of the playoff picture. Their defensive work proved particularly effective in June: Washington was third in rating behind only Minnesota and Golden State. In the individual category among women averaging at least 20 minutes a game, Iriafen, Cotie McMahon, and Michaela Onyenwere stole the top three spots unoccupied by either Lynx or Valkyries.
8. Atlanta Dream (13-9)
Last: 4th
June Record: 7-5
June MVP: Jordin Canada (11.5 points, 7.3 assists, 2.0 steals)
The Dream's season has become a nightmare, as they dropped five straight after a 12-4 start. Uncannily, three of those defeats have come to Golden State but the most brutal might be a 15-point home defeat in Seattle. In this fruitless five, Atlanta's offensive rating dipped under 100, the worst in the league ahead of only Washington. They were the only team shooting under 40% in that span and they've fallen from ninth to 14th in three-point rate. The Dream restored what it hopes is its reality on Thursday with a healthy win over Seattle.
Continued sweet Georgian relief is on the way: Atlanta will play four of its final five before the All-Star break at home. They have every right to think these final hours personally: despite the Dream's early success, not one of their elite starter was invited to appear among the main event's starting 10, which easily landed the attention of the forever-outspoken Angel Reese, still the WNBA's leading rebounder as the pause approaches. The situation was remedied upon the release of the reserve list (which featured Reese, Allisha Gray, and Rhyne Howard) but it still
9. Phoenix Mercury (8-15)
Last: 13th
June Record: 5-6
June MVP: Alyssa Thomas (12.7 points, 8.7 assists, 5.9 rebounds)
Despite some ... feverish ... controversy, the defending finalist Mercury found some footing in June. Phoenix leaped back into the playoff chase with a 4-1 streak headlined by the high-octane scoring efforts of Kahleah Copper, who is currently engaged in a six-game streak of 20-point games. She's the fourth to reach that landmark this season: Wilson is the leader at 11 while Clark and Mitchell also earned the plateau (Mitchell's tally is also active).
Phoenix will have to re-learn how to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well: it missed a golden opportunity to make up some postseason ground by losing to Chicago on Tuesday and let the Fever take the rubber match of their feisty three two nights later. The road gets no easier, as visits to Las Vegas and Minnesota linger on the immediate upcoming schedule. Three-and-a-half games separate them and the eighth-place Mystics and it could late early for the defending finalists if they're not careful.
10. Toronto Tempo (9-13)
Last: 9th
June Record: 4-6
June MVP: Marina Mabrey (20.6 points, 3.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals)
While the Tempo fell a little off the beat, the rest of their debut act will be worth watching to see what sort of offensive acrobatics Marina Mabrey can conjure up before the year lets out. Less than a week after she set a new personal-best with 37 points, Mabrey joined numerical immortality with a 53-point performance that tied Wilson and Liz Cambage for the greatest single-game scoring effort in WNBA history. Mabrey has been rewarded with her All-Star invite and its wide-open spaces should give her a chance to win the game's MVP title in relief.
Unfortunately for the Tempo, Mabrey madness has been but temporary relief from the expansion blues. Her scoring antics allowed Toronto to briefly forget the continued absence of Kiki Rice but a plantar fascia injury for Brittney Sykes, Mabrey's partner in expansion excitement has been downright devastating. The Tempo is but 2-6 since Sykes, who had her own production of a June swoon with a 38-point tally against Connecticut, went down, falling two games out of the last playoff spot.
11. Portland Fire (9-13)
Last: 7th
June Record: 2-8
June MVP: Carla Leite (14.5 points, 6.3 assists, 44% three-point)
Portland's expansion excellence has been equally doused: following a 16-point win over Indiana on May 30, the Fire has dropped nine of its last dozen. All but three of those defeats have come by double-figures and one of the outliers was the aforementioned eight-period melee with the Mystics. It doesn't take much research to see where the Fire fell: the Pacific Northwest was dead-last in June defensive rating, more than six points behind its closest competitor Los Angeles.
For all its flaws, Portland can at least continue to bask in the continued emergence of Leite, who continues to stand as the Fire's forger. She continues to stand as the team's leading scorer and also broke through as the top distributor (dishing out at least four assists in each of her last six showings). If and when the league starts to look for All-Star Game injury replacements, Portland could be one of its first stops.
