This week's WNBA rankings saw a shake up as the top teams suffer the injury bug, while the playoff race becomes more clear. These rankings do not reflect the official standings.
1. Minnesota Lynx (24-5)
The Minnesota Lynx have a comfortable 5.5-game lead over the New York Liberty, who hold second place in the WNBA standings despite a rocky few weeks. That lead will benefit the Lynx now as they head into the next two weeks without Napheesa Collier, who sustained an ankle sprain in the Lynx's game against the Las Vegas Aces. The MVPhee has averaged 23.5 points per game this season, and they will miss her impact immensely. While they should be able to stay afloat, this could be a rocky stretch for the mostly dominant Lynx.
2. Atlanta Dream (18-11)
The Atlanta Dream sneak up into the top-2 thanks to a 3-game winning streak, taking down Washington, Phoenix, and Dallas this week. Despite missing Rhyne Howard for a stretch of time, the Dream have played through their All-WNBA 1st team candidate Allisha Gray, with Michigan alum Naz Hillmon providing incredible stretches of play for the team. Hillmon scored the winning basket against Dallas, and followed that with an 18-point performance against Phoenix.
3. New York Liberty (18-10)
The New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury had pretty similar weeks, flipping back and forth between the win and loss columns. Their shining star in the midst of injury and losses has been Sabrina Ionescu, who won Eastern Player of the Week again. Ionescu is averaging a career-high 20.4 points per game this season, carrying an injured Liberty team on her back. With Breanna Stewart out for likely the entirety of August with a bone bruise, Ionescu is stepping up at the perfect time.
4. Phoenix Mercury (17-11)
It was a weird week of games from the Mercury, especially as Satou Sabally has missed time due to personal reasons. The Mercury won against the Chicago Sky and lost against the Dream and the Fever this week. They slip into 4th place in the official WNBA standings, in a lock with New York and Atlanta with similar records.
5. Indiana Fever (17-12)
Despite missing Caitlin Clark since before the All-Star Break, almost one month ago now, the Fever have been on a tear. They have won their last five games and are now climbing the standings, threatening to enter the top-4 conversation. They very well could do so as soon as this week. The team is doing a fantastic job of ensuring they are in a good playoff position for whenever Clark is able to return to the court. There have been no updates on Clark's injury status over the past few weeks.
6. Seattle Storm (16-13)
Seattle had two rough back-to-back losses this week, bringing them into a battle for positioning with the Las Vegas Aces. Losing to the LA Sparks and then the Indiana Fever, both games were close, with the Storm not being able to get out on top in clutch game situations. Their next game is at home against a Collier-less Minnesota Lynx team, which could be a great chance to get back into the win column.
7. Las Vegas Aces (15-14)
While the Aces still hover around the .500 mark, just barely holding onto a winning record, they've looked a little better this week. They won a dominant 101-77 game against the Valkyries, lost against the Lynx, but then also won against the LA Sparks. If the Aces can string a few more wins in a row together, they could seriously compete with teams who are faltering just above them in the standings.
8. Golden State Valkyries (14-14)
The Valkyries are at a crossroads: they could either continue on their underdog path to being a playoff team in their first franchise season, or they could succumb to the pressure and fall down. They are lingering in a playoff position at the moment with an even .500 record, but the Mystics and Sparks are right there hoping to take that spot from them.
9. Los Angeles Sparks (12-15)
The LA Sparks went on a great post-All-Star 5-game winning streak, while also welcoming back Cameron Brink to the court. They beat the Seattle Storm this week and lost to the Aces, but look better than they did at the beginning of the season. They are solidly in the race for that final playoff spot now, separating themselves from the WNBA's bottom tier.
10. Washington Mystics (13-15)
Two losses in a row have caused the Mystics to dip below .500, threatening their chances of playoff contention. There is still lots of time to get back into it, but the margins are shrinking, and it currently looks like it could be a three-way battle for that 8th-seed between Washington, LA and Golden State. A playoff run would be a great way for the Mystics to fast-track development for their younger players.
11. Dallas Wings (8-21)
Dallas is in an interesting spot right now - they could either hang tight in the bottom tier in the league, securing a good chance of a high draft pick, or make a late-season surge for a playoff spot. They are four games behind Los Angeles right now in the WNBA standings, which isn't a big margin in this league (especially this season). Yet, the Wings just traded DiJonai Carrington to the Minnesota Lynx this week for Diamond Miller, Karlie Samuelson (who is out with injury for the season, and was waived), and a 2027 2nd round pick. That move skews as a rebuilding strategy, which means Dallas may not be pushing to try and move up in the standings. On the bright side, Paige Bueckers just won her second Rookie of the Month Award in a row, and is well on her way to winning Rookie of the Year.
12. Connecticut Sun (5-22)
This switch up in the rankings comes from the Sun winning a game against the New York Liberty this week, which was impressive. The Sun also get bonus points for providing us with fun WNBA news as the reports of a potential team sale and move to Boston broke this weekend. While the sale is still very much up in the air and pending league approval, it's certainly exciting.
13. Chicago Sky (7-21)
While the Sky are holding onto their 12th place spot in the official standings for now, they have lost their last eight games. Worse for them is the fact that they don't even own their own pick for next year, meaning that they won't even reap the benefits of being in the lottery this year.