Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Ten WNBA teams are riding winning or losing streaks of at least two games, shaking up the early-season power dynamics.
- The Dallas Wings are showing promise despite center struggles, while Phoenix faces depth issues that threaten their competitiveness.
- One team remains anchored at the bottom, highlighting the league's wide performance gap this season.
It was a busy week around the WNBA, and it's still early enough in the season that that said busyness has led to a lot of re-shuffling when it comes to the power dynamics of the league.
Of the WNBA's 15 teams, 10 have either a winning or losing streak of at least two games. That's shaken up the standings and our power rankings for week 3, though one thing remains as true as it has all season: The Connecticut Sun are bringing up the rear.
WNBA Power Rankings, Week 3
Position | Team | Record | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 4-2 | 1 |
2 | Atlanta Dream | 4-1 | 3 |
3 | Indiana Fever | 4-2 | 7 |
4 | Minnesota Lynx | 4-2 | 9 |
5 | Golden State Valkyries | 3-2 | 6 |
6 | Dallas Wings | 4-3 | 10 |
7 | New York Liberty | 3-3 | 2 |
8 | Los Angeles Sparks | 3-3 | 12 |
9 | Chicago Sky | 3-3 | 4 |
10 | Portland Fire | 3-3 | 13 |
11 | Seattle Storm | 3-4 | 14 |
12 | Toronto Tempo | 3-4 | 11 |
13 | Phoenix Mercury | 2-5 | 5 |
14 | Washington Mystics | 2-3 | 8 |
15 | Connecticut Sun | 1-6 | 15 |
New York has some things to figure out
I still believe in the New York Liberty. When this season is over and the postseason begins, I expect the Liberty to be one of the three best teams in the league alongside Vegas and Atlanta. With that said, this wasn't a great week for the Libs: New York has lost two in a row and three of their past four, and the team's most recent losses were both by double figures — including Sunday's 91-76 loss to the Dallas Wings.
Let's zero in on that most recent loss. The Liberty played with both Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally for the first time this season, giving us the closest look we've had at this team at full strength. But Ionescu shot 26.7 percent, and with both Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Leonie Fiebich out, the depth wasn't there to make up for her off night.
This is a big issue for the Liberty this season: health. Maybe once we get a fully healthy New York team, the kinks will be worked out and they'll be back on top. But the last few games have shown there are growing pains for this current group, and that depth is a concern.
The Wings are putting it all together
Alright, maybe Azzi Fudd was the right pick after all.
The Dallas Wings picked up a big win over New York on Sunday despite a 5-for-20 shooting night for Arike Ogunbowale, and it largely happened because Fudd went off, going 6-for-12 from deep on her way to a 24-point performance.
Notably, starting point guard Odyssey Sims played just eight minutes, and it seems like we're heading for a change in the starting unit. Do I think Paige Bueckers plays better with a true point guard beside her? Yes, but it can also be true that the Wings as a whole play better by letting Bueckers run things to allow Fudd to get on the floor more.
The one real knock with Dallas so far remains something that people thought was fixed this offseason: the center position. Defending co-Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith has really struggled, and the team isn't playing particularly good when she's on the floor. She was a -9 on Sunday, and through seven games, the Wings have been outscored when she's on the floor six times. Thankfully, former No. 2 overall pick Awak Kuier continues to see her minutes rise and is picking up a lot of that slack, and Jessica Shepard has also stepped up — she's turned out to be better addition out of the two former Lynx bigs Dallas added this offseason.
Uhh, Phoenix?
So, the Phoenix Mercury have lost three in a row, falling to just 2-5 on the season. For a bit, it appeared that losing Satou Sabally and not really replacing her might have worked out, but that's no longer the case.
A big issue is just the lack of depth up front. Phoenix did a great job finding overseas contributors in the backcourt with Noemie Brochant and Jovana Nogic, but the big rotation is notably weaker, especially when your best option, Alyssa Thomas, plays as a point forward. It's putting a lot of pressure on Natasha Mack, which probably isn't what you need.
Is there a solution? I suppose getting Kyara Linskens more minutes could work, but ultimately, the roster here just feels too unbalanced to really work out at this point. Even one injury to Mack or Linskens might be enough to completely sink things, unless, like ... Marta Suarez suddenly breaks out? But the fact we're talking about the importance of those kind of players shows that the Mercury aren't really contenders at this point.
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