The WNBA Playoffs start next week, and given the season of ups and downs we have had, the postseason will not disappoint. The fun part about the WNBA this season is that it’s pretty much anyone’s championship to win. The Minnesota Lynx dominated the first half of the season, but the second half was all about the Las Vegas Aces. The New York Liberty have struggled due to injury, but you can’t count out the 2024 WNBA Champions. Of course, the new-look Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury will be lurking, ready to attack and cause upset in any round.
While we won’t know the specific match-ups for the first round until later this week, these are 5 players that could define the WNBA Playoffs.
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
The Las Vegas Aces succeed through A’ja Wilson’s play. She has catapulted herself to the top of the MVP conversation through a historic 14-game winning streak that has stretched through the second half of the WNBA season. From fringe playoff hopes to being in the race for the No. 2 seed for the postseason, the Aces have turned their season around.
Wilson has averaged 23.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this season. She has scored 30+ points and 8+ rebounds in her last three games, increasing her momentum before the playoffs. She could very well win her fourth MVP award in just a few weeks.
Safe to say that the Aces will go as far as A’ja takes them in the playoffs. It’s a hard journey to their third championship in 4 seasons, and the Aces don’t have the depth that other teams have. Yet, other teams don’t have Wilson.
Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix Mercury
The triple-double queen will be leading the Mercury into the playoffs for the first time in her first season with the franchise. After leading the Connecticut Sun to a few trips to the WNBA Finals and semifinals, Thomas will be back in the postseason with a new squad.
The Mercury is another team that lives and dies depending on how their star is doing. They definitely have some depth, and Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper will come up big as well, yet in order for them to go far, Thomas needs to be at 100 percent. She has averaged 15.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 9.2 assists this season, scoring more triple-doubles in one year than anyone else has ever.
For the Mercury to be able to get past big teams like New York and Las Vegas, not to mention Minnesota, Thomas will need to define their run.
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
When you put together last year’s Olympic Gold Medal, the Minnesota Lynx’s 2024 Finals run, the Unrivaled season, and now the 2025 WNBA season, Napheesa Collier has had a phenomenal year of basketball. Her Lynx have topped the WNBA standings all season, clinching the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. While this will ensure them an ideal first-round match-up, things get tricky as soon as the second round for Minnesota.
Collier has been the glue to her Lynx team all year, averaging 23.0 points per game and doing everything on both sides of the floor for Minnesota. Her leadership extends beyond the court into everything this team does, and for them to get back to the Finals, she will need to continue on this incredible run she has been on. While the Lynx have the benefit of depth that a lot of other teams don’t have as much of, Collier has a way of dominating a game.
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
It’s been a rough few months for the New York Liberty, who have slipped out of the top-four in the WNBA standings. Luckily, the playoffs provide an opportunity to reset. If Sabrina Ionescu can step up to the moment, she has the potential to lead the Liberty back to the Finals and even to a second championship.
Ionescu is one of those players who thrives in big moments. She loves a big shot, and once she starts seeing her three-pointers go in, she can go on a run that changes the entire dynamic of the team. That will be a huge factor in a team whose confidence may be lacking.
In the 2024 playoffs, Ionescu scored 16.9 points per game on 36.3 percent shooting from 3. She needs to bring that offense in to help the Liberty make up for their less-than-ideal playoff positioning.
Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are a factor in the WNBA playoffs for the first time in a few seasons, fighting for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. They definitely have the talent to make a deep run, yet it will be a matter of execution that determines how far they go. Will they be able to win close games, or will their season-long clutch game woes come to haunt them?
In 23 clutch-game scenarios this season, the Dream are 12-11, a winning record, but still too close for comfort. Allisha Gray is seventh league-wide in scoring in the clutch (five-point differential with less than five minutes on the game clock). Gray has had a great overall season as well, leading her team with 18.5 points per game.
If the Dream want to make it far in the postseason, they will need to win these close, clutch-game situations. Gray will be a big factor in that, and could very well be the deciding factor in how far the Dream go this year.