We know who the stars of the WNBA are, the players who can lead their teams to a title. A'ja. Phee. Stewie. Paige. You don't even need full names here. But one player can't single-handedly win a championship. You need other players to step up, to be the x-factors.
These are the non-stars who will matter most in the WNBA postseason.
Minnesota Lynx: Courtney Williams
When talking about Minnesota Lynx guards, the conversation often begins and ends with Olivia Miles. Makes sense considering Miles is the inevitable Rookie of the Year and will finish top five in MVP voting, but the other part of this backcourt deserves attention as well.
Courtney Williams has been very, very good in 2026. Her 13.8 points per game are her most since 2021, and her 45 percent mark from the floor is her best since 2018. The Lynx have a fairly shallow situation at guard, so having someone like Williams who can score from the outside while playing 30ish minutes takes a lot of pressure off.
Minnesota has a net rating of +12.2 when Williams and Miles share the floor. If the two can stay out of foul trouble, they make the offense almost unstoppable, even if on/off numbers suggest that Williams hurts the defense.
Golden State Valkyries: Janelle Salaun
It's hard to really come up with an x-factor for a roster like this, since the Valkyries aren't really a star-driven team. Janelle Salaun might not even qualify here considering everyone knows how important she is to this roster, but I'm still going with her.
What makes Salaun so interesting is the role she plays off the Valkyries bench. She started zero game this season, but finished second on the team in scoring. Her ability to shoot from deep adds a much-needed dimension to an offense that can, at times, get really bogged down.
Really, though, you can call the entire Valkyries bench the true x-factor here. What makes Golden State so tough to beat is that the team just has so many different combinations it can throw at you, which is a big part of how this ended up being one of the best defensive teams in recent history -- Golden State is the only team this season with a defensive rating under 100.
Las Vegas Aces: Jewell Loyd
This is almost like a reverse x-factor pick: Las Vegas needs Jewell Loyd to not be actively bad if the team is going to win in the postseason.
Last season, the Aces struggled to open the season, but moved Loyd to the bench and things quickly fell into place, with the team ending the season as WNBA champions. Loyd hasn't played as well in that role in 2026, though, and the team is definitely going to need that to change.
For example, the veteran guard averaged just 8.0 points per game this season, the worst number of her career, and she shot 36.5 percent from the floor. With everything magnified in a playoff series, numbers like that could tank the Aces.
Atlanta Dream: Naz Hillmon
One of the biggest concerns with Atlanta in the postseason is the team's shooting or, rather, its lack of shooting. Despite hiring a head coach in 2025 whose track record suggested he wanted a shooting team, the personnel in Atlanta didn't really fit that. In 2026, the team finished 11th in 3-point field goal percentage.
When Naz Hillmon was drafted, shooting from deep wasn't part of her game. She was mostly viewed as a tweener whose game didn't extend outside of the paint, severely limiting her ability to make an impact at this level. In four seasons at Michigan, Hillmon was a combined 0-for-6 from deep.
It's shocking, then, to see how she's increased her volume from there over the past two seasons. In 2026, Hillmon averaged four 3-point attempts per game, for example. She shot just 30.6 percent from deep, but her willingness to shoot combined with a little postseason luck would be big for the Dream.
Indiana Fever: Makayla Timpson
The power forward spot was a major point of concern for the Indiana Fever coming into this season. Would veteran Monique Billings be the answer, or would the team opt to throw away any semblance of defense by going full-time small ball with Sophie Cunningham?
Late in the season, the real answer emerged in the form of Makayla Timpson. The athletic big gives the team help in transition and also a strong rim finisher, as she ranked in the 80th percentile in field goal percentage in the restricted area.
That's what the Fever need in the playoffs. The big three of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston can't do it all on their own, and the energy that Timpson brings to the court will go a long way toward getting the Fever out of the first round.
Washington Mystics: Betnijah Laney-Hamilton
We haven't really seen a ton from Betnijah Laney-Hamilton since she joined the Mystics. In 13 games with the team, Laney-Hamilton played 15.5 minutes per game and averaged 4.2 points per contest.
With that said, Laney-Hamilton has playoff experience, something most of this young team just doesn't have. Washington doesn' necessarily need Laney-Hamilton to be a leading scorer in the postseason, but it does need her to knock down open shots and to be a leader on the court and in the locker room.
(If you want an x-factor whose actual on-court play needs to be a factor, the Mystics will do far better in this series if the team gets strong offensive production from rookie Cotie McMahon, who can provide a scoring punch off of the bench.)
Dallas Wings: Awak Kuier
The Dallas WIngs spent much of this season struggling to figure out what to do in the frontcourt after Alanna Smith regressed pretty hard. By the end of the season, it became clear that former No. 2 overall pick Awak Kuier was the answer.
Kuier is finally living up to her potential as a multi-level scorer and rim protector by, well...by being those things. She ranks 11th in the league in 2-point field goal percentage a 25th in 3-point field goal percentage, and she has been especially effective on non-restricted area paint attempts.
Then on the other end, Kuier leads the WNBA in block rate. With Jessica Shepard being a complete non-factor when to comes to rim protection, Kuier serves a crucial role for this team. She just needs to get consistent minutes in the postseason.
New York Liberty: Marine Johannes
Yes, part of naming Marine Johannes here is the fun factor. She's a gifted passer who makes some of the most impressive dishes you'll ever see, and she gives New York the perfect secondary ball handler.
But even more than that, it's her 3-point shooting that can change this series. Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu have regressed as shooters over the past few seasons, and that's played a fairly big role in this team failing to live up to preseason expectations for the second season in a row.
Johannes is a 37.9 percent shooter from deep. Being able to use her as a spot-up shooter who can also put the ball on the floor if the defense closes out opens up a lot of possibilities for the Liberty. The team is going to need her to have a few big games if it wants to survive its first-round meeting with the Lynx.
Add us as a preferred source on Google