12. Seattle Storm (6-18)
Last: 12th
June Record: 2-9
June MVP: Dominique Malonga (17.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.1 blocks)
Making a late playoff push in the second is probably out of the question. But the Storm are no doubt in a better position than where they were even a couple of weeks ago: they ended an 11-game losing streak against the contending Liberty, kickstarting a 3-3 stretch that also victimized Atlanta and Los Angeles. All three victories came by double-figures, the last being an emphatic 18-point decision on the road.
Seattle's early efforts in rebirth have been rewarded with Malonga's reserve invite to the All-Star Game. Malonga's June featured a 37-point effort against Dallas, the best for anyone her size beyond Wilson in a game. At the current rate, it won't take long for rookie Flau'jae Johnson to join her in exhibition glory: Johnson was one of four freshmen to average at least 14 points in June and her overall defensive rating is fourth-best overall.
13. Los Angeles Sparks (10-11)
Last: 11th
June Record: 4-6
June MVP: Kelsey Plum (21 points, 6.5 assists, 1.2 steals)
The good news is that Plum has a sterling MVP case. The bad news is that Plum has a sterling MVP case. Already flirting with postseason oblivion before Plum was forced to step away, Los Angeles has sunk into a full-on depression since it was revealed that the sharpshooter would be out for at least four weeks due to a leg injury.
Picking up Plum's scoring slack hasn't been a problem, even with a dreary 64-point effort in front of home fans against Seattle on Monday: veterans Dearica Hamby and Nneka Ogwumike have provided sweet relief by averaging over 17 points in the last three while Emma Cannon and Chance Gray united for a 7-of-16 effort from three-point range in that span. But the defense has gotten particularly bad with Plum serving as a spectator: Los Angeles has let up 318 points over the first three games in the Plum-less stretch, 125 alone in the first Plum-less excursion in Toronto. It's the third time this season that LA has allowed more than 300 points in the three-game span this year and it'll have to bunker down if it wants to end its brutal playoff drought. The Sparks handled business well enough with consecutive wins over Indiana and Chicago so its up to them to add resiliency to their full-time identity.
14. Connecticut Sun (5-18)
Last: 15th
June Record: 2-7
June MVP: Olivia Nelson-Ododa (9.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 63.2 field goal%)
Is there a little daylight emerging in Connecticut's final rises? The Sun lost seven of nine in June but only one of those losses came by more than 10 points. It could've well entered this list as winners of its past four if not for a furious Dallas rally in Hartford but the Sun followed that effort up by sneaking into Minneapolis and stealing a one-point decision from the Miles-less Lynx.
The Sun's usual rays of light have played their obvious roles in the mini-resurgence: Leila Lacan is already tied with Miles for the 10th-most steals in the league despite her late entry while Brittney Griner has flourished in a more full-time post residency. Better outputs from some of their long-term projects have helped pave a smoother road to Houston: Nelson-Ododa ranked 14th in net rating among women averaging at least 20 minutes a game in June while Aneesah Morrow (despite dealing with a leg issue) leads all bench players with 8.5 rebounds per game.
15. Chicago Sky (7-15)
Last: 14th
June Record: 3-8
June MVP: Kamilla Cardoso (15.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks)
Chicago has had a heck of a season over the last two weeks. Such a stretch started off optimistically enough: the Sky was finally on the right side of the injury report thanks to Courtney Vandersloot's anticipated return and it earned its first pair of consecutive victories since opening week after handily dousing the Fire twice at home. The latter featured a 30-spot for Cardoso, who just missed being the the third player to put up multiple blocks a game in June.
It didn't take long, however, for the Sky's skies to get gray again: a valiant comeback effort in Las Vegas went for naught and Skylar Diggins brought explosives from the Independence Day atmosphere to social media, expressing shock about a move to the second unit. That should no doubt place a temporary spotlight on Chicago as the trade deadline approaches and it goes on to describe its season in a nutshell: the Sky continues to try and make up for draft misfires through veterans and young diamonds in the rough alike. But while there's no doubt room to watch Sydney Taylor's continued mastery, it can't come at the cost of veteran sanity, especially ones that were supposed to drag the Sky out of this mess.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
