Around the W: August and September Review

A look back at how each WNBA team did over the final two months of the season.

The WNBA Playoffs are still ongoing. The first round has just concluded and the WNBA Semi-Finals begin this Sunday. Before that happens, I took a look back at how the regular season ended for all 12 teams. Which teams played their best late and who faltered down the stretch? I also cover which teams are moving on and the outlook for teams next season.

Awards

A’ja Wilson won the Western Conference Player of the Month for August. Breanna Stewart won the Player of the Month for the Eastern Conference. For each player, it was the third month they’ve won the award this season. Wilson won the award in June, July, and August. While Stewart won in May, July, and August. Both of them have made their case to win the WNBA MVP Award which should be announced on September 26th.

Coach Sandy Brondello won Coach of the Month after leading the New York Liberty to a 9-1 record. On top of that, she also led the Liberty to the Commissioner’s Cup Trophy with an impressive 82-63 victory over the Las Vegas Aces. Including the Cup Championship game, the Liberty took down the Aces three times in four games. That bodes well for New York if these two teams meet in the WNBA Finals.

Aliyah Boston won the Rookie of the Month for the third time essentially locking up the Rookie of the Year Award. Boston averaged 14.6 PPG and 9.4 RPG while shooting nearly 60% from the field.

We have seen a couple of end-of-season awards become official over this past week. First, Coach Stephanie White of the Connecticut Sun won Coach of the Year. Meanwhile, Alysha Clark won the 6th Player of the Year award. Clark had modest numbers this season averaging 6.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG. DiJonai Carrington (Connecticut) came in 2nd place for the award.

August and September Records

Atlanta

August (3-8) | September (2-2)
Final Record: 19-21 (5th)

Will the real Atlanta Dream please stand up? After going 8-3 in July, the Dream came crashing down hard in August.

Even though they won just 5 out of their final 15 games it was good enough to finish with the 5th best record in the WNBA. The Dream made the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

They matched up with the Dallas Wings in the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, their season ended in a two-game sweep losing both games in Dallas. They fell 94-82 in Game 1 in a contest they led for a good portion of the game but couldn’t hang onto their lead. Game 2 got away from the Dream in the 2nd period when they were outscored 29-10. They were never able to catch up from there and lost 101-74.

Coach Tanisha Wright has the team headed in the right direction. The Dream made the playoffs in just her second year at the helm. They have a solid core with Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, and Cheyenne Paker but didn’t get much from rookies Haley Jones or Laeticia Amihere. Or third-year player Aari McDonald.

Atlanta could use an upgrade at the Point Guard position. It’ll be interesting to see if they try to address that through Free Agency, the Draft, or a trade.

Chicago

August (5-6) | September (3-1)
Final Record: 18-22 (8th)

Chicago held the 8th seed for most of the season and then lost it during the month of August. But they rebounded extremely well in September finishing the season winning three out of their final four games. During September, they had impressive victories over the playoff-bound Minnesota Lynx and Connecticut Sun.

Due to the Marina Mabrey trade, they don’t own their 2024 first-round draft pick. The organization had little reason to tank and miss the playoffs. Instead, they battled very hard and secured a playoff matchup against the defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces.

While they were inevitably swept by the Aces in the first round, the Sky fought hard during a season that saw significant transition and turmoil.

Chicago also received great news right before the end of the season, as Kahleah Copper who was set to be an Unrestricted Free Agent agreed to sign a multi-year contract extension. With Mabrey and Copper under contract, Chicago will look to make an impact in Free Agency to continue their rebuild after losing a ton of talent over the past couple of seasons (Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Stefanie Dolson, Azurá Stevens, Diamond DeShields, and more).

Chicago will also be looking for a permanent Head Coach to replace James Wade who left in the middle of the season to take a job in the NBA. The team announced they aren’t hiring Interim Head Coach Emre Vatansever and instead will look in a new direction.

Connecticut

August (7-4) | September (2-2)
Final Record: 27-13 (3rd)

Towards the end of August, the Connecticut Sun’s spot was pretty set in stone. With New York red-hot in August, they weren’t able to catch the Liberty for the coveted two-seed. At the same time, they had such a strong lead over the 4th and 5th seeds that they were never really in jeopardy of losing their spot as the three-seed.

