Every WNBA team's biggest question mark heading into training camp

The WNBA Draft is over. Most of the top free agents are signed. The result? A league that looks both similar and wildly different than last season. The top teams should still be the top teams, but a number of good players have moved to new homes, leading to plenty of questions about where each team is currently at.

Based on everything that's happened this offseason, here's the biggest question facing each WNBA team in the league as training camp approaches.

Atlanta Dream: How will Angel Reese fit in the frontcourt?

On paper, swapping out Brittney Griner for Angel Reese feels like a good move. The fit between Brionna Jones and Griner last year always felt off, and that showed up prominently in the numbers.

Subbing Reese in for Griner doens't necessarily help as far as spacing goes — you still have two non-shooting bigs in the frontcourt — but Reese at least brings some ball-handling skills, which gives the Dream more options as far as making the offense works goes. Overall, the team could really use more consistent shooting, but at least as far as a one-for-one swap in the frontcourt goes, I think I'd rather have Reese than Griner. That's not to say this will work, but it at least could work.

Chicago Sky: Does Skylar Diggins make them contenders?

I've talked plenty about how the Chicago Sky front office is one of, if not the, worst in the WNBA. The team traded Angel Reese away for two first-round picks, which sounds good on the surface, but those are likely to be very late firsts that almost certainly won't bring value equal to Reese. They also traded their own future first for Jacy Sheldon, another baffling move.

But the team did get one thing right: when Skylar Diggins said she wanted to play there, they signed her. Diggins should give the Sky a shot to make the playoffs and the additions of Rickea Jackson and Azura Stevens will help round out this roster, but I think that even with Diggins, the backcourt still needs another high-end player for this team to be a

Connecticut Sun: What is this backcourt?

Brittney Griner, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Aneesah Morrow and Aaliyah Edwards make up the Connecticut Sun frontcourt. It's not a perfect group, but there's clearly talent there. The backcourt, though, is a different story.

Leila Lacan, Saniya Rivers and rookie Gianna Kneepkens headline that position group, and it's pretty clear that Connecticut's best bet here is just to lose a bunch of games and hope it can draft JuJu Watkins in 2027. I like Lacan and Rivers, but that's not a playoff-caliber backcourt. Meanwhile, Kneepkens is an elite 3-point shooter, but her lack of creation skills on a team that's badly in need of creation skills might lead to her falling behind players like Shey Peddy or even fellow rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker in the rotation.

Dallas Wings: What is Azzi Fudd's role?

I have some serious questions about Azzi Fudd in Dallas. I get why the team added her — she has pre-existing chemistry with your other young star and also has a chance to be the best pure shooter in the league — but it's just not clear what her current role in Dallas is going to be.

Do you start her at...small forward? Or start her at shooting guard with Arike Ogunbowale at small forward? That's a small group, and while Fudd is a great off-ball defender, you lack a great on-ball one in this scenario. Could the team bring Fudd off the bench? Maybe, but who starts at the three? Maddy Siegrist? Alysha Clark? Seeing what the Wings starting lineup is on opening night will be fascinating.

Golden State Valkyries: Is there enough shooting on the roster?

Signing Gabby Williams was a pretty strong move, but while Williams is a good player, she's struggled to shoot from deep. While she's improved a bit, her career-high mark from 3-point range is just 32.3 percent.

I love the defensive upside of her and Kayla Thornton at the three and four, but I worry spacing becomes a concern. Add in a deeper league now, and could last year's expansion darlings end up backsliding out of the playoff race?

Indiana Fever: Will Caitlin Clark bounce back?

Even with Caitlin Clark sidelined for much of the season, the Indiana Fever made a postseason run thanks to the play of Kelsey Mitchell. In theory, adding a healthy Clark back should make the Fever into contenders, right?

It depends on which Clark we get. The one who looked pro-ready right off the bat as a rookie? Yeah. that Clark makes the Fever a title threat, but the Clark we saw in her 13 games last season? That version is tougher to project.

Clark should look like her 2024 self if healthy, but it's not a guarantee. Indiana's title hopes hang in the balance here.

Las Vegas Aces: Which Jewell Loyd will we get?

There were times in 2025 when Jewell Loyd looked completely out of her depths in Las Vegas. Her shot was off, and she wasn't contributing to team success. Then she was moved to a reserve role and suddenly came alive.

The Aces are less deep this season, though, so a return to the starting lineup might make sense. If that's the case, though, will Loyd regress back to her 2025 starter numbers? The Aces can't afford that, especially now that Aaliyah Nye is in Toronto, which takes away some of the team's shooting upside.

Los Angeles Sparks: Will the Nneka Ogwumike homecoming work out?

