Around the W: July Review

A look back at how each WNBA team did in the month of July.

The WNBA completed its third month of the 2023 season. The top contenders remain at the very top of the league’s standings. But we have seen some movement in that middle tier between the 4th and 6th seeds. Read the full article below to see how each team did during July and where things stand as we’re now more than halfway through the 2023 WNBA season.

Awards

A’ja Wilson won the Western Conference Player of the Month award for the second consecutive month in a row. She finished July averaging 22.7 PPG, 10.1 RPG, and 2.7 BPG. She also helped lead the #1 team, the Las Vegas Aces, to an impressive 9-1 record. Wilson is yet again a strong contender to win the league MVP after already winning it in 2020 and 2022.

In the Eastern Conference, Breanna Stewart was named the EC Player of the Month also for the second time this season having earned the honor during the shortened month of May. Stewie averaged 24.5 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 3.3 APG. She also helped the New York Liberty remain in the second spot with a 9-2 record during the month. She is looking for her second MVP trophy after winning the award in 2018.

Former Seattle Storm legend, Tanisha Wright, won her first Coach of the Month award as she led the Atlanta Dream to a stellar 8-3 record including winning six games in a row to start the month. Wright has done a great job of changing the Dream’s outlook and they are on pace to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

Lastly, Minnesota’s Diamond Miller won Rookie of the Month for July. Diamond played a large role as she helped the Minnesota Lynx finish the month with a 7-4 record. Miller averaged 13.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 2.8 APG. She became the first rookie to win the award besides Aliyah Boston, who won it during the months of May and June. While Boston is still the front-runner to win Rookie of the Year, if Miller has another strong month in August it will become a legit debate between the two upcoming stars.

July Records

Atlanta (8-3)

After having a losing record (4-6) in the month of June, the Atlanta Dream started the month of July with six straight victories. Their three losses came against the Connecticut Sun (twice) and the New York Liberty. The concern there is that they are still struggling against the league’s top teams. The Dream haven’t made the playoffs since 2018. And although they missed them again last year, they did win more than 10 games (14) for the first time since 2018. They’ve now matched their win total from a year ago and they still have 13 games left to play this season.

As of this writing, Atlanta ranks 5th overall with a 14-13 record. They were ranked 5th at the end of June as well. Despite having one of the best records in the month of July, they haven’t moved up in the standings at all. With that said, they’re still in great shape to reach the playoffs as Coach Tanisha Wright has them moving in the right direction.

Chicago (3-6)

Chicago’s only victories came against non-playoff teams. They defeated Indiana, Phoenix, and Seattle. Unfortunately for them, they also lost games against the Storm and the Mercury.

The Sky have done just enough to stay in the playoff hunt. It’s been a difficult season overall after being the #1 seed in 2022. Kahleah Copper along with her new teammates, Alanna Smith, Courtney Williams, and Marina Mabrey have kept Chicago competitive.

Chicago currently sits in the 8th and final playoff spot with an 11-15 record. They were 8th at the end of June as well. They are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Sparks for

Connecticut (6-3)

While not quite as good as they were in the month of June, the Connecticut Sun still finished July with a winning record. Their best wins came against the Dream (twice) and the Dallas Wings. The Sun haven’t been able to catch New York yet in the standings but they’ve created enough distance between themselves and the fourth and fifth seeds.

Connecticut will look to keep up their winning ways. Their chances to return to the WNBA Finals could depend on whether or not they can steal homecourt advantage away from the Liberty. They are just one game behind New York with 13 games left to play.

The Sun's current record is 20-7. Alyssa Thomas is playing at an MVP-type level. She just put up the WNBA’s first-ever 20-20-10 triple-double (points/rebounds/assists) in league history. And has added multiple triple-doubles this season; a category she already ranks #1 in WNBA history.

Dallas (7-3)

The Wings really turned their season around in the month of July. After losing seven out of their 11 games in June, they flipped that to win seven of their ten games in July. Notably, they picked up huge wins against the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty. Dallas became the first WNBA this season to defeat the league’s top two teams.

The roster is really starting to gel with the scoring of Arike teamed up with the strong post-play of Teaira McCowan, Satou Sabally, Natasha Howard, and Kalani Brown.

Dallas is the first team on this list to move up in the standings from the previous month. They jumped two spots from the 6th seed all the way up to the 4th seed. That’s incredibly important as the Top 4 teams own homecourt advantage in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.