Over the final six weeks, Connecticut wasn’t quite as strong as they were earlier in the season, finishing the season 9-6 over the final month and a half.

The Lynx took the series to the distance forcing Game 3, but the Sun came out on top winning the decisive game 90-75.

Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, and the rest of the Sun will look to upset the New York Liberty in the Semi-Finals. It won’t be easy as they were swept by the Liberty 4-0 this year. But the Sun aren’t strangers to playing spoiler and they look to do it again in hopes of returning to the WNBA Finals for a second straight season.

Dallas

August (5-5) | September (3-2)
Final Record: 22-18 (4th)

Coach Latricia Trammell led the Dallas Wings to 22 wins this season. A strong performance for the first-year Head Coach in the WNBA. Arike Ogunbowale played less Hero Ball this season, and several other players, including Satou Sabally, Teaira McCowan, and Natasha Howard, stepped up. The Wings have arguably the deepest frontcourt in the league.

After defeating the Atlanta Dream 2-0 in the first round, the Wings have advanced to the WNBA Semi-Finals for the first time since the team relocated to Dallas back in 2016. And this is the furthest the franchise has reached in the WNBA Playoffs since 2009 when they were still the Detroit Shock.

The Wings have enough talent to upset the Aces if their players play at their very best. Even if they are eliminated in the semi-finals, Dallas is putting the pieces together to become one of the top contenders for the next few seasons.

Indiana

August (5-5) | September (2-3)
Final Record: 13-27 (10th)

The Indiana Fever are actually in a pretty good spot. Yes, this season was disappointing overall. But they won double-digit games for the first time since 2019. Outside of 2019, this season was the team’s best over the past eight years. They might have even competed for a playoff spot had NaLyssa Smith not missed nine games with an injury.

The team should only improve from here. Because they missed the playoffs and the two-year Lottery rule, the Fever will have the best odds (44% chance) to win the #1 overall pick for the 2024 WNBA Draft. That could end up being Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. No matter who they get in the draft, it’s certain to be a high-quality player.

They can take that top draft pick and add it to an impressive core that includes the presumptive 2023 Rookie of the Year, Aliyah Boston. Along with NaLyssa Smith and Kelsey Mitchell.

Will 2024 finally be the year the Fever return to the playoffs?

Las Vegas

August (8-4) | September (3-0)
Final Record: 34-6

The Las Vegas Aces set a new WNBA record for most wins in a season with 34. They became the first team to ever win 30 or more games in a season. They even hit the 30-win mark in just 34 games. The Aces finished with an .850 win percentage which was only slightly lower than the 2014 Phoenix Mercury that ended their season 29-5 with an .853 win percentage.

The defending champions look to become the first team to repeat as Champions since the Los Angeles Sparks did it back in 2001-2002. Multiple teams have won two titles in three years since then including the Detroit Shock, the Phoenix Mercury, the Minnesota Lynx, and the Seattle Storm. But no team has won back-to-back titles in over 20 years! The Aces will certainly have an excellent chance to do so but it isn’t a given.

Including the Commissioner’s Cup, the New York Liberty beat the Aces three times this season. They were the only squad to hand Las Vegas more than a single defeat. New York has hit their stride over the final six weeks of the season. The Liberty finished the final two calendar months with a better record than the Aces (13-2 to 11-4).

The two Super Teams look to be headed for an epic clash in the WNBA Finals. The Aces own the home-court advantage and that could be the difference in a pivotal playoff series.

Los Angeles

August (6-5) | September (2-2)
Final Record: 17-23 (9th)

The Los Angeles Sparks were doing everything right during the early parts of August. They went 6-2 in their first eight games of the month including huge wins over Mystics, Dream, and the Aces. But they closed the month losing their final three games against Connecticut, Chicago, and Seattle. The latter two were incredibly damaging to their playoff hopes. Between the end of August and the beginning of September, the Sparks lost five out of six games. That cost them a chance at the playoffs.

LA dealt with numerous injuries throughout the season. Original starters Chiney Ogwumike, Lexie Brown, and Layshia Clarendon all missed a ton of games this year. Chiney played in just 10 out of 40 games. Brown missed 28 games and Clarendon missed 16. Brown revealed after the season that she dealt with a bacterial infection that had a horrible impact on her body.