The Sparks have brought back franchise legend Nneka Ogwumike, but will that mean this team will get back to the postseason for the first time since 2020?

I'd say...probably? The team has to figure out who starts at the three and how to balance having both Ogwumike and Cameron Brink at the five, but after also adding Ariel Atkins, this is probably the most talented Sparks team we've seen in a good while. Depth is a bit concerning, especially in the frontcourt, but this team should have enough to make playoff return.

Minnesota Lynx: What's going on with Napheesa Collier?

The Lynx have re-signed Napheesa Collier to a one-year deal at the new supermax, but when will we actually see Collier on the floor? That remains the biggest question heading into the season.

See, Collier had surgery on both ankles earlier this year, and it's really unclear where she is in the recovery timeline. In late March, she was spotted using a scooter with her left leg still in a cast.

Minnesota already lost two key frontcourt members — Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard — to the Wings in free agency. If Collier's injury concerns linger on for too long, Minnesota's situation up front starts to look rough. Dorka Juhasz and Natasha Howard is a serviceable frontcourt, but there's absolutely zero depth.

New York Liberty: Who starts beside Sabrina Ionescu?

What we've learned in recent seasons is that moving Sabrina Ionescu off the ball more with a real point guard beside her is a good way to win basketball games in New York. Unfortunately, this current roster lacks a true point guard, so it looks like Ionescu will be moving back to the one. Who starts beside her, though?

The team's had success in the past with Leonie Fiebich in the lineup, but a lineup with Fiebich at the two and Satou Sabally at the three is pretty big, and while Fiebich is a very good shooter, she might also be the only really good shooter in that lineup

Phoenix Mercury: How do you replace Satou Sabally?

Because here's the thing: on the surface, this Mercury roster is just last year's team minus Sabally, which doesn't seem great for the team's chances of contending for a title. I don't think we're getting the Ewing Theory at play here.

Maybe the Mercury play smaller more often? A starting five of Natasha Mak, Alyssa Thomas, Kahleah Cooper, Sami Whitcomb and Monique Akoa-Makani with DeWanna Bonner as the first player off the bench could work, but it's really hard to argue that the Sabally loss won't lead to a worse 2026 outcome than the 2025 outcome.

Portland Fire: Can Bridget Carleton lead a team?

The two expansion teams are taking very different approaches here. For Portland, the approach seems to be "we're an expansion team and we're going to be bad so that we have a chance to draft JuJu Watkins next year." That's a completely fair way to approach this season.

But it also means that the team is going into its inaugural season with...Bridget Carleton as its lead scoring option? Carleton has been a valuable role player in seven seasons with the Lynx and has functioned well as a low-volume off-ball shooter, but how will she hold up in a higher-usage role?

Seattle Storm: How does this frontcourt shake out?

After re-signing Ezi Magbegor, the Storm added Awa Fam in the draft. They also have Dominique Malonga, which means this frontcourt is really crowded at the moment, while the backcourt isn't at all — the team will likely rely on two rookies, Flau'jae Johnson and Taina Mair — back there.

It will be interesting to see what the frontcourt rotation ends up looking like, though. All three players are extremely athletic bigs and Fam as the rookie will likely come off the bench to start the season, but long-term, it's hard to see Fam being stuck to the bench. Could one of the players become trade fodder for a backcourt upgrade?

Toronto Tempo: Is copying the Valkyries approach worth it?

Toronto seems set on trying to win basketball games this year, attempting — it seems — to follow in the footsteps of Golden State last season. The team's built a lineup that's honestly not awful, with a backcourt comprised of Marina Mabrey, Brittney Sykes, Kia Nurse, Julie Allemand and Kiki Rice, and a frontcourt that's decidedly weaker but still has Temi Fagnenle and Nyara Sabally.

But like...the league is larger now, making it more difficult to make the postseason, plus making it even more important to earn an early lottery pick to help a team find a star to push it to the next level. If Toronto just winds up being the league's sixth-worst team or something like that, the team misses out on the playoffs and on the chance to draft a player from the Watkins-Madison Booker-Hannah Hidalgo tier.

Washington Mystics: Shakira Austin or Lauren Betts?

When the Mystics matched the offer sheet that Shakira Austin had signed with the Tempo, it seemed that probably signaled something about the team's intentions in the draft. Namely, you don't hand Austin one of the largest contracts in league history and then just turn around and draft a center, right?

Oops. They picked Lauren Betts, a traditional, back-to-the-basket five. Add in Kiki Iriafen, and the Mystics have three bigs who all could start at one of the frontcourt spots, but who all would struggle if the team tried to use one at the three. (Iriafen would be best at that spot if they did run a three-big lineup, but it's definitely not ideal.)

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