The Minnesota Lynx came up just short of winning the WNBA title last year, with the team falling in five games to the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals.
This year's Lynx team looks just as good — if not better — than the one that made the Finals in 2024. Will this be the year that this version of the Lynx gets over the hump and wins the team's first title since 2017?
Here are three key questions for the Lynx heading into the 2025 season.
How will Jessica Shepard look in 2025?
The last time Jessica Shepard stepped on an WNBA court, she was playing some very good basketball, as she averaged 8.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in 2023.
But Shepard missed last season due to the league's prioritization rules. Essentially, her commitments to her Italian team interfered with her ability to make it over to the WNBA in time to satisfy the league's requirement that veteran players are done with international commitments before training camp begins, which prevented her from playing last year.
But Shepard is back now and looks to add another dimension to this team. She'll likely come off the bench as Alanna Smith's backup, but Shepard should see heavy minutes. She's a really good passing big who can help facilitate the offense from the five spot, though her lack of shot-blocking upside is a slight concern.
Can some younger players step up?
Specifically, what can the Lynx expect from Diamond Miller and Alissa Pili this season?
Miller, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, had a decent rookie campaign but really fell out of favor last season, averaging just 10.1 minutes per game. Her shooting ability just hasn't manifested itself in the pros and if something doesn't change soon, Miller won't have much of a WNBA future.
Second-year forward Alissa Pili feels more likely to make an impact — provided, of course, that she actually sees the floor on a crowded Lynx roster.
Pili had one really good shooting game in the preseason, followed by one really bad shooting game. She has to work on producing consistently, but her ability to knock down shots from deep while also having the size to work the ball inside makes her an intriguing player. If she can take a step forward this year, her versatility will really up the play of the Lynx bench.
Is this the year that Napheesa Collier wins the MVP award?
A'ja Wilson has won three MVP awards, but never in back-to-back years. If that trend continues, someone other than Wilson will hoist the MVP trophy in 2025.
Could it be Napheesa Collier?
Maybe. Probably. There's a reason I had her at the top of my MVP power rankings.
Collier was the runner-up for the award last year while also winning Defensive Player of the Year. She's one of the elite two-way stars in the WNBA, someone who can score at will on one end and then go get a stop on the other end. She was one of four players to rank in the top 10 in both steals and blocks per game.
The former UConn star has something else up her sleeve in the race this year: she plays on what should be the league's best team in the regular season. The defending champion Liberty took a slight step back after losing Courtney Vandersloot and Kayla Thornton this offseason, and that backwards step went even farther when Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ruled out for the year after an injury suffered in Unrivaled.
There's a very good chance that Collier is the best player on the best team. Add in voter fatigue for Wilson and you have a recipe for a Collier MVP season.