With a record of 15-12, they sit five games behind third-place Connecticut. It’ll be extremely difficult to move up further in the standings to catch the Sun, Liberty, or the Aces. But if they can have another strong month in August, they’ll have a great chance to hold onto their 4th seed.

Indiana (1-9)

The Fever really took a nose dive from the previous month losing nine out of their ten games. Almost all of the promise they showed in June is gone. Their largest problem has been the absence of NaLyssa Smith. Smith has a stress fracture in her left foot and has missed the last eight games including the final six in the month of July.

Without Smith, the team loses nearly 16 PPG and 10 RPG. But it’s significantly more than just those stats. When Smith is teamed up with #1 overall pick Aliyah Boston they form one of the brightest young frontcourts in the WNBA. However, with Smith out injured, other teams are able to double and triple-team Boston to limit her impact.

Earlier in the season, Indiana looked like they might even compete for the 8th and final playoff spot. After such a poor month in July, that no longer appears realistic. The Fever have fallen to the 11th seed with a record of 7-20.

If you’re looking for a “Glass is half full” outlook, if Indiana misses the playoffs they will be guaranteed to have the best odds (44%) to land the #1 overall pick. Adding another top pick to the core of Aliyah Boston, NaLyssa Smith, and Kelsey Mitchell should finally turn the franchise back into playoff contenders.

Las Vegas (9-1)

The defending champions followed up their 10-1 month of June with a 9-1 month in July. Their lone defeat came against the Dallas Wings, by just two points (80-78). In turn, they beat Dallas two other times in the month by seven and 13 points.

Their All-Star team led by A’ja Wilson looks pretty much unstoppable. They’ve already clinched a playoff spot, the first team to do so this season. Despite losing one of the WNBA’s greatest players, Candace Parker, they remain a juggernaut. They haven’t lost since Parker went out with an injury.

In August, the Aces will face the New York Liberty four times including the Commissioner’s Cup Championship game on Tuesday, August 15th. It’ll be interesting to see if the Liberty can challenge the Aces for the top spot.

The Aces currently hold the #1 seed in the WNBA with a 24-2 record. Las Vegas currently has a .923 winning percentage. They are on pace to break the All-Time WNBA record set by the Phoenix Mercury in 2014 who finished that season 29-5 (.853). No WNBA team has ever won 30 games in a season before. Las Vegas is well on its way to doing so with 14 games left to play.

Los Angeles (2-7)

The Sparks have really fallen off since the beginning of the season. They lost the first six games of July and ultimately won just two games.

It’s been a disappointing season for new head coach Curt Miller and the Sparks in general. The team has been riddled with injuries and issues. The two main bright spots are the superb play from Nneka Ogwumiek and the improvement of Jordin Canada. Canada has played like a borderline All-Star including significantly improving her three-point shooting. She is a legit contender for Most Improved Player of the Year.

Los Angeles is in an interesting spot. With a record of 9-18, the Sparks sit as the 9th seed in the standings. They still have a chance to make the playoffs but their disappointing month of July has hurt those odds. They are now 2.5 games out of the 8th seed behind Chicago.

If they do miss the playoffs, they would have strong odds to get a top pick in the WNBA Draft. As of today, they would have the second-best odds (around 28%) of landing the #1 overall pick in the 2024 draft.

Minnesota (7-4)

After another slow start in May, the Minnesota Lynx had a strong June where they went 6-4. They were even better during July. Minnesota finished the month strong picking up wins against the Washington Mystics, New York Liberty, and Connecticut Sun. Those last two victories happened without All-Star Napheesa Collier who missed a few games with a minor injury. Their worst defeat was a 40-point loss to the Dallas Wings.

Rookie contributions from Diamond Miller and Dorka Juhász have helped Minnesota. Kayla McBride has also been playing well for the Lynx scoring in double figures in six consecutive games.

Minnesota finished June as the 7th seed. They remain the 7th seed at the end of July. The Lynx are 3.5 games ahead of the Sparks. I wouldn’t say they’re comfortably in the playoffs at this point but over the past two months, they are five games above .500 (13-8). As long as they can stay on that path, they’ll make the playoffs this season.

New York (9-2)

The New York Liberty had their best month of the season as they continue to gel with all their new pieces. Their only two defeats came against the Dallas Wings (98-88) and surprisingly, to the Minnesota Lynx (88-83) who were without Collier.