Chiney Ogwumike has a budding TV career covering both the WNBA and the NBA for ESPN. I have to wonder if she’s played her last WNBA game at this point in her career.

The Sparks are in a similar situation that the Storm were last year as far as how many of their players are set to be Free Agents. Nneka Ogwumike, Chiney Ogwumike, Jordin Canada, Layshia Clarendon, Katie Lou Samuelson, Karlie Samuelson, and Jasmine Thomas are all set to be Unrestricted Free Agents in 2024.

The good news for Los Angeles is that they are guaranteed a Top 3 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft and they’ll have nearly $800,000 in available salary cap space. They can make several moves to improve their roster for next season.

Minnesota

August (4-6) | September (2-2)
Final Record: 19-21 (6th)

The Lynx didn’t finish their regular season as strong as they would have liked going 6-8 over the final 14 games. However, they finished June and July with winning records and that was good enough to keep them in the playoffs. They returned to the post-season after missing the playoffs last year for the first time in 12 years.

Minnesota was the only lower seed in the playoffs to win a game when they upset the Sun during Game 2 in Connecticut. Unfortunately for the Lynx, they weren’t able to win Game 3 on their home floor as the Sun eliminated them on Wednesday by a final score of 90-76. Even still, the future is very bright .

Napheesa Collier made a gigantic leap playing like a legit MVP candidate. Collier finished this season averaging 21.5 PPG and 8.5 RPG while shooting nearly 50%. Collier is an absolute star and one of the brightest young stars in the WNBA.

Rookies Diamond Miller and Dorka Juhász were two of the best rookies from the 2023 Draft class. Miller won Rookie of the Month in July and will likely place 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting next to Aliyah Boston.

They also received good news at the very end of the season, as All-Star shooting guard Kayla McBride announced that she had signed a new two-year extension instead of heading into 2024 as an Unrestricted Free Agent.

With Collier, McBride, Miller, and Juhász as the core of the team, the Lynx can use Free Agency to build closer to a legit title contender. They have over $600,000 in salary cap space to spend and that’s after locking up Collier and McBride.

New York

August (9-1) | September (4-1)
Final Record: 32-8 (2nd)

At the beginning of this WNBA season, the Las Vegas Aces appeared to be the only legit SUPER Team. That is no longer the case. It took New York some time but over the final two months of the season, no team in the WNBA has been better.

They are firing on all cylinders and it was no more apparent than the month of August when they beat the Las Vegas Aces three separate times. That included a 38-point victory on August 6th and a 19-point win in the Commissioner’s Cup on August 15th.

Much of their dominance has come from the improved play of Jonquel Jones. Jones struggled in the early months of the season but has been physically imposing and cleaning up the glass as of late. That combined with the scoring from Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney, and Breanna Stewart the Liberty have been nearly unstoppable over their last 15 games.

New York was tested in the first round by the Washington Mystics but ultimately swept D.C. 2-0 to secure their spot in the WNBA Semi-Finals. With the amount of talent they have on their roster, it’s going to be very, very difficult for any of the remaining teams to beat them three times in a playoff series and that includes the Las Vegas Aces.

The New York Liberty are in prime position to win their first-ever WNBA title this year.

Phoenix

August (3-9) | September (0-4)
Final Record: 9-31 (12th)

The best part of the Phoenix Mercury’s season was the fact that Brittney Griner returned to the team after missing all of last year. Griner played 31 games averaging 17.5 PPG on 56% FG shooting and 6.3 RPG. Numbers that were right in line with the rest of her career. While Griner is slated to be an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2024, she’s already announced that she intends to re-sign with the Mercury and that Phoenix is her home.

Diana Taurasi played just 26 games missing 14 during this season. While she still averaged 16.0 PPG and 4.6 APG something felt off. It wasn’t quite the typical DT we are used to seeing. Yes, at times she still lit up the scoreboard including an incredible 42-point performance on August 3rd against the Atlanta Dream. But she was also held scoreless against the Storm and Dream during other games this season. And had four additional games where she was held to under 10 points. Taurasi intends to return next season and is signed to a max contract.