Breanna Stewart is continuing to play at an MVP level. Sabrina Ionescu continues to light it up from beyond the arc including a historic performance during All-Star Weekend winning the three-point contest where she scored 37 out of a possible 40 points. But more importantly than that, Jonquel Jones is showing signs of her dominant 2021 MVP season. Jones had struggled through May and most of June. She’s been exceptional in July and has been a big reason for her team’s success.

Jones improved play is the most important thing moving forward. They will need both her and Breanna Stewart to be at their absolute best if they want to dethrone the defending champion Aces. As mentioned above, we’ll see those two teams face each other four times in the month of August. That could be a preview of the WNBA Finals later this year.

The Liberty own the 2nd best record in the WNBA at 21-6. They currently have a one-game lead over the Connecticut Sun. It’s important for them to remain above Connecticut in order to secure homecourt advantage through the first two rounds of the WNBA playoffs.

Phoenix (3-7)

The Mercury had a better month even if they only won three games. They picked up wins against the Sparks, Sun, and Sky.

Brittney Griner recently announced she was going to take a step back to focus on her mental health. She is still with the team but did not travel on the road trip and did not play in the Mercury’s most recent home game. With Phoenix likely headed to the draft lottery and not in serious playoff contention, there isn’t as much urgency in having Griner play right now.

The team is also still without Skylar Diggins-Smith. SDS made some recent social media posts after it was confirmed she’s not allowed to be at practices or use the team’s facilities. Diggins-Smith has missed this entire WNBA season after giving birth to her newest child. She will be an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2024.

While it technically happened in August, I need to mention that Diana Taurasi has surpassed 10,000 career points. The first WNBA player in the history of the league to do so. She did it by scoring 42 points on very efficient shooting (12-21 FG). Taurasi also became the oldest player to score more than 40 points in a game. Congratulations DT on your incredible achievement!

Back to the topic at hand, because Phoenix has played the best out of the non-playoff teams they actually moved up two spots in the WNBA standings. At the end of June, they were dead last as the 12th seed and now currently sit in the tenth spot.

They are four games out of the playoffs which is likely too steep to overcome. Mercury fans will want to keep an eye on how they do compared to Los Angeles as the season comes to an end in September. As of this writing, if the season finished today they would have the third-best odds to land the #1 overall pick. However, they are only 1/2 game better than the Sparks. If LA wins one more game beyond what Phoenix does the rest of the way, their odds will swap and Phoenix would move to the #2 spot with a 28% chance to win the #1 overall pick.

Seattle (2-8)

For a moment it looked like the Seattle Storm were going to go the entire month of July without a single victory. They lost 10 games in a row dating back to late June and didn’t win another game until July 28th against the Chicago Sky. They then had one of their best games of the season dismantling the Fever in Indiana by 23 points.

Jewell Loyd continues to put up big numbers but it hasn’t really mattered. At least not when it comes to wins and losses in the WNBA.

Coach Quinn has gone towards more of a veteran lineup recently as all four rookies have seen their minutes reduced. None more so than Ivana Dojkić who lost her starting job to Sami Whitcomb. Whitcomb becomes the third player to start this season at the Point Guard position following Dojkić and Yvonne Turner. Replacing Sue Bird has been, as expected, extremely difficult.

The Storm are in a tough position. They dropped a spot and now own the worst record in the entire WNBA at 6-20. However, due to their strong season a year ago and the WNBA’s two-year lottery rule, the team is likely to finish with just a 10% chance to earn the #1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Unless Chicago falters down the stretch and misses the playoffs, it’s looking more and more likely that the Storm will have the 4th overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft despite (potentially) finishing 2023 with the worst record in the league.

Washington (3-7)

The Mystics tumbled in the month of July winning just three out of their ten games. The team lost arguably their three best players to injury in Shakira Austin, Elena Delle Donne, and Ariel Atkins. Austin suffered a bad hip injury and has been out the longest. EDD and Atkins each have ankle injuries. To my knowledge, none of these injuries will keep them out the rest of the year but for every game they miss, the Mystics are losing playoff seeding.

With the disappointing month of July, D.C. fell from the 4th seed down to the 6th spot in the standings. That means they’ve lost homecourt advantage in the first round. They are only 1.5 games behind Dallas to regain that 4th seed so it is still in play for them. But they can’t afford another losing month if they want to accomplish that. They are currently 13-13 on the season.

Washington was a dark horse to win the WNBA Championship this year with an improved Shakira Austin and a healthier Elena Delle Donne. Unfortunately, their injuries have put that into serious doubt now.

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