The Mercury fired Head Coach Vanessa Nygaard 12 games into the season after the team went 2-10 during the first portion of the season. Assistant Coach Nikki Blue took over as the Interim Head Coach and finished the season 7-21. The team hasn’t yet announced if they are going to hire Blue full time or look for a brand new coach.

All-Star Point Guard, Skylar Diggins-Smith, did not play this season due to pregnancy/maternity leave. She will be an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2024 and will certainly be signing with a new team after having a rocky relationship with the Mercury.

Phoenix will have the second-best odds at the #1 overall pick and is likely to pick first or second during the 2024 WNBA Draft. They need to revamp the roster and look to build around Griner and this top pick, especially with 2024 very likely being Taurasi’s last season.

Seattle

August (5-6) | September (0-4)
Final Record: 11-29 (11th)

After losing Sue Bird to retirement and Breanna Stewart in Free Agency, the Storm entered the 2023 season ushering in a new youth movement. They added four rookies to their roster and brought in a couple of other players with limited experience who hadn’t yet made a name for themselves in the WNBA.

Ultimately, it went how most would expect after seeing which players the team had lost and who they brought in. It didn’t result in very many wins. Seattle consistently sat near the bottom of the WNBA standings and finished only ahead of the Phoenix Mercury.

What did happen however was that the team was able to play their rookies a lot of minutes and give them valuable experience. Something that will hopefully pay off during future seasons.

Ezi Magbegor became a WNBA All-Star for the first time in her career taking on a new role as the team’s best post player. Magbegor continues to develop into a high-quality piece and is one major pillar the team can build around moving forward.

Without Stewart, Bird, or even Tina Charles, the scoring burden fell almost entirely onto Jewell Loyd. Loyd finished the season leading the WNBA in scoring averaging 24.7 PPG. With the new 40-game season, Loyd was also able to shatter Diana Taurasi’s single-season scoring record of 860 points by finishing with 939 points.

However, what we learned is that Loyd scoring 25 PPG and taking over 20 Field Goal Attempts a game isn’t a winning formula.

What we don’t have to do is debate on whether the Storm would be better re-signing Loyd or letting her leave in Free Agency as Jewell re-signed with Seattle for two more seasons right before the deadline.

With Loyd and Magbegor the Storm have a pretty solid core to work with. But this season proved that those two need a lot more help if Seattle wants to become a legit title contender that can beat teams like the Las Vegas Aces or New York Liberty.

Help should come from a guaranteed Top 4 Lottery draft selection. But the team is certainly more than just one piece away. They need to hit on their draft pick and sign at least one major piece in Free Agency. Alternatively, they can play the long game as well. If the Storm miss the playoffs again in 2024, due to the two-year rule they would almost be guaranteed to have the best or second-best odds of landing the #1 overall pick in 2025.

No matter what route they take, it’s going to be a work in progress.

Washington

August (5-6) | September (2-2)
Final Record: 19-21 (7th)

The Washington Mystics had a disappointing injury-plagued season. Heading into 2023 they were projected to finish in the Top 4 with some of the league’s other top contenders. However, Shakira Austin had a major hip injury that caused her to miss more than 50% of the season (21 games) and the playoffs. She wasn’t the only one. Elena Delle Donne missed 17 games and Ariel Atkins sat out 13 games due to injuries.

With everyone but Austin back for the playoffs, the Mystics were still confident they could go far in the playoffs. But for a second season in a row, they were swept in the first round. Last year it was the Seattle Storm. This year, the New York Liberty. D.C. hasn’t won a single playoff game since they won the WNBA Championship in Game 5 of the 2019 WNBA Finals.

And I think it’s time to ask the question, has their Championship Window closed at this point?

Elena Delle Donne has struggled to stay healthy over the past few years. During this playoff series against the Liberty, she scored just 11 points in each of the two games. Is she still that star player that a team can build a championship team around?

It’s certainly possible that Delle Donne’s best years are behind her and she’s closer to retirement than she is another MVP season.

Both EDD and starting Point Guard, Natasha Cloud, are Unrestricted Free Agents. Is the best plan for the franchise to re-sign both players for one last title run? Or would they be better off going into a full rebuild where they may have to tank a couple of seasons and start building around Shakira Austin?

It’ll be interesting to see which path they take.

Notes:
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Credit to HerHoopStats for Salary Cap information